Business analysts: why are there so many of you?

[Elliegirl]

So in my field and with my specialism when I see that say, 40 people have applied for a role, there's a good chance that at least a quarter of them of them are just chancing their arm. I go into LinkedIn this evening and for some reason it shows me a business analyst role. 324 applications. These are the kind of numbers you would have expected for a generalist, admin role.
So how are you Business Analysts on this site getting on? is the market saturated or are there a ton of people chancing their arms too?

[The Butcher]

So how are you Business Analysts on this site getting on? is the market saturated or are there a ton of people chancing their arms too?

I'm a BA and I am getting close to a bench warming anniversary . So for me it is pretty tough out there, with a lot less roles being available and there seems to be more competition when you do actually get an interview. Clients can cherry pick the candidate that meets all of their requirements.
I am very selective as to the roles I apply for and my war chest is still pretty healthy so I'm not panicking yet.

I just had a look on LinkedIn and see that there are 500+ applicants for a Business Analyst job at Google.

[m0n1k3r]

@contract recently advertised for 2 BA's, 8 Java developers and 2 testers, all contract. This the number of applicants:

103 BA's
34 Java devs
70 testers

[cojak]

I've never applied for a role via LinkedIn (recruiters contact me). Where do the number of applications appear?

[m0n1k3r]

I've never applied for a role via LinkedIn (recruiters contact me). Where do the number of applications appear?

I think it was advertised direct (not via recruiters) on CWJobs or Jobserve. The latter is apparently the preference, as CWJobs and the others are far, far more expensive.

Edit: Sorry, just realised this wasn't in response to my posting. But here you have it anyway.

[cojak]

I think it was advertised direct (not via recruiters) on CWJobs or Jobserve. The latter is apparently the preference, as CWJobs and the others are far, far more expensive.

Edit: Sorry, just realised this wasn't in response to my posting. But here you have it anyway.

No probs, m0n1k3r

[SueEllen]

I've never applied for a role via LinkedIn (recruiters contact me). Where do the number of applications appear?

On the advert near the bottom before you can apply it states the number of applicants.

This does presume that all the people who are applying are capable of doing the job and are allowed to work in the UK.

[kaiser78]

...This does presume that all the people who are applying are capable of doing the job and are allowed to work in the UK.

That reduces the numbers by ~90% then...

[barrydidit]

Previous clientco was trying to recruit permie BA's. They just got deluged by chancers with little or no experience. Quite common was for a business person to be seconded onto a project for 6 months, and then try and pass themselves off as a BA to another organisation. I don't think ex clientco managed to recruit a single one, and ended up taking the same 'second a few over from the business teams and see how they do' approach. I reckon that's why you see so many applications being made.

[Antman]

Same where I am, basically anybody (of the permie staff) with some domain knowledge can become a BA.

Plus "BA" can pretty much mean anything these days.