

Nobody extracts key insights from complex data sets better than you. Visualize it on an analyst resume that wins jobs with a higher success rate than Jason Helfstein.
Did you know that the average corporate job opening attracts approximately 250 applications?
Ouch.
You don’t need predictive modeling to determine that the odds of getting called in for an interview are in the extremely low range. This explains why months of job hunting bring no effects, right?
But don’t worry—
With just a few strategic changes to your analyst resume, you can beat the odds and land that all-important interview.
We’ve already crunched the numbers and extrapolated actionable insights. All you have to do is implement them on your analyst resume and watch your ROI increase!
This guide will show you:
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Denise Holland
Business Systems Analyst
801-676-6552
denisemholland@gmail.com
linkedin.com/in/denisemholand
twitter.com/denisemholland
Summary
Proven business systems analyst with 5+ years of experience and exceptional communication skills. At GFK Store, increased revenue by 20% and customer satisfaction by 50%. Doubled the number of returning customers and cut complaints by 60%. Eager to drive ROI and maximize efficiency at GTT Solutions.
Experience
Business Systems Analyst
GFK Store
January 2019–May 2021
Key Qualifications & Responsibilities
Drove revenue and significantly increased customer satisfaction by designing targeted, data-driven solutions and improvements to all aspects of the e-commerce business.
Key Achievement:
Junior Business Analyst
HB1 Solutions
June 2016–December 2018
Education
BSc in Business Data Analytics, Arizona State University
2012–2016
Skills
Certifications
Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP)
International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA), 2019
Certification of Competency in Business Analysis (CCBA)
International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA), 2018
Languages
Here’s how to write a job-winning analyst resume:
It doesn’t matter whether you’re applying for a data analyst, financial analyst, or business analyst job. Your resume won’t get you anywhere if it looks like a collection of unstructured qualitative data.
So, the first thing to do is to pick the best resume format to present your skills and expertise in an accessible way. The reverse-chronological format is the ideal choice for an analyst resume: it highlights your biggest accomplishments and is easy to navigate.
Structure your resume using distinct sections, each marked with a clear heading. Make sure to include the following resume parts, in this order:
Okay—
Now that we’ve got our datasets neatly organized, it’s time to think about visualization.
Here’s how to format your analyst resume:
When you’re done, save your analyst resume as a PDF, but keep a Word Doc on hand in case the recruiter asks for a .docx.
Is your resume formatting still a problem domain? Read more: Organizing a Resume: How to Choose the Best Structure
Ready to start reporting on your findings?
Don’t worry about your resume profile for now—we’ll come back to it at the end. For now, let’s tackle the next section down: your work experience.
On a generic resume, the work experience section is where you’d list your duties and responsibilities from previous jobs.
But you’re not writing a generic resume—you’re writing an analyst resume that’s guaranteed to stand out from the crowd and land you an interview. So—
Here’s how to create a job-winning work experience section:
Time for a proof of concept:
RIGHT |
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Business Systems Analyst GFK Store January 2019–May 2021 Key Qualifications & Responsibilities Drove revenue and significantly increased customer satisfaction by designing targeted, data-driven solutions and improvements to all aspects of the e-commerce business.
Key Achievement:
|
Now that’s a serious outlier! 0 out of 100 recruiters would remain indifferent to this kind of data, presented in an organized, efficient way.
Here’s another example for gap analysis:
WRONG |
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GFK Store Business Systems Analyst, 2019–2021
|
This resume is the D in CRUD. Notice that both examples come from the same candidate: it’s all in the way that her experience is presented.
In the first example, the action verbs highlight her ability to take initiative and be the driving force behind positive change. Meanwhile, the bad resume example shows a complete detachment from the job and zero measurable results.
Let’s take a look at examples for entry-level candidates:
RIGHT |
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Junior Analyst FR3 Enterprises June 2019–April 2021
|
Admit it. You’d hire this candidate, wouldn’t you?
Quantifying achievements and highlighting key skills go a long way towards making your resume look less like Python and more like a Tableau graph.
WRONG |
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FR3 Enterprises, 2019–2021 Junior Analyst
|
It’s not a terrible example, it’s just okay. But to get the job, you need to aim much higher than just okay—and as the correct example above shows, the same work experience can be made to look so much better.
Need more data? See: The Ultimate Guide to Resume Work Experience
When making a resume in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building a professional resume template here for free.
When you’re done, Zety’s resume builder will score your resume and tell you exactly how to make it better.
If you’ve been cleaning raw data and forecasting industry trends for a few years, adding education to your resume will only take a minute. Simply list your degree, including the name of the college and your years of study.
Like so:
RIGHT |
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BSc in Business Data Analytics, Arizona State University 2012–2016
|
See? In just a few words and numbers, this candidate shows the recruiter that they’re achievement-oriented and highly motivated.
If you have fewer than 5 years of industry experience, use your education section to its full capacity. Include some bullet points with:
Also, include your GPA on a resume only if it was 3.5 or above.
