Business Analyst Review

I am a Business Analyst. My role is to work with the organisation to define project requirements, and work with delivery teams to ensure requirements have been met during build or testing. I also work with delivery partners to land change within the organisation working closely with the operational teams by reviewing both internal / external communication plans. I also have to work with third parties and procurement functions if we require external third parties to support with the project.

I have learnt a lot of the skills in regards to Project Management which allows me to support my PM in managing activities, and take ownership of workstreams by utilising my learnings and applying them within role. I have become more effective when dealing with stakeholder and communications and have found I take more time in planning and pulling together all my documentation for the change.

I have enjoyed the programme. The online learnings were in nice bite sized chunks and the Development Days supported the learning. I think it would have been beneficial to be given steer to begin thinking about the portfolio at an earlier stage, I got this steer only after attending Development Days and a catch up with Expert Coach. As this is probably the piece of the apprenticeship which has required the most time commitment in work.

I think the structure and plans could have been shared at start like on an Intro Session which could be down with your Talent Coach where they go through each element of the apprenticeship and when you'd need to start the work required. For instance, I was only advised to start capturing a Learner Log 9 months into the apprenticeship and this was only as my Talent Coach was being assessed at the time, and his colleague advised me of it.

I have received the support required from my employer. When I started my new role in March 2019, as I was also moving to another organisation with the HSBC Group I was concerned I wouldn't be able to continue but we worked together to ensure I got the time off the job to reflect and continue with my training.

The Talent Coash is good for check in and make sure you're on track, as you need to own a lot of the actions offline yourself and ensuring you dedicate time within role to doing the required learninsg. The Expert Coash is who adds the value, as they host the Development Days and also have experience in the field and so are able to give critical feedback and insight into your on your job experience, and how you could push yourself further.

I feel having a broad understanding of project management as I learnt in Development Days and online learning allowed me to better perform in role, as I could see that the model we follow although uses different terminology is a project lifecycle. This has meant that I was able to come into department and begin applying the skills straight away. It also meant that I could complete a lot of the key documentation and upskill myself in role a lot quicker by utilising the learnings from Development Day.

Yes, there are a number of opportunities to get involved with at work which can be extra-curricular in nature. There are Employee Resource Groups, Social Groups and they also have Agile Masterclasses on a quarterly basis.

Yes

The support you get from management, support in terms of Employee Wellbeing and their drive to continuing to make it a better place for their employees.

Think about the experience and skills you do have and match them to job profile. Think about where your development opportunities lie, and how you plan to plug those if successful with your application.