Methodology
The goal of this guide is to give you real data what the “must haves” of business analyst resumes are.
To do that, we compiled and analyzed data from business analyst resumes and 25 business analyst job listings to get the data used for this our business analyst resume guide.
In addition to business analyst-specific resume data, we built a database of nearly 1 million resumes and job listings, and we use a propriety machine learning model to understand the anatomy of the best resumes in general.
Quick note: using the data below can help you build a competitive resume, but it’s always important to be creative, unique, and personal to stand out.
If you want more info on our methodology, you can check it out here.
Business analyst resume objective data + business analyst objective examples
Pop quiz: do business analyst’s really need to use an objective?
In general, whether or not you need an objective or professional summary can depend a lot on your personal career level (check out our article on resume objectives), but this is what our analysis found for business analyst’s specifically:
- 33% of business analyst’s included an objective section
- 27% of business analyst’s included a professional summary
- 47% of business analyst’s included neither an objective nor a summary
Business analyst objective examples
A highly creative entry level business analyst , and a resourceful individual looking for a responsible position to gain practical experience.
Seeking a Business Analyst position where I can leverage my analytical and problem-solving skills to drive business success and improve processes for a company
Aspiring to join a dynamic organization as a Business Analyst where I can utilize my expertise in data analysis and project management to deliver effective solutions and drive business growth
To secure a challenging role as a Business Analyst where I can bring my experience in requirements gathering, process improvement, and stakeholder management to make a positive impact on the company’s bottom line
Skills for business analyst resumes
These are the skills that occurred most frequently in in business analyst resumes, which means they tend to be core competencies or highly desired skills.
Of course, you should only list skills that you actually have, and you should prioritze skills most relevant to the job you're applying for. But these are good core skills to include on your resume.
To get more detail on building a powerful skills section, take a peek at our article on resume skills.
*Note: to find skills our machine learning model basically looks for common words, so take these with a grain of salt and use your best judgment.
Most common business analyst resume skills
Most common hard skills for business analyst resumes: collaboration, swot analysis, flexibility, risk analysis and management, and pivot.
Most common soft skills for business analyst resumes: communication skills, customer-service skills, interpersonal skills, listening skills, and patience.
Other good business analyst resume skills
- Analytical skills
- Communication
- Businesses process re-engineering
- Public speaking
- Benchmarking
- Negotiation and persuasion
- Gap analysis
- Attention to detail
- Organizational skills
- Financial analysis
- Modeling
- Directness
- Wireframing
- Prototyping
- Adaptability
- Role change
Business analyst skills section examples
Note: these examples are formatted the same here just because it’s simple, but we have more detailed formatting advice (and examples) in our guide to resume formatting.
Business analyst skills example 1
Analytical skills | swot analysis | businesses process re-engineering | public speaking | risk analysis and management | pivot | benchmarking
Business analyst skills example 2
Communication | communication skills | negotiation and persuasion | customer-service skills | gap analysis | interpersonal skills | attention to detail
Business analyst skills example 3
Prototyping | organizational skills | patience | listening skills | modeling | customer-service skills | directness
Work experience for business analyst resumes
Your work experience section is almost always the most important part of your resume. Because it’s difficult to pull trends from this kind of section, this section is mostly just examples.
For some advanced strategies for writing about work experience on a resume, refer to our article on building a strong work experience resume section. We also have a guide on writing a resume with no experience if you’re just starting your career.
For now, it’s good to remember that the most important experience for any business analyst resume is the most relevant experience.
A couple examples for you:
Business analyst work experience examples
WORK EXPERIENCE
Sr. Associate Business Analyst
The Helping Hands, 2021-2022
Responsibilities
- Monitor financial markets and the performance of individual securities
- Contact prospective clients to present information and explain available services
- Manage the finances of the facility, such as patient fees and billing
- Oversee the maintenance and repair of machinery, equipment, and electrical and mechanical systems
- Address complaints regarding food quality or service
WORK EXPERIENCE
Associate Business Analyst
Jaguar Ventures, 2016-2022
Responsibilities
- Repair or replace malfunctioning components, parts, and other mechanical or electrical equipment
- Bathe animals, trim nails, clip hair, and attend to other grooming needs
- Analyze business problems and provide solutions
- Analyzing key aspects of business to evaluate factors driving results and summarized into presentations
- Participate with peers and represent the business on project teams
WORK EXPERIENCE
Business Analyst Intern
Mystery Meats Co., 2009-2012
Responsibilities
- Developing short-term goals and long-term strategic plans to improve risk control and mitigation
- Identifying process inefficiencies through gap analysis and outline sensible solutions
- Meet with stakeholders to establish favorable business relationships and support mutually beneficial interests
- Evaluating trends to understand competitive environments and assess current strategies
- Improving business direction by prioritizing customers and implementing changes based on collected feedback
Education for business analyst resumes
For most positions, work experience is more important than education, although it can be important for new grads or for fields in which specific classes are industry-standard.
