Has anyone ever worked in the projects office or done business analyst work at a bank? What were your experiences?
i’m a BA at a financial institution (non-bank). i dont know what you mean by “your experiences”.
hey there, I’m also interested in the topic. I was offered a position of BA/Project Manager in the Prime Brokerage division of a top bank. Base salary is great but I’m not sure BA/PM should be my next step. Depending on banks, I understood a BA could either be dedicated to an application or to a Business Line (job I was offered would be BA for a Business Line) what about your current position nolabird? What’s your typical day like? Do you work long hours? Do you take crap from all the project sponsors ? What is it that you like most/least about your job? What are the ex opp after a couple of years? thks
I am a business analyst. i dont really have a typical day… that is the beauty of project work. everyday is different. somedays i am in meetings all day, others i am writing requirements. i could be doing some research or testing. the hours are awesome. i rarely work more than 40 hrs/wk, although it depends on what the project deadlines are, other people’s schedules, if there are any issues etc. my group is a little different… i work a lot on bugs/upgrades so it is a lot of internal small projects and typically my director is the sponsor. there are def some challenges that come w/ the territory (bridging communication gaps is not always easy). the most important thing that i have learned is to ask a lot of questions and learn how to navigate office politics. You need to make a lot of friends and figure out who knows what (subject matter experts)… I’m lucky to be in a highly visible and well-respected area of the company so my favorite thing is the networking that I have been able to do. I deal with people at all levels and it is fairly easy to transition within my company if you know the right people. Most people move from being a BA to a BA manager, director or become a project manager. I am obviously more interested into becoming a securities analyst which is why I’m taking the CFA exams. Don’t confuse an equity/FI analyst with being a business analyst… two completely different positions.
thanks nola! I am well aware of the differences between a BA and (any asset class) analyst 
(out of curiosity) do you work on the east coast?
yup… beantown
Beantown!! Arghhhh!! I’m an A’s and Yankees fan. I hate anything and everything Boston especially the Redsox. Really, I don’t like anywhere on the East Coast when I compare it to California. Which is the greatest state in the union FYI.
not so sure it would stay the greatest state if you were convincing enough for everyone to make it to Cali… just enjoy CA and don’t scorn on the rest of the country. Yours is a useless post man, go back to parading about your new job instead.
i agree. an odd post. to each his own. ca is a nice place to visit but there are very few cities (within a very large state) that i would move to. anyway… good luck w/ the job search bouh22… let me know if you have any more questions.