How To Become A Requirements Analyst: What It Is and Career Path

What is a requirements analyst and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Rebecca Sarver

A requirements analyst determines the needs of a project, acting as a liaison between managers, stakeholders, and software development teams. Their duties are to analyze requirements for a project, reconcile conflicting interests, and determine how to translate the designer's vision into a plan that can be implemented by developers.

They will require a bachelor's degree in computer science or a similar field, experience in software production or programming, and business skills to be eligible for this job. However, the majority of employers prefer applicants who have a master's degree, so if applicants want to progress to a senior role in their career, they should consider continuing their education to this level.

Other qualities that can help applicants stand out from other analysts to include interpersonal skills, research skills, and familiarity with any industry-specific regulations or guidelines that may affect the requirements of a project.

What general advice would you give to a requirements analyst?

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.

ScoreRequirements AnalystUS Average

Salary

6.8

Avg. Salary $86,493

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.3

Growth rate 9%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.19%

Asian 14.55%

Black or African American 10.33%

Hispanic or Latino 11.08%

Unknown 5.01%

White 58.84%

Gender

female 49.28%

male 50.72%

Age - 42

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 - 42

Stress level

5.3

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.5

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.8

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a requirements analyst

Explore requirements analyst education requirements

Most common requirements analyst degrees

Bachelor's

72.5 %

Master's

15.5 %

Associate

9.1 %

Start to develop specific requirements analyst skills

Skills	Percentages
DOD	8.49%
Architecture	6.08%
Project Management	5.60%
User Stories	5.32%
SDLC	4.33%

Complete relevant requirements analyst training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New requirements analysts 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 requirements analyst based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real requirements analyst resumes.

Research requirements analyst duties and responsibilities

Develop and manage issues using SharePoint functions.
Manage multiple aspects of product design and end user analysis objectives medical practice management & HIPAA compliance applications.
Test and execute QA defect and notification reports; identifying project risks and errors.
Work with development, test, training, and help desk teams to verify requirements base on detail engineering prototyping.

Get requirements analyst experience

Generally, it takes 4-6 years to become a requirements analyst. The most common roles before becoming a requirements analyst include business analyst, senior business analyst team lead and technical writer.

Prepare your requirements analyst resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your requirements analyst resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a requirements analyst resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable requirements analyst resume templates

Build a professional requirements analyst resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your requirements analyst resume.