Complete Guide to Writing a Business Analyst Resume [Examples + Pro Tips]

Landing these exceptional jobs is highly competitive – and impossible without a solid business analyst resume.

In this article, you’ll learn the exact equation to create a highly effective resume for your next business analyst job.

This includes:

• Example resumes for senior and entry-level business analysts.
• A guide to writing an experience section that is better than any other candidate.
• Instructions to select the right format and layout for your resume.

Not only that, we have composed a list of pro resume tips to make your business analyst resume stand out from the rest.

Tired of creating resumes from scratch on MS Word? Try out our resume builder for FREE to create a business analyst resume with a modern resume template.

Example of an Entry-level Business Analyst Resume

Here’re resumes from similar professions that will inspire you to write your business analyst resume 👇

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The Average Salary for Business Analysts

A career as a business analyst is highly rewarding.

According to payscale, the average base salary of a business analyst is $64,000 per year. However, it can range anywhere from $46000 to $88000 depending on your skills and experience.

The right business analyst resume that communicates how you will perfectly fit the role would allow you to negotiate a salary that’s higher than the average.

Creating a Business Analyst Resume from Scratch

You need a professional and well-structured resume to apply for a high-paying job in a reputed company. Your resume should be able to convince the hiring manager that you are the right person for the position.

As hiring managers are getting thousands of resumes for such positions, they use a system called ATS (Applicant Tracking System) – which will pick the most relevant resumes for the position based on the keywords on the resumes.

Therefore sending a resume with your skills and qualifications based on the recruit's instructions would not be sufficient - You will also need to include the relevant keywords so that your resume gets shortlisted.

Use the following sources to find the relevant keywords:

• The job advertisement or the job description.
• Company website.
• Online communities and industry forums.
• We also have a comprehensive guide on how to add keywords to your resume.

Let’s quickly pick the right format and layout for your resume and jump straight to writing it.

Business Analyst Resume Layout

A resume layout is also called the structure of the resume. Having a proper layout helps us organize all sections of the resume: headings, subheadings, and any other important information.

This is the layout that we recommend for a business analyst resume:

• Header: name and contact information.
• Business analyst resume summary/ professional summary.
• Work history.
• Education.
• Skills.
• Additional sections (Certificates, languages, and awards).

The sections and the order can however, be changed depending on the position you are applying for.

Resume Format For Business Analysts

As a business analyst, your experience section is the most important part of your resume. There are several ways to format your experience section.

These are the most common resume formats in use:

• Functional resume format
• Reverse chronological resume format
• Hybrid resume format

Functional (skill-based) resume format: In this format, you should prioritize your skills – based on that, you could write the relevant experience. The headings would be your key skills instead of the companies you worked for.

This format is most suitable for entry-level candidates.

Reverse chronological resume format: Reverse chronological format is the most used and the most accepted resume format for experienced business analysts. A lot of hiring managers prefer this format as it displays your most recent experience first.

Hybrid resume format: The hybrid resume format is a combination of both functional and reverse chronological resume formats.

If you don't have any specific reasons to write your experience section otherwise, always write it in reverse chronological order. Learn more about different resume formats further.

Start Your Business Analyst Resume with the Header

The header is the first section of your resume – make sure it catches the hiring manager’s attention positively.

Include your first name, last name, and relevant contact information.

Following are examples of correct and incorrect headers:

CORRECT

Jake Paul

Business analyst

jakep@gmail.com

+1 222 46 18 39

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakep

INCORRECT

Business analyst

Jake Paul

jakethebusinessanalyst@gmail.com

+1 222 46 18 39

1524 Evergreen Lane,

Baldwin Park,

California,

USA

Keep these points in mind when writing your resume header,

• Start with your first name and last name.
• Add a professional-looking personal email.
• Add your mobile phone number.
• Do not add your physical address.
• Add the link to your Linkedin profile.

Business Analyst Resume Summary

The summary is your sale pitch to the hiring manager. Use 2 or 3 lines to express your interests, key achievements, and relevant skills that make you the best fit for the position.

Captivate the reader to stay with you until the end. A resume that is completely read most likely gets shortlisted.

CORRECT

A dynamic business analyst with over 7 years of experience in developing award-winning strategies for e-commerce applications – improved conversions up to 24% by analyzing big data – seeks to leverage the digital business of Barclays to the next level.

INCORRECT

I am a business analyst with 7 years of experience and looking for an opportunity to work in a reputed firm in any industry. I have devised business development strategies for many industries.

Be specific about your achievements – use numbers wherever possible to make the statement attractive and credible.

Business analyst resume objective

For an entry-level candidate, try writing an objective summary instead of a professional summary – the difference here is quite insignificant though. An objective summary describes the candidate’s passion for the industry and organization while highlighting the core competencies.

Adding your Business Analyst Experience

This is the section where you should spend most of your time on. Get this section right and you’ll 10X your chances of getting more interviews in the coming weeks.

Check out these examples:

The senior business analyst experience section

INCORRECT

Aug 2016 to Present

Business analyst

IFS

• Analyzed business optimization projects.
• Improved business direction.
• Assed impact on current business.
• Interacted with customers.
• Carried out user acceptance testing.

CORRECT

Aug 2016 to Present

Business analyst

IFS

• Redesigned fulfillment process and several customer communication protocols increasing customer satisfaction to 89%.
• Improved customer service portal reducing refunds by 14% and direct labor costs by $1.75 million.
• Completed initial analysis of business processes that cut down the lead time by 15%.
• Created data-driven reports for the senior management to make strategic decisions on business direction.

Describe your working experience as actions you performed. Use words like developed, delivered, improved, and completed to communicate your authority in the work.

Use numbers, dates, and percentages to validate your work experience.

