BI aims to support intelligent decision making by analyzing past and current organizational data and running this information through predictive models that can help the organization make the right decisions and the right times.  Software from many companies makes this task much easier, so a doctorate’s degree isn’t required to be successful at producing this type of advanced modeling and analysis.  Most important is an understanding of the organization, some training with the tools, and the ability to be thorough in thoughtful in making sure your inputs are accurate.

A strong candidate for business intelligence jobs will some, if not all of the following traits:

• Experience working in a similar industry
• Experience in any of the following data management fields: data management, enterprise data management, data governance, metadata management, data quality, or data warehousing
• Project and/or program management
• “Big Picture” thinking – experience working outside of a single silo
• Cross-functional experience – working on projects with both the business and IT to accomplish a shared goal

There are many different things that you can do to position yourself well for jobs in this industry.  If you have even 1 or 2 of the bullets above, and can present your case well for why you’d be a good fit for a job you are interviewing for, you have a good chance at landing the job.

Although Business Intelligence is a fairly new term, the ideas behind it don’t seem to be particularly revolutionary or new.  As they say, “Everything old is new again”.  The trend in this industry is to stick cool ‘buzzwords’ onto things that many people have been doing for a very long time. So, even if you haven’t been in a ‘Business Intelligence Job’ all along, there is a very strong chance that you’ve been implementing its ideas and principles in jobs that are very similar.  So, your goal when trying to land a business intelligence job is to tightly relate your experience and education to the job description (and information about the job that people have provided or alluded to).

On this site, we’ve provided information, tips, and other resources that we’ve discovered for landing a business intelligence job.  Some of it may come as common sense to you, some won’t.  Please explore the site by clicking on the various links.  We want you to succeed in your plight for the perfect jobs… whether it is business intelligence or data management in the medical, banking, finance, government, or clinical research fields.

Depending on the technical level of the job, your experience may or may not need to be tightly related to exactly what you will be doing.  I have found that the less technical the position, the more flexible a hiring manager will be in filling the position.  For instance, if the data management position you are applying for is heavily in the analysis field, experience as a business analyst is very closely related, and thus you would likely be a good fit for the position.  It is your job to convince the hiring manager that indeed your experience is relevant and closely related, and that you can walk right into the job with a solid understanding of what needs to be done.

You can do this by relating all of your past experience with the different items that are listed in the job description.  I also highly recommend that you use specific examples of how you performed a task, rather than speaking generally.  For instance, “I have a large amount of experience performing historical data analysis and data management.  I’ve been doing it for years” is not the best way to talk about this.  Instead, use a specific example to hammer the point home, such as, “I’ve been doing data analysis and management for many years.  A few years ago, my team and I used a data analysis tool to help us determine the best target market for our new product using industry trending and data.  Recently, we developed a model that uses historical data to help guide the decision making process for our marketing group”.  When you use strong scenarios, and demonstrate innovation and success, you become a memorable and desirable candidate to the hiring manager.

Data Management jobs also come in many different forms.  You can find jobs working directly for a company, or working for a consulting firm such as IBM, Accenture, KPMG and others to help perform data management tasks for their clients.  Additionally, there is no medium to large industry that does not have a need for data management.  From the obvious fields, such as medical, aerospace, and government, to the smaller industries such as professional sports, radio marketing, and online collaboration – all of these use and need data management. I suggest you seek out positions in fields that you are particularly interested in; doing this will ensure that you are enthusiastic about not just the job, but also the interview.  This will come across positively to the interviewer.  I wish you the best of luck in your hunt for a data management job.