SkillSyncer Logo
Sign up

Business Analyst Resume Keywords

The skills 12,695 Business Analyst job postings ask for, next to what 3,265 candidates' resumes actually list. The difference is where most resumes lose the match.

Updated September 2026 · From 12,695 job postings and 3,265 resumes

Share

Business Analyst

job postings analyzed
12,695
Each counted once
candidate resumes
3,265
One per candidate, the latest
most requested skill
Testing
In 40% of jobs
biggest gap after Testing
Business Process
34% of jobs, 21% of resumes

What the numbers say

The words Business Analyst resumes miss most are the job's own vocabulary. Business processes are in 34% of jobs and on 21% of resumes, and business requirements in 36% against 23%. Analysts tend to write "met with stakeholders to understand their needs". The job posting says "business requirements", and that is the phrase that matches.

Testing is the single most requested skill (40% of jobs, 26% of resumes), usually meaning user acceptance testing. If you plan or run UAT, name it. Finance (35% against 22%) and project management (27% against 15%) are the other large gaps, because many business analyst roles sit in finance or in delivery teams.

Seniority changes the job. Agile rises from 16% of entry-level jobs to 39% of senior ones, user stories from 9% to 25%, and business requirements from 28% to 43%, while Excel falls from 49% to 26%. Over the last year, workshops (12% to 19%) and user stories (16% to 22%) grew, which points to more requirements work done live with the business.

All keywords

Business Analyst keywords, ranked by how many jobs ask for them

Each row shows two numbers: the share of Business Analyst job postings that ask for the skill, and the share of candidates' resumes that had it when scanned against those job postings.

Business Analyst: skills in job postings vs on resumes

The share of 12,695 Business Analyst job postings that ask for each skill, next to the share of 3,265 candidates' resumes that list it. The gap is the difference in percentage points.

Share of job postings asking for it Share of resumes that had it
Skill Asked for in jobsListed on resumes Gappts
1

