Business analytics, as a professional field lacks the awareness factor. People are not adequately informed regarding the role of a business analyst at the moment. And a tendency of introducing confusion to the understanding is a common notion. In reality, the changes forced by the pandemic demands business to work more efficiently. In times of staying at home, Businesses are leaning towards data-based strategies due to ample availability of data. Time is ripe for arming with knowledge and training in business analytics for a smooth survival.
But the question remains, Which institutes to go for? A complete absence of in-person training has limited the options to exclusively online as the pandemic rages on. Trusting online education systems is like trusting a stranger and risk of losing money is very much involved.
Browse a lot
The primary solution is gaining a lot of knowledge regarding the available options. More information you come across, the better you get at judging, comparing and understanding. Information like the success rate of an institute, its course structure and its alignment towards recruiter’s demands are valuable. And these pieces of information can be availed just by browsing and extensive research.
Go through reviews and ratings
After choosing a potential course among the business analytics courses available online, the primary course of action will be, going through the reviews and ratings given by people. However, there is a probability of encountering influential and fake reviews. What matters, is who are the reviewers and how unbiased are they? Institutes transparent and bold enough will most likely not present tailored reviews. But if there is something to hide or some motive to misguide; reviews can be bought for positive publicity.
Best institutes to consider are those who are willingly sharing unbiased user experiences, in this case, words of former students. A review from alumni can be the most helpful. But if there is no possibility of getting in touch with that person, the review can be safely overlooked.
The best way of verifying will be to contact the reviewers in social media. An institute denying this privilege must be hiding something. Hence, should be avoided all-together.
Evaluating the knowledge on offer in terms of demand
Different businesses expect different sets of expertise from a business analyst. For example, in the healthcare industry, a BA is to prepare a hospital for future demands and promote trust among the masses for a better admission rate. But in the case of the food industry, a BA is to assure the quality of food served and ensure real-time coordination between the kitchen and service teams. Additionally, what sells better is also to be decided by the analyst. However, Choosing a job is farfetched in our country, mostly the job chooses the candidate. In this system expertise in all the relevant fields is important for better chances of getting hired. While choosing a course for training these future scenarios should be kept in mind.
A course considering all the future responsibilities of a student and aligned to the market demands should be considered for enrollment. For example, business analytics training is incomplete without training in data science and machine languages. The courses avoiding such aspects should be abandoned immediately.
Getting in touch with the faculty
A very important action after coming across a course of interest is knowing the men and women responsible for the training of students. Their prior work in the field represents who they are and what they are capable to perform with their present role as teaches. An institute welcoming enough to summon all the details of the faculty for a quick read can be considered transparent and honest. However, not all the teachers are comfortable to discuss and reveal their work in public. In that case, a provision should be left for contacting them in private for an expression of interest and request of guidance.
Getting in touch with the alumni
The alumni already have the experiences you are thriving for. So it is best to ask them for suggestions. A better course of action will be collecting unbiased opinions and experiences and judging them according to self-set parameters. As a business analyst, a former student’s standing in the industry is the statement of the institute’s efforts. Job profiles of former students are a very important source of information for a potential candidate.
Additionally, a few connections in the industry manifesting into senior-junior relationships always helps while looking for a role in the market as a business analyst.
