Are you a Business Analyst thinking about advancing your career? What’s the next step when moving to a higher-level management position? It’s natural for a business analyst to progress their technology careers by becoming a project manager. But how do you get from BA to PM? In order to drive your tech career further, follow the advice we have listed below to stay on the right track with your business analyst career or project manager career.

Understand the Differences Between Business Analyst and Project Manager
When advancing your business analyst career, the first thing you need to be aware of is the differences between a BA and a PM. You should analyze the different skills needed for each role, how to obtain those skills, and what steps you need to take to further your tech career. The main differences and similarities, are portrayed in the visual below:

Source: Grey Campus

Both positions are similar due to their contribution to business growth; however, project managers play more of a leadership role within assigned projects, whereas business analysts are individual contributors. Both roles require listening, communication, collaboration skills, but differ in responsibilities. Once you define these differences, you are able to pinpoint what you need to accomplish to advance your business analyst career to a project manager career.

What PM Skills do you Already Have?
So, what PM skills do you already possess? If you find that you have many skills that transfer over to a project manager career, you should make that known in your current role. This is done through taking on a leadership position in projects, posting your insights on platforms such as LinkedIn, and weaving other PM skills into your current role. If you are able to demonstrate these skills, you are sure to catch the attention of you manager. Which brings us to our next point…

Make Your Intentions Known
If you are looking to further your tech career into a managerial position, you should make this known to your manager and any technical recruiters. Communicate you desire to move positions and let them know what you have done to do so. You should also prepare questions and conversations with other project managers. Hearing from a PM firsthand grants you a lot of the information you need to advance your career.

Become Certified
Lastly, consider becoming PMP certified. There are many benefits to becoming certified. Getting the right education and certifications gives you a step up when making the transition from BA to PM. Getting PMP certified brings a lot of opportunity for you career, and we highly recommend you do so if you want to get your project manager career going.

Having these steps in mind is a step in the right direction when advancing your tech career. Moving from a business analyst position to a project manager role is a great way to further your career. If you have any more questions about this transition, feel free to reach out.

About Precision
Precision Technologies Corp. (PTC) is a leading full stack IT Company with a diversified portfolio of agile transformation, application & mobile development, the PMO suite, automation, analytics, salesforce solutions and technology staffing services. Since 2010, our clients have leveraged our staffing and consulting experience to obtain escalated technical services across the industries. We often are told that our solutions are very precise, cost-effective and process driven, thereby delivering intended results. https://precisiontechcorp.com/