Molly is a Business Analyst working in Core Digital Services, supporting technical teams to deliver transformation for our customers.
Find out how she went from working in a law firm to a career in government, what a day as a Business Analyst in DWP Digital looks like, and the three skills you need to succeed in the role.
From Legal Assistant to Business Analyst
After completing my A-Levels I wasn’t sure what career I wanted. I secured a university place to study English but deferred my spot while I figured out if it was the right fit for me.
Instead of going in that direction, I found myself working as a Legal Assistant at a law firm. I was expecting it to be exciting and glamorous like TV often makes it out to be, but it was quite dull. However, I picked up lots of transferrable skills along the way – liaising with clients, allocating workloads between legal teams, report writing and more.
After being sold on the Civil Service by some friends who were already enjoying their jobs in government, I successfully applied for a Business Management role in DWP Digital. Once I arrived, I spent time working in a variety of business support roles but wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone and try something new. It turned out business analysis was the best fit and I went on to complete a Level 4 BA apprenticeship while working in the role.
Collaborating at pace
One of the things I enjoy most about being a Business Analyst is the variety as well as having the freedom to shape my work and the way I approach it. Although some day-to-day duties are the same, the context and projects constantly change. Core Digital Services is a fast-paced environment which I enjoy.
It’s great to work in a technical team without being a developer or tester. As a BA, I’m able to focus on building relationships and establishing a balance between the business and user needs – embracing and enabling change along the way.
A day in my work life
There isn’t really a typical day in my role as it’s all very different!
I’m a BA across two agile teams delivering a high-profile transformation which will support the modernisation of DWP’s payment systems. Working across two teams with several products and microservices means I need to be organised and ensure I understand wider priorities so I can maximise my time.
Day-to-day duties can include reviewing and inputting on system designs, engaging with developers and testers to ensure work is ready for development and ensuring my product and delivery manager are up to date with any changes to support planning. I also identify and track blockers and interdependencies between the teams and collaborate with user centre designed team colleagues to gather insight on our user interfaces. Like I said, lots of variety!
Core Digital Services is responsible for the management and modernisation of some of the most important services and applications within Digital Group and so it’s nice to feel you are contributing to that and the important services DWP provides citizens.
3 skills needed to thrive as a Business Analyst
People skills: You need to be comfortable interacting with people from a variety of backgrounds and good at building relationships. Being naturally inquisitive helps too. Asking ‘why’, questioning things, and digging deeper into problems or situations to understand root causes.
Creativity: Suggesting options and solutions, presenting information in a way that an audience will understand is really important. You also need to be a bit of a chameleon – embracing change and a fast-paced environment.
Organisation: You’ll be responsible for managing your own work in line with business priorities, so you need to be disciplined to ensure you meet deadlines.