Business intelligence (BI) is the ability via analysis, hardware, and software to acquire and build a better view of the data and information within an organization. A successful business intelligence program requires a commitment from the organization to support, from the top down, the initiative. This includes purchasing the needed equipment, applications, training, and consulting (when necessary) to ensure its success. Because of the high value business intelligence provides to an organization, business intelligence jobs are on the rise across the country – and in a job market like the current one, it is an excellent idea to position yourself well in niches that are on the rise (like business intelligence).
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.