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New Post 1/27/2009 6:02 AM
User is offline Gregory Lassale
2 posts
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Another non-science guy looking to become an analyst - Any hope? 

Hi there,

A little background: I am in my early thirties and have been stuck in a dead-end job (medical-legal industry) for a few years. I am very motivated to make a career change. I have two college degrees (in English Linguistics and Literature) that I obtained in France where I am originally from. I have been living in the US for the past 9 years.

Even though I have been unhappy with my job, it has at least taught me one thing: Business Process Management is something that interests me greatly. I like analizing process and trying to determine what makes sense, what doesn't, how things could be improved or changed etc. Stop me if I'm wrong, but it appears to me that BPM - and by extension BPI (Improvement) and BPR (reengineering) - are subsets of Business Analysis. Is that correct?

My problem is that it looks like Math is a fundamental part of the education/training in those fields. I was and still am absolutely terrible at Math beyond arithmetics. And by terrible, I mean hopeless. My ex-wife graduated as a French major but before that was a Business major (she switched half-way) so she had Math classes (statistics, maybe calculus). Her first job was as a Customer Rep in a call center where she used her French skills. She quickly made a name for herself and was offered by her company to follow a Six Sigma training class. She is today a Project Manager (another closely related field if I am not mistaken). My point is that I think the science classes she took in college helped her with the math portion of Six Sigma.

My question is this: How big is the math in the training of a Business Analyst, Business Process Manager/Analyst and in quality assurance methodologies like Six Sigma?

Is there any hope for someone like me who is hopeless in Math? Don't be afraid to tell me like it is. At my age and in this economy, I can't afford to dwelve on hopes of becoming something I have no chance of becoming given my natural abilities.

Thank a lot for any advice you can give me.

Gregory

 

 
New Post 1/30/2009 12:15 PM
User is offline BA Trainer
18 posts
9th Level Poster


Re: Another non-science guy looking to become an analyst - Any hope? 
Modified By BA Trainer  on 1/30/2009 3:17:01 PM)

Hi Gregory,

 

Just a simple, short answer for your question: You DO NOT need to know Math or science to be a Business Analyst

BA is the one who understand the business needs, and help them improve their processes. One of the definite quality you need as a BA is communication skills. If you are able to talk smartly, you are ready to go. secondly, your problem solving nature.In trying to understand what business wants, you need to ask them lots and lots of questions. Hence, if you get in depth of the issues, you can become a good BA.

 

There are definately some skills and techniques required for you to master this art , learn the processes, methodologies , understand the dcoumentation and various requirement types.

 

Let me know if you need a training in this field.I have trained a number of freshers in the field and have 100% satisfaction rate from the students.I also help, polish the resumes of the students.

 

contact info: [email protected]

 

 

 

 
New Post 1/30/2009 9:51 PM
User is offline TankFish
25 posts
www.store.co.za
9th Level Poster


Re: Another non-science guy looking to become an analyst - Any hope? 

On the whole dont worry about Math. There are some situations when it can definetly help, like when working on a financial or formula based  project, but even then it is up to the user/customer to give you the math and formulas that need to be used within the application. 

 
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