How to Become a Business Analyst At Home

Many individuals want to make a career shift (or start a new path altogether) but it can be difficult to carve time out of their already busy week. If you aspire to become a Business Analyst but are concerned about your schedule, you can hone your skills from the comfort of home. To become a Business Analyst at home, you’ll want to find live online courses and certificate classes that align with your goals. You can still gain hands-on experience without having to worry about missing class or not getting the full experience.

What Business Analyst Training Method is Right for Me?

Everyone learns differently, so one training method may be more suited to your preferences than another. In general, you can find courses with your preferred subject matter in varying levels and lengths. Most training centers, such as Noble Desktop, offer everything from certificate courses and bootcamps to short courses and workshops. However, you can also explore on-demand classes, online tutorials, and self-guided learning methods that usually serve as supplemental learning material. To determine which method is best, consider your current skill level, schedule, budget, and end goal before enrolling.

What is a Business Analyst?

A Business Analyst is a specialized role that helps businesses meet their needs. They improve production, distribution of services, financial management, and customer experiences through different analytical means. They essentially bridge the gap between the tech department and the stakeholders to make sure each business need is being met. They regularly gather, analyze, and visualize data to provide more insight into recent trends or to determine changes that should be made. They may even conduct research by sharing surveys, interviewing consumers, or workshopping new products. Above all, they work in a data-driven position and help businesses improve their profits and practices through meaningful insights.

The regular workweek responsibilities of a Business Analyst include data collection, analyzing business practices, drawing solutions, and providing colleagues with actionable insights. Aside from these foundational tasks, they often maintain documents of their past work, communicate with other team members or stakeholders, and plan the next steps with Project Managers. They must meet certain qualifications and have a broad range of skills

Business Analysts can work virtually anywhere as well. They typically work for organizations that handle large quantities of data or firms that specialize in providing business analysis services to companies. However, they can also work for smaller businesses, startups, and tech companies that develop products. Truly, any field or industry that sells a good or service will benefit from hiring a Business Analyst. Plus, they can work in different settings, ranging from on-site to remote and freelance to part-time.

Can I Learn to be a Business Analyst from Home?

You can become a Business Analyst from home by enrolling in live courses, seeking additional resources online, and practicing in your spare time. A live online bootcamp or certificate course is one of the best ways to gain professional-grade skills in business analytics. Other learning methods are far too costly and lengthy, but in a bootcamp or professional training course, you’ll gain hands-on experience. You can readily apply your skills through virtual, hands-on projects and practice and feel comfortable working with business analytics tools. Ultimately, if your goal is to learn business analytics from home, you have an array of options to consider.

What are the Advantages of Learning from Home?

Learning from home offers many advantages that in-person courses cannot. For most, live online courses are the most flexible option and allow you to set your own schedule and save a little money in the process. They are cost-effective mainly because they save you time on the commute, but some online courses are less expensive than their in-person counterpart. In addition, it may be easier to personalize your learning experience with different classes. Most of all, people appreciate that remote learning options promote a healthier balance between work and personal life, which makes a lot of difference in the overall learning experience.

Plus, remote learning fosters more responsibility and autonomy, which is essential for becoming a working professional in any capacity. Remote class options also allow for more exploration of other forms of technology and allow you to meet business analysis professionals from all over the country or world. Learning from home is mainly lauded for its effectiveness and convenience, which is why it’s incredibly worthwhile.

What are the Disadvantages of Learning from Home?

However, there is a considerable lack of interaction with learning from home in comparison to in-person options. However, the instructors mitigate this as best as possible through activities and discussions. To some, the class may feel less structured or require an increased level of self-discipline and dedication. This can be troublesome, especially if you experience technical difficulties or have distractions from other areas of the house. Despite these disadvantages, live online courses are still considered some of the most effective ways to learn.

What Resources Are Available to Help Me Become a Business Analyst at Home?