The entry-level business analyst experience section

INCORRECT

Aug 2021 to Present

Business analyst intern

Parexel

• Participated in projects.
• Attended meeting.
• Prepared business reports.
• Worked with IT team members.
• Business process development.

CORRECT

Aug 2021 to Present

Business analyst intern

Parexel

• Gathered and documented requirements for project initiations and communicated with related stakeholders.
• Used both qualitative and quantitative analysis to generate reports for the management – a buyer’s journey analysis carried out was highly appreciated by the senior management.
• Attended department meetings to brainstorm and share new ideas with team members.
• Prepared product utilization reports used by account managers.
• Worked together with the UI/UX designers and web developers to optimize landing pages for higher conversions.

As an entry-level candidate, you’ll not have much to write about your experience. However, that is no excuse to keep this section empty.

Use any previous internships, projects, or academic assignments to communicate how you used your learnings to generate significant results for a business – that’s in fact the job of a business analyst.

Make Your Business Analyst Resume Stand out with Education

Your education plays an important role to work as a business analyst. Most BA jobs require you to have a bachelor's degree in business administration, data analytics, marketing, or a relevant field. Having a master's degree would be an advantage.

The more qualified you are, the more chance you have of being selected for an interview. Therefore, write a comprehensive education section on your resume.

The Most In-Demand Business Analyst Resume Skills

Business analysts possess a set of skills that is a combination of data analysis and business management.

Having the right business analyst skills listed on your resume is mandatory for both the human reader and the ATS. Write a combination of soft skills and hard skills.

• Creative thinking.
• Communication skills.
• Time management.
• Strong analytical skills.
• Public speaking.
• Organization.
• Attention to detail.
• Research.

• Project management.
• Benchmarking.
• Gap analysis.
• Microsoft Office Excel.
• Tableau.
• Data analytics software.
• Risk analysis.
• SWOT analysis.
• Wireframing.

Additional Sections for Your Business Analyst Resume

Use small sections with separate headings to get the hiring manager’s attention.

These sections would especially serve in situations where the recruiter had to decide between similarly qualified applicants before or after an interview.

Therefore, the information in an additional section has the potential to get you a job.

Consider these sections for the business analyst resume:

• Computer/ IT skills
• Extracurricular activities
• Social media footprint
• Certificates and courses
• Languages
• Interests

Computer/ IT skills

Business analysts should have a solid background in computer and IT skills.

Here are some of the computer skills you could add to your resume:

• Data mining
• Data visualization
• Database design
• Statistical analysis software (e.g. Tableau, Matlab, Minitab, SAS)
• SQL databases and database querying languages
• Programming skills such as Python and C++
• Business intelligence and reporting software (Power BI, Oracle, Qlik Sense)

These computer skills will get your resume to the top of the folder.

Skill certificates and courses

There’re many industry-recognized certifications you could get as a business or data analyst. In fact, these could be the only academic or professional qualifications to become an analyst for some candidates – these certifications are incredibly powerful.

Here are some certificates you could consider adding to your profile. Some of these certifications can be completed online – some are FREE while others would require you to pay a fee for the certification or the membership.

Choose what is relevant to the industry you’re applying for.

• Certified Analytics Professional (CAP)
• IIBA Entry Certificate in Business Analysis (ECBA)
• IIBA Certification of Competency in Business Analysis (CCBA)
• IIBA Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP)
• IIBA Agile Analysis Certification (AAC)
• IIBA Certification in Business Data Analytics (CBDA)
• IQBBA Certified Foundation Level Business Analyst (CFLBA)
• IREB Certified Professional for Requirements Engineering (CPRE)
• PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PBA)

Tips to Improve Your Business Analyst Resume

• Your business analyst resume shouldn't contain any grammar mistakes. No matter how good you think you are - Always proofread your resume a couple of times.
• As business analysts frequently deal with numbers, use specific previous results you achieved to increase your credibility. However, check on the confidentiality of information before sharing it on your resume.
• Identify the right skill certifications and enroll yourself so that you could state the certification as in progress/ in writing on your resume.

Summary of Your Business Analyst Resume

• Start your business analyst resume with the header - Include your name, position, and contact details.
• Use a professional summary to hook the reader – keep it short and to the point.
• Write your experience in the reverse chronological format – spend more time optimizing this section.
• Comprehensively describe your education on your business analyst resume – list this section just after your experience section.
• List 5-7 soft skills and hard skills that are relevant to the position.
• Use additional sections to give a pleasant surprise to the hiring manager.

Complement Your Business Analyst Resume with A Cover Letter

Enhance your application with a well-written cover letter. A cover letter communicates the candidate’s interest in the position and the organization.

This is a single-page document consisting of 3-4 paragraphs describing the key skills and expertise a candidate brings to the table.

In the first paragraph, address the biggest potential problem your employer face and how you could be a solution to that.

In the second and third paragraphs, describe your achievements and how you solved similar complex business problems for your current employer – state your key skills and the technologies you used.

Keep this short and engaging. Add a call to action (CTA) at the end – ask for an interview to discuss further the role.

For inspiration to create your own cover letter, check out our cover letter builder.

FAQs

How to become a business analyst?

Most companies require candidates to have a bachelor’s degree in business administration or a related field to apply for business analyst positions. Getting your bachelor of degree would be the first step to becoming a business analyst. However, there’re skill certifications you could obtain online that cover the main techniques and software tools required to become a business analyst that allows you to become competitive in the job market even without a degree.

How to get my first job as a business analyst?

Getting your first job as a business analyst would be the hardest part. A lot of hiring managers are looking for business analysts with experience. Therefore the best way to get into the market is by working as an intern for a reputed company. At the end of your internship, you’ll either be hired by the same company or you’ll have many industry references to apply for a job outside.