Requirements analyst skills for your resume and career

The skills that stand out most can be positioned under two umbrellas - 1) What I call the 30,000-foot skill, namely the ability to understand and articulate the "super-story" of our time, namely "globalization." Students that can fully tell the story of the transition from the old super story - The Cold War, East vs. West, Capitalism versus Communism, to the story involving the rise of big emerging markets, the rapid urbanization there-in, and the enormous global business opportunities arising from this. A visual understanding of globalization conveys to those who are hiring that you're a significant thinker who has both a historical and contemporary perspective that is critical for future growth and prosperity. And - 2) What I call the 30-foot skill, which involves being able to translate that knowledge of globalization into actionable insights, including - a) analysis and selection of promising international markets for any client company, b) strategic alliance formation and international marketing resource expenditure strategies, and c) knowing how to sustain long-term competitiveness and productivity in international markets.

The ability to measure and compare (quantitatively) those dimensions of an international business environment (i.e., market potential, political and legal considerations, infrastructure realities, economic growth, and cultural nuances) that lead to a relative ranking of promising international markets is a technical skill that is critical to global business success. This requires an intimate knowledge and ability to use world-class databases found in world-class university libraries like VCU's (e.g., data-based such as globalEDGE, Business Source Complete, EIU Country Reports, Passport GMID, BCC Research, Uniworld Online, IBISWorld, etc.). This represents the hard/technical skills needed to complement one's historical and contemporary knowledge of global business realities, in conjunction with the soft skills needed by professionals if they are to truly have a long and successful career.

Any time a graduate intentionally takes time off before beginning work, they should focus on activities and experiences that contribute to personal growth and professional development. This could take the form of volunteer service for a charity or community, working as an intern to gain first-hand professional experience, expand career networks, or even travel to new and different destinations that allow for learning about unique places and cultures.

As remote and flexible work continues to penetrate industries across the country, daily office check-in conversations and hallway chatter are rare. New employees should be prepared to bring to the table analytical skills to gather, review, and synthesize information for further review, clarification, and report outs.

New employees should be prepared to communicate well and often, not only expressing expectations of what they need to complete their work but also to frequently updating supervisors and coworkers. Quickly learning the communication preferences and style of a supervisor and organization will set a new employee up for success in any industry.