Created: 29 September 2021

How to Choose the Right Business Analysis Course

If you want become a business analyst, online courses are a good way to go. This guide helps you select the right business analysis course for your needs.

Keyword(s): business analysis

A successful business analyst can double a company's efficiency.

Business analysts (BAs) are professionals who act as bridges between IT and businesses. They collect data to measure and monitor a company's efficiency and offer suggestions based on data-driven results. 

Many business owners turn to BAs for suggestions on how to add value to the company through software, hardware, and changes to processes. Being a BA requires a creative and analytical mind. 

Are you interested in becoming a business analyst? Learn how to choose the best business analysis course with our below guide. 

Understand Your Personal Needs

Before enrolling in an online learning course, it's important to know your needs and daily schedule. Furthering your skills and education is important, but don't allow the added responsibility to cause too much of an imbalance in your life.

Finding a course that accommodates your daily schedule is especially important if you're holding a full-time job or have a family. Consider only enrolling in one course at a time if you're juggling multiple daily responsibilities.

Double-check the duration of the course and what will be required from you. Will you be able to meet the course's expectations with everything else you have going on?

Read the Course Overview

Take time to carefully read the course review. Get a peek into the course expectations, included materials, and the structure of exams and projects.

Do you have unanswered questions regarding the course? Contact the instructor or course provider for clarification. Receiving clarity before signing up is crucial.

Many sites offer reviews of the course from past participants. Read through their reviews to see if the course met other people's expectations.

You'll also want to check and see if you'll be handling a majority of the work on your own or if you'll be expected to collaborate in group projects. Avoid courses with too much group work if you need a flexible course schedule. 

Understand the Focus of the Course

Take time to understand your interests in the field of Business Analysis and how they align with your course options. Because there are so many facets to business analysis, a course may have a different focus than you're expecting.

Some BA courses are more IT-focused and discuss working with development teams. Little analytics are involved because much of the focus is on project management. 

If you want to heavily work with data, find a course focusing more on the analytics involved in the career. You'll learn about subjects such as statistical analysis, sales data, and data mining. 

Search for a comprehensive course if you'd like a general overview of the field. 

Investigate the Reputation of the Course Provider

Investing in a reputable course provider is an investment with a high yield. Investigate your potential course provider's reputation by checking how long they've been providing courses and how many clients they've worked with in the past. 

Have any of their past clients vastly improved their careers thanks to their courses? Is the course provider backed by major corporations? 

You'll also want to peek at the provider's overall passing rate. While it's important a course challenges you, don't enroll for overly difficult courses that seem almost designed to make you fail.

Find the answers to these questions by taking a deep dive into the provider's website. Guarantee they provide resources to back their claims, and review their mission statement and company values.

Guarantee You'll Be Learning Valuable Information 

Avoid spending time and money on a near useless course by guaranteeing the proposed material will fulfill your career and educational needs. If a course description provides little to no information, be wary of the course.

A high-quality business analysis course will teach you the various types of data you may encounter and what tools you'll need to use in order to solve potential issues. 

The course should provide ample theoretical business situations that put your newly learned knowledge to the test. It should prepare you for the 'real world' by mentally solidifying appropriate concepts and tools, not by encouraging memorisation. 

Evaluate Your Current Skillset

Some online certification courses focus on specific skills, rather than comprehensive overviews. Evaluate your current skills, and highlight your current weaknesses.

Find courses focusing on skills you'd like to gain and/or improve. This way, you know you'll be coming out of the course as a better business analyst rather than wasting time reviewing what you already know. 

If you aren't sure what to work on, chat with a supervisor. Ask them about your areas of improvement to guide you in course selection. Opening yourself up to constructive criticism pays off in the long run.

Double-Check the Cost

Some business analysts receive payment from their employer to take online courses. However, this isn't the case for everyone. 

If you're paying out of pocket, double-check the cost of the course and the materials you'll need. Ask the course provider for a breakdown of the costs if you're a bit suspicious about where your money is going. 

A course cost may be steep, but investing in the course could increase your income due to an improvement of skills. Weigh your different price options. 

Online Learning: Selecting a Business Analysis Course

Selecting an online business analysis course can be overwhelming with the number of choices. Use the above guide to help pick the course that's right for you. 

Look at the cost of the class, instructor, and course focus. Read available reviews from past students, and set up a meeting with the instructor if you have any questions. 

To sign up for business analysis courses, check out the rest of our site. We also offer courses on project management and enterprise architecture. Contact us if you have any questions.