Testing

Core

1.8× per job that asks
40%
26%
 +14 pts
2

Microsoft Excel

Common

1.4× per job that asks
38%
35%
 +2 pts
3

Business Requirements

Common

1.7× per job that asks
36%
23%
 +13 pts
4

Finance

Common

2.0× per job that asks
35%
22%
 +12 pts
5

Business Process

Common

1.7× per job that asks
34%
21%
 +14 pts
6

SQL

Common

1.3× per job that asks
33%
31%
 +2 pts
7

Agile

Common

1.5× per job that asks
29%
20%
 +9 pts
8

Project Management

Common

1.4× per job that asks
27%
15%
 +12 pts
9

Data Analysis

Common

1.4× per job that asks
26%
20%
 +6 pts
10

Business Intelligence

Common

1.6× per job that asks
24%
21%
 +4 pts
11

Dashboarding

Common

1.6× per job that asks
19%
16%
 +3 pts
12

User Stories

Common

1.5× per job that asks
19%
12%
 +7 pts
13

Power BI

Common

1.4× per job that asks
18%
15%
 +3 pts
14

Tableau

Common

1.3× per job that asks
16%
13%
 +3 pts
15

Microsoft Office

Specialist

1.4× per job that asks
15%
8%
 +7 pts
Show all 50 keywords
16

Microsoft PowerPoint

Specialist

1.1× per job that asks
15%
9%
 +6 pts
17

Jira

Specialist

1.2× per job that asks
14%
10%
 +4 pts
18

Workshops

Specialist

1.2× per job that asks
14%
7%
 +7 pts
19

Database

Specialist

1.3× per job that asks
13%
7%
 +6 pts
20

Querying

Specialist

1.3× per job that asks
13%
8%
 +5 pts
21

Data-Driven

Specialist

1.2× per job that asks
13%
11%
 +1 pts
22

Microsoft Word

Specialist

1.1× per job that asks
12%
5%
 +7 pts
23

Acceptance Testing

Specialist

1.1× per job that asks
12%
6%
 +6 pts
24

Automation

Specialist

1.5× per job that asks
12%
7%
 +5 pts
25

Use Cases

Specialist

1.3× per job that asks
12%
5%
 +7 pts
26

KPIs

Specialist

1.5× per job that asks
12%
8%
 +3 pts
27

Business Administration

Specialist

1.0× per job that asks
11%
4%
 +8 pts
28

Requirements Gathering

Specialist

1.2× per job that asks
11%
6%
 +6 pts
29

User Acceptance Testing

Specialist

1.1× per job that asks
11%
5%
 +6 pts
30

Python

Specialist

1.3× per job that asks
11%
13%
 -2 pts
31

Technical Team

Specialist

1.2× per job that asks
11%
4%
 +7 pts
32

Scrum

Specialist

1.4× per job that asks
11%
7%
 +4 pts
33

Data Visualization

Specialist

1.3× per job that asks
11%
8%
 +3 pts
34

Information Systems

Specialist

1.1× per job that asks
10%
3%
 +8 pts
35

Optimization

Specialist

1.2× per job that asks
10%
6%
 +4 pts
36

Visio

Specialist

1.1× per job that asks
10%
5%
 +6 pts
37

Software Development

Specialist

1.1× per job that asks
10%
4%
 +6 pts
38

Functional Requirements

Specialist

1.2× per job that asks
10%
5%
 +6 pts
39

Elicitation

Specialist

1.3× per job that asks
10%
5%
 +6 pts
40

Information Technology

Specialist

1.2× per job that asks
10%
3%
 +7 pts
41

Functional Specifications

Specialist

1.2× per job that asks
10%
5%
 +5 pts
42

Change Management

Specialist

1.3× per job that asks
9%
5%
 +5 pts
43

Project Methodologies

Specialist

1.3× per job that asks
9%
5%
 +5 pts
44

Diagramming

Specialist

1.2× per job that asks
9%
4%
 +5 pts
45

Process Flows

Specialist

1.1× per job that asks
9%
4%
 +4 pts
46

Software Development Life Cycle

Specialist

1.5× per job that asks
8%
4%
 +4 pts
47

Acceptance Criteria

Specialist

1.3× per job that asks
8%
4%
 +4 pts
48

Budgeting

Specialist

1.4× per job that asks
8%
3%
 +5 pts
49

Confluence

Specialist

1.1× per job that asks
8%
5%
 +3 pts
50

Stakeholder Management

Specialist

1.1× per job that asks
8%
6%
 +3 pts

Source: skillsyncer.com/resume-keywords/business-analyst · CC BY 4.0

Which of these keywords does your resume already have?

Scan my resume free

The gap

The keywords resumes miss most

Asked for far more often than candidates list them. If you have these skills, these are the words most likely to be costing you the match.

Testing

+14 pts
40%
26%

40% of jobs ask for it, but only 26% of resumes list it.

Business Process

+14 pts
34%
21%

34% of jobs ask for it, but only 21% of resumes list it.

Business Requirements

+13 pts
36%
23%

36% of jobs ask for it, but only 23% of resumes list it.

Finance

+12 pts
35%
22%

35% of jobs ask for it, but only 22% of resumes list it.

Project Management

+12 pts
27%
15%

27% of jobs ask for it, but only 15% of resumes list it.

Agile

+9 pts
29%
20%

29% of jobs ask for it, but only 20% of resumes list it.

Find out if your resume is missing these for the job you want.

Check my resume

Trends

Which skills are rising and falling

Share of job postings asking for each skill in the last 12 months against the 12 before. Dashboarding and Workshops are climbing; Project Management is fading.

Business Analyst: skills rising and falling

The share of Business Analyst job postings asking for each skill in the previous 12 months (hollow dot) and the last 12 months (solid dot). Only skills that moved at least 3 points are shown.

Previous 12 months Last 12 months
0%25%50%
  1. Dashboarding +7 pts
  2. Workshops +7 pts
  3. Automation +6 pts
  4. Stakeholder Management +6 pts
  5. User Stories +6 pts
  6. Business Requirements +6 pts
  7. Power BI +6 pts
  8. Business Intelligence +6 pts
  9. Technical Team +5 pts
  10. Project Management -3 pts
Show all 16 skills
  1. Acceptance Criteria +5 pts
  2. Testing +5 pts
  3. Agile +4 pts
  4. Finance +3 pts
  5. Jira +3 pts
  6. Elicitation +3 pts

Source: skillsyncer.com/resume-keywords/business-analyst · CC BY 4.0

By seniority

What changes from entry level to senior

Share of job postings asking for each skill, split by the level in the job title. Darker means more job postings at that level ask for it.

Business Analyst: skills by seniority

The share of Business Analyst job postings asking for each skill at each level, with the level read from the job title. Darker cells mean more job postings at that level ask for it.

Skill Entry level 876 jobs Mid level 10,546 jobs Senior 1,273 jobs
Testing 34% 40% 49%
Microsoft Excel 49% 38% 26%
Business Requirements 28% 36% 43%
Finance 34% 34% 37%
Business Process 28% 34% 39%
SQL 28% 34% 30%
Agile 16% 29% 39%
Project Management 21% 27% 32%
Data Analysis 25% 26% 22%
Business Intelligence 19% 25% 20%
Dashboarding 17% 20% 15%
User Stories 9% 19% 25%

Source: skillsyncer.com/resume-keywords/business-analyst · CC BY 4.0

See how your resume matches a job at your level.

