Business Analyst Review

The role of a Business Analyst is understnd the business "as is" state and to identify "to be" state and provide gap analysis to get to the end result. This involves talking with stakeholders to find out this information and provide reccomendations of potential soloutions to get to the desired state. On a day to day basis I participate in a daily statnd up with the team, this identifies which each team member is working on and if we have any blockers which are stopping us being able to do our work, if this is the case we then work through these.

I have learnt many new skills evolving around the role of a BA, these include skills such as elicitation and the methods used to conduct this, talking to different stakeholders daily which supports with communcation skills and lots of microsoft skills with the daily use of Word, powerpoint and excel.

I enjoy my programme as there are so many different oppotunities to get involved in wether this be directly through my day job or different oppotunities within the bank which develops my networking skills. There is a good balance of on the job learning and actual training. I would advise though to always reach out if you need extra help or the support, you are in control of your learning within Lloyds and they wont micromanage you at all.

Firebrand the provider is quite structyres, we have set away time where we travel to their site to participate in a weeks learning and do exams. However, we also have to do portfolios for the job which is written essays on certain BA topics, I find these are quite self taught aspects so it is important to do your own research always and ensure you are getting the experience you need as you need to evidence when you have used these skills within your role. There are no set deadlines in the formation of structure so again just making sure you are on top of your learning.

Lloyds go beyond and above to support with my learning, especially my manager who si always there to support me if I need. There are lots of communties within Lloyds too which you have access to such as the BA community, they are a strong advocate of continous learning so there are always sessions being held to support this and networking events so you can meet former BAs which is so important when you are starting off!

Firebrand provide sessions where you attend on site to give you a bootcamp of knowledge, personally, I found these quite intense as there was alot of information presented at one time, so I would reccomend ensuring you are doing reading beforehand so you have some knowledge. Firebrand also provide you with a mentor and you have monthly check ins to raise any concerns if need be, the support is there if you need it.

The qualification is really important as it gives you the basic skills you need for the role. team and role dependant you may or may not use all of them and they are also quite adaptable so I think it is really important to have the basis knowledge through the qualification as a kick start to build your career!

So many! Lloyds always have different events going on and you are able to become an amassador in any areas you have a passion for. I am a part of breakthrough which is all about womens empoyerment and also Rainbow and BOLD. I also mentioned before the BA community which helps with my learning and they are up to date on all the acitivities also external to the bank which are worth attending.

Yes

I would reccomend to a friend but I would advise it is not easy, as someone who has not been in the banking world before I found it quite hard to understand the terms easiy and just get my head around banking as well as the BA apprenticeship. But it is a really good company to work for, the support is there if you need it and there are so many oppotunites within the bank!

Be bold, as a big company it is easy to just be in the bankground, it is so important to make those connections within the early days to grow your oppotunities within the bank. Be prepared for a hard 1-2 years on the apprentice but know the end results will be worth it. In terms of the interview I really reccoemend being yourself and research Lloyds values and what they strive for, they are not looking for any realy knowledge in the apprentice role at the start but what you can bring to Lloyds! Good Luck :)