all right for this video I wanted to really quickly explain what what the difference is between an entry-level and a senior business analyst this can be very confusing for somebody who's not in profession because it seems as though the responsibilities of an entry entry-level business analyst or a junior business analyst or a business analyst one business analyst two senior business analysts and so forth is essentially the same thing so what's really the difference you know between when you get started and you know when when you have more experience I mean I think for me the easiest way to explain this to especially somebody who's not already in the profession and is just trying to understand how it all works is to relate it to cooking when you're an entry-level business analyst you're essentially don't really know anything about cooking so you're essentially going to follow a recipe you're going to you're not going to pick you're not going to decide on the ingredients you're not going to decide on how you're going to cook it you're essentially being being given the food being given the left list of steps to take to create that food and then you're just going to follow it you don't ask questions you don't make modifications you just kind of do it because you're just learning the basics for an entry-level business analyst this might be the same thing you might you know tell a new business analyst hey can you go document all the data requirements of this particular interface what's the data what's it used for etc or you might say go document the address process which is literally just asking talking to the people who do it and saying hey what is it that you do and why do you do it you didn't come up with the idea to do these activities somebody's probably directing you to do them but nonetheless you're still capable of doing them once you move on from you know kind of just following the recipe then you kind of move on to being able to just cook dishes you're not necessarily coming up with dishes but you know somebody can say hey can you make this particular dish and because you followed the recipe enough times you feel pretty confident that you can just you know go into the kitchen find the ingredients most likely the same ingredients that you use when you're following the recipe but this time you don't need Sippi and you can cook the same dish so you know there are probably some things you can kind of I like you're probably not measuring tablespoons and teaspoons anymore you just know you need about this much to this much but for the most part you're still kind of following that same recipe that you were given and as a junior business analyst or a business analyst one it's kind of the same thing you've documented interfaces documented as those processes as you've been told to do so already in the past so now when somebody tells you to go start the analysis you can do that you can just jump in you start starting so asking the same questions you've been told to ask in the past start documenting some of the same things that you've documented in the past you know the real difference here is you know when you encounter something challenging or something you're not quite sure what to do with more than likely I'm you'll still seek the mentorship of a more senior business analyst just like in the kitchen if say you're out of a particular ingredient you might consult a more senior chef on what would be potentially a good substitute ingredient or whether the dish will probably still be okay if you leave that ingredient out or you know whatever the case may be all right so once you're done being told exactly the dishes that you need to cook next you're at the point where you're just told hey I'm in the mood for beef tonight or hey I'm in the mood for chicken and you can get into that kitchen and create a creative dish without much direction you understand the ingredients you know what ingredients are available to you you know different cooking techniques you know how to cook in the oven and on the stovetop and all of that so you're comfortable with all the techniques you're comfortable that you've experienced it you can handle all the situations and essentially you can do it on your own now much like in the business analyst world you're probably a business analyst too at this point a senior business analyst business house 3 maybe depending how it's structured at your organization but essentially you know you're given the business objective hey we need a system that and the long run to accomplish this or we need to replace this go be the business analyst and make this happen at this point you fully understand system impacts you understand when changing what is going to hurt who you know who to go talk to you probably have a good understanding of the organization to change those people down and not just are you able to do all these techniques you're also able to meet with these high-level stakeholders have discussions have negotiations help them all reach the same page without somebody having to be there to hold your hand and get you through it so once you've kind of become the senior chef you can handle any ingredient you know how they all work together you're kind of the king of the kitchen so at this point you know it's no longer about being the best at just cooking or great at cooking but now it's about expanding that role so you know as a cook this might mean learning how to coordinate cooking with others so if you're a chef at your home this might mean being able to task out different things to maybe your kids or your spouse or your roommates to make sure you still stay coordinated and at the end of you know the cooking time you still come up with a good dish or if you're in a restaurant this might mean coordinating with your under chef's giving them tasks and assignments essentially those entry level you know type activities so that way when everything comes together you come out with a good strong dish in the business analyst world this is being a business analyst lead or business analyst manager essentially you're mentoring younger bees you're helping them understand what tasks techniques activities they need to be performing in this particular project or endeavor to be successful sometimes they're on their own and you're just mentoring sometimes you're working as a group to come together to put something together and finally last but not least it's kind of the the the biggest evolution as a cook is starting your own restaurant starting your own restaurant means you you are no longer just thinking about the foods you have to think about the business as a whole you're thinking about you know cash flow revenue all those things not just the food you're thinking about facilities all those things paying employees potentially and the analogous of that would be an Enterprise Architect which is you know business analyst is no longer working in a particular domain or interest rate industry they're responsible for understanding the ite all of the IT aspects of the entire organization how the business is run to make sure those things are well organized and intermingled and all the parts and pieces flow together to eventually create a great I guess IT and business environment now I hope that helped clear things up and I'll see you next time if you have any more questions leave a comment below or check me out at the meta business analyst com