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.

Even if you haven’t worked in a job where your title was ‘Business Intelligence Specialist/Analyst/Manager/Director’, that doesn’t mean you don’t have BI experience.  In fact, many of the common titles in today’s organizations will feel right at home in a BI shop.  For instance, ‘Business Specialist/Analyst’, ‘Data Warehouse Specialist/Analyst’, ‘Data Modeler’, ‘Data Quality Specialist/Analyst’, ‘Data Governance Specialist/Analyst’, and ‘Data Specialist/Analyst’ are all positions that generally have experience working in many of the same areas as a BI Specialist/Analyst would.

Just because this is the case doesn’t necessarily mean a hiring manager, or especially a recruiter, will understand this.  It is critical, in your hunt for a business intelligence job, that you help everyone along the way understand and know that your experience and education make you a perfect fit for the job.  This means that your cover letter, resume, and interview must all revolve around you explaining the tasks and principles that you worked with in your previous positions that closely relate to the job description the company has provided.

Another skill that will help you land a business intelligence job is project management.  If you have experience or training (or both) in leading a project, use this to your advantage by showing the interviewer that you are a leader.  Demonstrate to them that you can take an initiative and run with it. The people that are generally hiring for these types of positions love someone who can take an idea and run with it (because they generally have lots of ideas, but few leaders who can take them and bring them to fruition).  If you don’t have experience or education in this, get some.  Study for the CAPM (or the PMP if you have some experience already).  Take a course at your local community college.  Volunteer at a local charity to lead a new project or initiative that they have.  There is simply no excuse for not having training and/or experience in project management.

Finally, practice your interview!  In all of my experience as the interviewer and the interviewee, I have found that the candidates who generally develop the best relationship and rapport with the interviewer gets the job.  It is just simply not the case that interviewers always pick the most highly qualified person.  Its important that you come across as someone who will ‘fit in’; it is important that you come across as someone who the interviewer could have a great working relationship with them.  My best interview tip is to try to, at the right time, make the discussion turn a little more conversational and a little less Question, answer, question, answer.