RIGHT |
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BSc in Business Analytics, University of Pennsylvania 2016–2020
|
See how this candidate used their education section to drop in a few key professional skills, like predictive analytics and R?
Notice that they don’t even mention their GPA! This example is both selective and persuasive—and that’s exactly what we’re aiming for.
Are your minors and majors worth extrapolating? Read more: How to List Minors and Majors on a Resume: Guide and Examples
The skills section of your resume is an opportunity to present the recruiter with the LE of your best analyst skills, as well as score a few points on resume keywords.
Here’s how to add skills to your resume:
Here are some popular analyst resume skills to get you started:
Soft Skills for an Analyst Resume
Hard Skills for an Analyst Resume
Technical Skills for an Analyst Resume
Whew!
That’s a lot of skills to choose from, and if you look back over your experience, you can probably think of even more.
Now, here’s how to input them into the right cells:
RIGHT |
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Skills
|
If you’re an experienced analyst, you may have trouble deciding on just ten skills to include here. Don’t worry—
Keep a backlog of your excess skills and mention them in other sections of your resume, such as your summary or work experience.
Need a bigger sample size? See: The Ultimate List of Resume Skills: 99+ Examples
Do you have any professional certifications, awards, memberships, or other industry experience? Give them a few rows of their own!
Here’s what you could add to your analyst resume:
Here’s an example:
RIGHT |
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Certifications
Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP) International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA), 2019 Certification of Competency in Business Analysis (CCBA) International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA), 2018
Languages
|
Not sure about the right order for your resume sections? Read more: A Complete Guide to Resume Sections and Categories
Unless you’re applying to Oppenheimer & Co., the hiring manager probably doesn’t have your analytical skills (or the time to use them). This means that if they can’t see value in your resume in the first 6 seconds, they’ll delete it and move on. So—
It’s time to do what you do best: analyze your resume, extract key insights, and present them to the recruiter in a resume profile they can’t ignore.
Your resume profile should appear at the top of the page, just below the header. It’s essentially a brief introduction highlighting your best achievements and relevant skills, intended to grab the recruiter’s attention.
There are two types of resume profiles to choose from:
And here’s how to write a job-winning resume profile:
That’s our raw data, cleaned and ready for analysis. Let’s see how it performs:
RIGHT |
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Proven business systems analyst with 5+ years of experience and exceptional communication skills. At GFK Store, increased revenue by 20% and customer satisfaction by 50%. Doubled the number of returning customers and cut complaints by 60%. Eager to drive ROI and maximize efficiency at GTT Solutions. |
Well—
This person can already clean out her desk at GFK Store, because GTT Solutions is getting ready to offer her an interview. Who could say no to those sweet, sweet numbers?
Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum:
WRONG |
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Experienced business systems analyst with a successful track record of improving performance and increasing revenue. Excellent analytical, communication, and data visualization skills. Seeking a challenging position in a fast-paced work environment with opportunities for professional development. |
Unfavorable variance alert.
This summary is all statement and no proof—and it’s far too generic, failing to target the specific company. The candidate mentions all the right skills, but without putting them into the context of examples from her experience.
Now for some entry-level examples:
RIGHT |
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Entry-level data analyst with proven data mining and visualization skills. Graduated with honors and excelled at Digital Economy and Statistical Computing coursework. Member of the Penn Business Roundtable. Eager to apply my expertise towards improving efficiency and driving revenue at GHPH Solutions. |
Oh, to be young and enthusiastic!
What this person lacks in experience, he makes up in dedication and eagerness to prove his skills. Your attitude is surprisingly important when it comes to job hunting: studies suggest that in the U.S., candidates who show enthusiasm have a higher chance of getting hired.
So, that’s our benchmark. Let’s take a look at an objective that doesn’t quite measure up:
WRONG |
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Recent graduate with a passion for data analysis and strong communication skills. Exceptional query building and forecasting skills. Seeking to join an investment or trading company as a junior analyst. |
...a prime example of how just saying you’re passionate doesn’t necessarily show you’re passionate. His biggest mistake? The final sentence: showing zero interest in the company he’s applying to.
So—
As you can see from the correct examples, you don’t need to have Warren Buffett’s level of experience to write a job-winning resume profile. All it takes is the right presentation of your value to the new employer.
Writing your resume profile can be tough. Need extra advice? Read more: How to Write the Perfect Resume Introduction: Guide & Examples
Yeah.
Sorry to break this to you, but you’re going to need a cover letter. Why? Well—
According to our HR statistics, there’s about a 45% chance your application will be instantly rejected if it’s missing a cover letter. And unless you can consult with Meredith Whitney ahead of time, that’s not a risk worth taking.
So, here’s how to write the perfect cover letter:
Remember, you’re not writing a quarterly revenue report: stick to the ideal cover letter length of up to one page.
Read more: What to Say in Your Cover Letter
Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:
See more cover letter templates and start writing.
Here’s a recap of how to write an analyst resume:
And that’s it!
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Drop us a line in the comments below!
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