Janine Buis, Business Analyst at Old Mutual, shares her training experience having recently completed the Foundation in Business Analysis course.
On the training Janine learnt how to apply effective stakeholder management strategies to make each of her projects a success, and has gained a broad range of tools and techniques that are adding true value to her day-to-day business analyst job.
Here’s what Janine had to say about her training experience:
Tell us a bit about yourself, Janine.
I am 38 years old, married and a mother of 2 girls aged 6 and 4. I’ve been working at Old Mutual for the past 16 years, first as a financial accountant for 7 years and the last 9 years as a business analyst.
Having completed my Financial information Systems diploma at CPUT and majored in Information Systems, Financial Accounting and Cost and Management Accounting, I pursued a career as a financial accountant.
In 2009 I was offered an opportunity to join the IT team as a Financial Business Analyst, which I accepted and have not looked back since.
Why did you decide to take the foundation in business analysis course?
Overall it was for self-advancement, with a specific objective to get the latest view on the overall role of a business analyst and the most recent investigation techniques for requirements engineering.
These objectives were met as the course covered these key areas, as well as covering activities such as strategy analysis, stakeholder analysis, systems analysis and much, much more.
How will the course help you in your career?
The aspect of business analysis I am most passionate about is communication — as I enjoy listening, building rapport and ultimately building stakeholder relationships — and by using the tools an techniques I’ve already started implementing the knowledge and skills I have gained.
The team-work involved in project delivery is also something I thoroughly enjoy, and
… I am successfully applying my new abilities when conducting interviews, during my stakeholder engagement …
and also when conducting other requirements elicitation tasks.
What was your biggest learning – did you have an AHA! moment?
The tools and techniques used in business analysis — I’ll definitely be using them.
Learning how to identify and manage stakeholders was an invaluable learning for me, especially because effective stakeholder management is key to the success of any project.
What would you tell somebody who is considering doing the course?
That it is absolutely worth investing this time in yourself, and that I highly recommend the Foundation in Business Analysis course.
What did you enjoy most about the BCMG training experience?
The whole course was delivered in a very professional, relaxed and interactive manner — there was plenty of discussion in the room, and the pre-module assessments were both thought-provoking and fun.
In the spirit of ‘keep growing’, what are you keen to learn next?
Yes, I’m already booked on the Requirements Engineering course — and I can’t wait, as the fact that these are short courses makes learning more accessible, jam-packed and very exciting.
