How To Become A Business Analyst/Product Manager: What It Is and Career Path

What is a business analyst/product manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Rebecca Sarver,

Charles Feldman Ph.D.

The average business analyst/product manager salary is $101,066. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an business major. It usually takes 2-4 years of experience to become a business analyst/product manager. Business analyst/product managers with a Certified Scrum Master (CSM) certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 11% and produce 108,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a business analyst/product manager?

Rebecca Sarver

Lecturer in Human Services Studies, Elmira College

Listen more than you talk. There is so much to be learned from clients, seasoned human service workers, and the community that you work within. By listening and observing versus always feeling compelled to speak, you will learn job skills, people skills, and your clients' needs.

ScoreBusiness Analyst/Product ManagerUS Average

Salary

7.6

Avg. Salary $101,066

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.8

Growth rate 11%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.17%

Asian 14.61%

Black or African American 7.56%

Hispanic or Latino 8.54%

Unknown 4.45%

White 64.66%

Gender

female 37.04%

male 62.96%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

6.8

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.7

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

2.2

Work life balance is very poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a business analyst/product manager

Explore business analyst/product manager education requirements

Most common business analyst/product manager degrees

Bachelor's

73.0 %

Master's

20.8 %

Associate

4.0 %

Start to develop specific business analyst/product manager skills

Skills	Percentages
User Stories	7.81%
Product Management	6.09%
EPICS	5.35%
User Experience	4.90%
Product Development	3.80%

Complete relevant business analyst/product manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New business analyst/product managers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a business analyst/product manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real business analyst/product manager resumes.

Research business analyst/product manager duties and responsibilities

Lead, coordinate and participate in UAT for feature/functionality and technical releases.
Manage SLA for account creation; invoke and manage escalations regarding incomplete/inaccurate data.
Work with engineers, UX, and quality assurance (QA) teams to implement feature set and create test cases.
Support all SharePoint relate issues escalate from the helpdesk.

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