On your journey to becoming a Business Analyst, you’ll likely want a lot of support and guidance along the way. This is particularly true if you enroll in a course and need to clarify your understanding outside of classroom activities. To start, you could explore resources in your local area. Many cities and towns have career centers or local libraries where you can find resources such as books, video collections, career fairs, and internship opportunities. However, depending on where you are located, these resources may be limited. You can also explore the internet for articles and blogs centered around business analysis. Some Business Analysts turn to social media platforms such as YouTube and TikTok to share their professional experiences and offer insight into ways to break into the field. In addition, you can join chatrooms and discussion boards where other budding or long-established Business Analysts can discuss topics and concepts.

Free Resources

You can access free resources virtually anywhere, from online and in-person to video and text. These are incredibly worth searching for because they are easily accessible and help clarify complex concepts. Because they are easy to find, you can also save them and refer back as needed. Ultimately, this is a great method of supplementing your current learning experience or skill set.

However, free resources are purely supplemental. There are considerable drawbacks to using a free resource as a learning method. The main concern is that a free resource is not in-depth or exploratory enough to be considered a legitimate training method. You’ll need more interactive experiences to learn business analysis. In addition, because they are free, this means they may be outdated or inaccurate. All in all, these are surface-level materials that offer clarification and support through the learning journey, but not exactly a professional-level education.

On-Demand Classes

On-demand classes are asynchronous options for students who prefer a more hands-off method. Because this is a self-paced option, students are not expected to attend lectures or join in class discussions. They will complete their course material at their convenience and teach themselves through the provided course material. This is a flexible way to learn a new skill or upskill, particularly for someone who already has some experience with business analysis or related fields.

Similar to free courses, on-demand classes may not be enough for someone who wants to turn business analysis into a career. They are a great method of upskilling for a current Business Analyst, but they are not exactly in-depth enough for a beginner. Plus, the considerable lack of interaction makes the learning process less enjoyable at times and even ineffective. Mainly, on-demand classes have a time and place but are not recommended as the sole training method for a beginner or someone who wants to become a Business Analyst.

Live Online Classes and Bootcamps

Live online classes and bootcamps are generally the most effective way to gain skills and develop as a business analysis professional. In these courses, you will join virtual classrooms and discuss various topics and concepts with the instructor and peers. Despite being virtual, you will conduct hands-on projects alongside others and can ask questions in real time. The instructor provides feedback to students on their progress and can help clarify complex subject matter so the next step feels less challenging.

Because live online classes and bootcamps have career development ingrained in the curriculum, students leave feeling much more confident in their ability to enter the workforce once the class ends. The projects are crafted after realistic scenarios and students will learn from different case studies and methodologies. As such, they are one of the most effective ways to acquire practical skills. Live classes and bootcamps also offer some of the most exceptional benefits and resources, including but not limited to a free retake of the course or a portion of the course, payment plans, additional mentoring sessions, and portfolio development. 

Still, each method has its advantages and limitations. Live online bootcamps and classes attempt to make up the difference as much as possible despite the lack of an in-person learning environment. Regardless, some people find this somewhat challenging. Additionally, any added distractions or technological issues can deter the learning experience and make it much more challenging. Each learning method requires different considerations and most of all, it’s important to ensure you feel comfortable going forward in the right class for you.

How to Find Business Analyst Work at Home

You can work from home as a business analyst by searching different platforms and websites. Mostly, you can read through different job openings on official company homepages, explore job posting platforms, and look for jobs on freelance-specific websites. Here, you can read through your options to find work as a remote Business Analyst.

Freelance Opportunities

Freelancing is a term for someone who is self-employed and works on a project-by-project basis or through a set contract. They typically work from home during this time, but can also work on-site at certain companies. In essence, you are offering and marketing your services to multiple clients at a time and serve as a kind of small business. As a result, you must have strong business skills in addition to a strong grasp of foundational and advanced Business Analyst skills.