So it’s not a big section, but it’s still important, and often, business analyst job postings list a minimum education requirement.
Check out our blueprint for education on resumes for our full playbook on education sections.
Data from our sample of 936 business analyst resumes
- 9% business analyst resumes listed an associate’s degree
- 59% business analyst resumes listed a bachelor’s degree
- 27% business analyst resumes included a masters degree
- 1% business analyst resumes mentioned a doctoral degree
Business analyst resume education examples
EDUCATION
Master of Arts
FLS International – Las Vegas, 2021
Awards & Honors
- AP Scholar
- The Honor Society
- Foreign Language Award
EDUCATION
Associate of Arts
Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 2016
Certifications for business analyst resumes
Certifications aren’t a strict requirement for every job, but there are almost always certifications you can get to boost your chances of success.
If you want to see how to build these sections, we have a guide about certifications on resumes.
We did a little research and found certifications can help business analyst’s specifically, according to CareerOneStop.
Business analyst certification examples
CERTIFICATIONS
Associate Business Continuity Professional
DRI International, 2021
Associate in Management
The Institutes, 2016
CERTIFICATIONS
Associate Business Continuity Professional, Associate in Management, WSO – Certified Safety Instructor Master Level
Business analyst resume action verbs
Using our database of nearly 1,000,000 publicly available resumes, we compiled an index of action verbs and cross-referenced it with our sample of 936 business analyst resumes and job postings to uncover which action verbs are most commonly used by business analyst’s and business analyst employers.
The most common action verbs on business analyst resumes are: process, program, assist, prepare, and manage.
The most common action verbs on business analyst job postings are: lead, plan, review, test, and handle.
Other action verbs for business analyst resumes:
- Design
- Field
- Develop
- Perform
- Direct
- Create
- Monitor
- Track
- Organize
- Drive
Full business analyst resume example
Lastly, we wanted to give you a couple full business analyst resume examples..
Please note: you can write a better resume than this. This is just a quick illustration to show you how these pieces might fit together.
If you’d like to see “perfect” resumes, we have a showcase of resume examples.
Business analyst resume example
Kirk Jones
Business Analyst
4535 Stanton Hollow Road, Lexington, MA
Aspiring to join a dynamic organization as a Business Analyst where I can utilize my expertise in data analysis and project management to deliver effective solutions and drive business growth
WORK EXPERIENCE
Sr. Associate Business Analyst
The Helping Hands, 2021-2022
Responsibilities
- Evaluating the impact of current business processes on users and stakeholders and assess potential areas for improvement
- Conducting interviews with key business users to collect information on business processes and user requirements
- Developing diagrams to describe and lay out logical operational steps
- Designing and administering user acceptance testing to achieve smooth transitions during installations of new software
Associate Business Analyst
Jaguar Ventures, 2016-2022
Responsibilities
- Assisting development staff with drafting project plans, advising personnel on milestone planning
- Facilitating Scrum framework – sprint planning, backlog grooming, daily scrums, sprint reviews and sprint retrospectives
- Assessing each scrum team member’s responsibilities and delegated tasks to balance each employee’s workload
- Leading sprint reviews, daily scrums and planning meetings to realize full team engagement
Business Analyst Intern
Mystery Meats Co., 2009-2016
Responsibilities
- Proactively identifying and finding ways to resolve issues to prevent distractions and keep projects on track
- Assisting with internal and external communication resulting in improved transparency
- Working to provide continuous improvement for product development lifecycle
- Collaborating with product owners, team members, technologists, and other scrum masters to define solutions and drive progress
CERTIFICATIONS
Certification in Business Data Analytics
International Institute of Business Analysis, 2021
Certified Specialist Business Intelligence
Healthcare Financial Management Association, 2016
SKILLS
Analytical skills | benchmarking | data analysis | interpersonal skills | communication skills | collaboration | organizational skills
EDUCATION
Master of Arts
FLS International – Las Vegas, 2021
Associate of Arts
Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 2016
What experts say about business analyst resumes
Before we wrap it up, we want to leave you with some advice from other experts we admire.
“You want to be selectively honest and select the skills and experiences that really qualify you most for a business analyst role, and make sure those take up the most time and space and attention on your resume.” – 8 Business Analyst Resume Secrets You Need to Know (Especially if You Don’t Have the BA Job Title)
“Create a specific summary, you need to grab the attention of recruiters and one way that you grab their attention is with your summary, so be specific again that you are qualified for and pursuing a business analyst job. This is also a great place to include the phrase certified business analyst or the specific certification you have, that might be a certification from the international institute of business analysis, or it might be applied certification in business analysis.” – 8 Business Analyst Resume Secrets You Need to Know (Especially if You Don’t Have the BA Job Title)
“Highlight your most relevant skills while of course always still being honest, so you want to go through and make sure that you identify your transferable business analysis skills.” – 8 Business Analyst Resume Secrets You Need to Know (Especially if You Don’t Have the BA Job Title)
