Business Analyst (General)
Career Area: Planning and Analysis
Occupation Group: Business Analysis
Salary
Percentile wages tell how much a certain percentage of an overall population in a geographic area or within a given industry or field makes. The percentile wage estimate is the value of a wage below which a certain percent of workers fall.
An example would be the 25th percentile, 25 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 75 percent earn more than the estimated wage value. At the 75th percentile, 75 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 25 percent earn more than the estimated wage value.
A typical Business Analyst (General) earns the following wages (national and state):
State
The average salary in North Carolina for those pursuing this career is $83,774
National
The average salary in the United States for those pursuing this career is $80,292
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
Provides strategic management consulting to companies and businesses. Advises on ways to improve operations, increase efficiency, reduce costs and increase revenues; may recommend systems or organizational change. May specialize in an area of business practice or a specific industry; may also specialize in consulting with government agencies.
Employment Trends
The job demand and job growth statistics shown here were derived from job posts over the past year. Expected job growth projections are extrapolated from year-over-year job post listing history.
Job demand and job growth is expected at the following rates:
| Location | Growth | |
|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 4413 | +16.4% |
| Nationwide | 105979 | +13.5% |
Skills
A professional in this position typically utilizes the following skills in the course of everyday work in this exciting and challenging field:
Baseline Skills
The following are baseline skills every Business Analyst (General) is expected to have in order to experience success in this field:
- Communication Skills: The ability to convey information to another effectively and efficiently.
- Teamwork / Collaboration: Experience working in collaborative efforts with a team to achieve a common goal or to complete a task in the most effective and efficient way.
- Microsoft Excel: Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet developed by Microsoft for Windows, macOS, Android and iOS. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications.
- Problem Solving: Problem solving consists of using generic or ad hoc methods, in an orderly manner, for finding solutions to problems.
- Planning: Working experience with the process of thinking about and organizing the activities required to achieve desired goals.
Specialized Skills
These skills are specific to working in this career:
- Business Analysis: Experience identifying business needs and and determining solutions to business problems.
- Project Management: Project management is the discipline of initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing the work of a team to achieve specific goals and meet specific success criteria.
- Business Process: A business process or business method is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks that produce a specific service or product (serve a particular goal) for a particular customer or customers.
- SQL: SQL ( ESS-kew-EL or SEE-kwl, Structured Query Language) is a domain-specific language used in programming and designed for managing data held in a relational database management system (RDBMS), or for stream processing in a relational data stream management system (RDSMS).
- Customer Service: Working experience with the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase.
Distinguishing Skills
Any Business Analyst (General) that possesses the following skills will stand out against the competition:
- Microsoft Visio: Microsoft Visio ( VIZ-ee-oh) (formerly Microsoft Office Visio) is a diagramming and vector graphics application and is part of the Microsoft Office family.
- Business Systems Analysis: Systems analysis – the interpretation of business rules and requirements for technical systems (generally within IT)
- User Acceptance Testing (UAT): In engineering and its various subdisciplines, acceptance testing is a test conducted to determine if the requirements of a specification or contract are met.
- Systems Analysis: System analysis is he process of studying a procedure or business in order to identify its goals and purposes and create systems and procedures that will achieve them in an efficient way.
Experience
This position typically requires the following level of experience. The numbers presented in the pie charts below were derived from actual job posts over the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Experience Required | % |
| 0 to 2 years | 21% |
| 3 to 5 years | 38% |
| 6 to 8 years | 27% |
Many of the programs offered through NC State are designed for working professionals who need additional credentials to enhance existing work experience.
Students who do not have the expected level of experience may wish to look into internship and employment opportunities.
Common Job Titles
It is possible to find work in this field in positions commonly listed as the following job titles:
- Business Analyst
- Business Analyst II
- Search Consultant
- Business Analyst I
- Associate Business Analyst
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