You can search for freelance opportunities on websites like Upwork and Freelancer, which are designed to help freelance professionals of all kinds find employment. In addition, websites like Indeed or Glassdoor post freelance positions as much as they would other employment opportunities. If all else fails, you can explore job postings on company websites. Here, the company may share its expectations and requirements for freelance professionals and could provide more insight than a typical job posting website. All in all, there are many ways to find freelance jobs online.

Finding Remote Jobs as a Business Analyst

As a Business Analyst, you can find a job in virtually any industry and company, including those such as healthcare, finance, retail, technology, and tourism. It’s an essential job role for any major business to fill if they want to maintain a competitive edge against competitors. In general, companies that have a heavy reliance on data processing and analysis, risk management assessment, increased sales, and improved efficiency will be more likely to hire a Business Analyst. These businesses may include software companies, banks, management consultancies, brick-and-mortar stores, information technology firms, and those in the public sector.

Typically, the work you produce as a remote Business Analyst will be the same as an in-house Business Analyst. You will still analyze different data sets, assess any potential variations in the data trends, determine the next steps for improvement, and overall attempt to optimize the regular workflow of the company. The work you complete will depend on the industry, but the tasks are relatively standard throughout different fields. For instance, the telecommunications industry may hire Business Analysts to analyze their customer service data whereas a Business Analyst in the education industry will compile student data and gain insights to help the institution retain and increase its student population.

How Will Remote Work as a Business Analyst Differ from On-site Work?

Working as a remote Business Analyst is a great opportunity, but requires different attitudes and considerations than an on-site job position. Remote work is typically incredibly sought-after. This work style offers a flexible way to complete your tasks, particularly if you can pace yourself throughout the day as opposed to clocking in and out. Business Analysts can still conduct their regular work tasks, such as data collection, analysis, interpretation, and documentation. Through remote tools, a remote Business Analyst can collaborate with others and provide support for colleagues throughout different projects. If you prefer a more fluid work-life balance and have the proper attributes to thrive in an individual work setting, then remote work is a great option.

Still, there are a few factors to consider before deciding whether working remotely as a Business Analyst is right for you. Most notably, you may not live in a proper environment to work remotely. If your house is incredibly busy, or if your internet is unreliable, this can pose severe challenges, or at a minimum cause some unwanted distractions. Because the majority of your office discussions and collaborations occur virtually, such as on Zoom, Slack, Outlook, or other digital mediums, it requires you to have expert verbal and written communication skills. Additionally, be honest about your work style. If you know you thrive in a neutral environment with other colleagues, perhaps on-site work is the best bet. However, if you are disciplined and organized, remote work may be favorable.

Learn the Skills to Become a Business Analyst at Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop offers students numerous ways to learn business analysis skills, ranging from specific tools and technologies to entire subjects. You can start with beginner courses and steadily work your way through levels of advancement. For instance, you can learn SQL and Python from entry-level classes and move up the rankings before moving on to your next learning venture. If you need to gain skills in a few Microsoft Office products, but not all, this is an ideal way to acquire those skills. Plus, taking short courses ensures that you save time and avoid getting too over your head if you only need basic skills instead of professional-grade skills.

However, if you want to advance through the levels all in one go, consider the bootcamps offered at Noble Desktop. These are typically lengthier than an individual course but are bundled classes, meaning you’ll go through beginner, intermediate, and advanced-level concepts. You can explore different subjects in bootcamps, like data visualization platforms such as Tableau and Power BI. Additionally, bootcamps are rooted in career development so you will benefit from the additional benefits and resources.

For the most in-depth learning experience, you can also explore certificate courses. These are more intense than typical courses and usually last much longer. However, they are entirely designed to help prepare you for a future in your desired career. For instance, Noble Desktop offers a Business Analyst Certificate course that will give you the necessary skills to enter the field. In addition, certificate classes can help you study for a relevant certification exam, should you choose to explore this path.