Research Summary. Here are some key points about hiring business analysts in the United States:
Hiring a business analyst comes with both the one-time cost per hire and ongoing costs. The cost of recruiting business analysts involves promoting the job and spending time conducting interviews. Ongoing costs include employee salary, training, benefits, insurance, and equipment. It is essential to consider the cost of business analyst recruiting as well the ongoing costs of maintaining the new employee.
Business analysts earn a median yearly salary is $74,431 a year in the US. However, if you're looking to find business analysts for hire on a contract or per-project basis, hourly rates typically range between $25 and $49.
To hire a business analyst, you should create an ideal candidate profile, determine a budget, and post and promote your job. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to hire a business analyst:
Before you post your business analyst job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business need. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a business analyst for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.
Before you hire a business analyst, you should also consider the ideal background you'd like them to have. For example, what industry or field they have experience in, what level of seniority or education the job requires, and how much it'll cost to hire a candidate that fits the bill.
This list provides information on the salaries of different business analyst roles.
Type Of Business Analyst | Description | Hourly Rate |
---|---|---|
Business Analyst | A business analyst is someone who analyzes an organization or business domain (real or hypothetical) and documents its business or processes or systems, assessing the business model or its integration with technology. | $25-49 |
Technical Analyst | A technical analyst is responsible for analyzing technical information and aligning it to the business strategies and procedures in meeting project goals. Technical analysts monitor technical system errors and provide immediate resolutions to ensure an efficient and smooth flow of operations... Show More | $28-44 |
Developer Analyst | A developer analyst is a professional who is responsible for building application requirements and develops database solutions that allow operational efficiency and user-friendly tools. Developer analysts are required to develop a detailed definition of business solutions that can include database design, data flow, and transaction processing requirements... Show More | $30-54 |
Before you draft a business analyst job description, imagine the ideal employee for the role and begin creating a profile. What are they proficient in and what sort of background do they have?
Business analysts typically have the following skills:
Here is a list of common responsibilities that business analysts may be expected to fulfill:
Beyond the nuts and bolts, cultural fit is an important factor. It might help to ask yourself how your ideal business analyst will live by the company's mission statement and contribute to the team dynamic you already have in place. Clearly communicating this vision in your business analyst job description will help attract candidates who are better suited for the role.
Rank # | State | # Of Jobs | % of Population | Avg. Salary |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ohio | 2,112 | 18% | $71,786 |
2 | Virginia | 1,997 | 24% | $72,957 |
3 | Minnesota | 1,584 | 28% | $72,454 |
4 | Massachusetts | 1,578 | 23% | $72,540 |
5 | Missouri | 1,233 | 20% | $66,979 |
Including a salary range in your job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A business analyst salary can vary based on several factors:
Rank | State | Avg. Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Count |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | California | $91,966 | $44 | 11 |
2 | Washington | $88,529 | $43 | 45 |
3 | New Jersey | $81,060 | $39 | |
4 | New York | $77,893 | $37 | 151 |
5 | District of Columbia | $76,558 | $37 | 114 |
Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | The Citadel | $146,891 | $70.62 | 2 |
2 | Bunge | $129,370 | $62.20 | 12 |
3 | ICE Mortgage Technology | $128,671 | $61.86 | |
4 | Meta | $128,267 | $61.67 | 10 |
5 | Apple | $127,963 | $61.52 | 870 |
6 | Safeway | $127,372 | $61.24 | |
7 | Fundbox | $127,186 | $61.15 | |
8 | Pacific Investment Management Company LLC | $126,082 | $60.62 | |
9 | $126,080 | $60.62 | 103 | |
10 | NVIDIA | $125,618 | $60.39 | 9 |
11 | Putnam Investments | $125,141 | $60.16 | 1 |
12 | Relationship Science | $125,035 | $60.11 | |
13 | AEA Investors | $124,914 | $60.05 | 1 |
14 | NerdWallet | $124,591 | $59.90 | |
15 | Cambridge Associates | $124,498 | $59.85 | 2 |
16 | $124,383 | $59.80 | ||
17 | Western Digital | $124,287 | $59.75 | 2 |
18 | Centerbridge Partners | $124,118 | $59.67 | |
19 | ORIX USA | $123,209 | $59.24 | 1 |
20 | PayPal | $123,086 | $59.18 | 33 |
A good business analyst job description should include a few things:
To find the right business analyst for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:
Post your job online:
Your first interview with business analyst candidates should focus on their interest in the role and their specific background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.
It's also a good idea to ask about candidates' special skills and talents. If you think that a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.
While interviews are great, you won't always learn enough from a conversation with a business analyst applicant. In those cases, having candidates complete a test project can go a long way in figuring out who's the most likely to succeed in the role. If you aren't a technical person and don't know how to design an appropriate test, you can ask someone else on the team to design it or take a look at these websites to get a few ideas:
The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.
Once you have selected a candidate for the position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. It is important to make sure that your offer is competitive, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.
You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.
To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.