Scan my resume free

Copy list

Every keyword, grouped by how expected it is

Use the exact wording, and only for skills you can talk about in an interview.

Core 1

In 40% or more of job postings. Expected on almost every resume for this role.

  • Testing
Common 13

In 15 to 40% of job postings. Worth listing whenever you have them.

  • Microsoft Excel
  • Business Requirements
  • Finance
  • Business Process
  • SQL
  • Agile
  • Project Management
  • Data Analysis
  • Business Intelligence
  • Dashboarding
  • User Stories
  • Power BI
  • Tableau
Specialist 36

Under 15%. They set you apart for the jobs that ask.

  • Microsoft Office
  • Microsoft PowerPoint
  • Jira
  • Workshops
  • Database
  • Querying
  • Data-Driven
  • Microsoft Word
  • Acceptance Testing
  • Automation
  • Use Cases
  • KPIs
  • Business Administration
  • Requirements Gathering
  • User Acceptance Testing
  • Python
  • Technical Team
  • Scrum
  • Data Visualization
  • Information Systems
  • Optimization
  • Visio
  • Software Development
  • Functional Requirements
  • Elicitation
  • Information Technology
  • Functional Specifications
  • Change Management
  • Project Methodologies
  • Diagramming
  • Process Flows
  • Software Development Life Cycle
  • Acceptance Criteria
  • Budgeting
  • Confluence
  • Stakeholder Management

In context

Bullets that use these keywords

A keyword counts for more inside a bullet that shows what you did with it than in a list at the bottom.

  • Ran 14 workshops with claims staff to turn business requirements into 120 user stories for a new intake system.

    Workshops User Stories

  • Mapped the invoice approval business process for finance end to end, removing three hand-offs and cutting cycle time from nine days to four.

    Business Process Finance

  • Planned and ran user acceptance testing for three releases, tracking 400 test cases and their defects in Jira.

    Testing Jira

  • Wrote SQL against the policy database and built a Power BI view of backlog by team for operations leadership.

    SQL Power BI

Get bullets like these written from your own experience.

Tailor my resume

Resume examples

Business Analyst resumes built from this data

Entry level, mid level and senior example resumes using these keywords, each measured against the Business Analyst job postings at its level, with notes on why each section is written the way it is.

See the resume examples

Related roles

Roles whose jobs ask for similar skills

Measured by overlap in the skills their job postings request, not by job category.

Data Analyst resume keywords

From 31,011 job postings

  • SQL 71%
  • Business Intelligence 54%
  • Dashboarding 52%

Project Manager resume keywords

From 7,516 job postings

  • Budgeting 55%
  • Project Planning 39%
  • Finance 32%

Data Scientist resume keywords

From 8,584 job postings

  • Python 82%
  • Machine Learning 69%
  • SQL 64%

Software Engineer resume keywords

From 31,939 job postings

  • Coding 61%
  • Testing 53%
  • Java 49%

Method

How these numbers were counted

  1. 14,123 scans
  2. 50 keywords
  3. 3,265 resumes
  4. 12,695 job postings

Every figure on this page comes from resumes people scanned against Business Analyst job postings between September 2024 and September 2026: 12,695 distinct job postings and the resumes of 3,265 candidates.

A job posting counts once, however many people scanned it. Each candidate counts once too, with the most recent resume they scanned for this role, so someone who applied to fifty jobs does not outweigh fifty people who applied to one.

Nothing here identifies anyone. These are counts across many people. No resume or job description text, names, contact details or employers are published, and a job title only appears once at least 10 different people have scanned it. See our privacy policy.

Job titles are grouped: "Senior Data Analyst", "Data Analyst II" and "Data Analyst (Remote)" all count here. Keywords are matched against a library of known skills, with different spellings of one skill counted together, so "MS Excel" and "Excel" are one keyword.

Download this data as a CSV. Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0, with a link back to this page.

Refreshed every quarter from new scans. Last updated September 2026; next update December 2026.

Common questions

What keywords should I put on a Business Analyst resume?

Start with the core skills, the ones at least 40% of Business Analyst job postings ask for: Testing. Use them in the job posting's exact wording, and only for skills you actually have.

Which Business Analyst skills do resumes most often leave out?

Testing, Business Process and Business Requirements. Testing appears in 40% of job postings but only 26% of resumes.

Which Business Analyst skills are employers asking for more?

Over the last 12 months, Dashboarding, Workshops and Automation grew the most in share of Business Analyst job postings.

Is my resume published here?

No. Your resume is only ever counted, never shown. This page reports percentages across at least 10 different people per job title, and no resume or job description text, names, contact details or employers appear anywhere in it.

How often is this data updated?

Every quarter, from new scans. This page was last updated in September 2026 and the next update is due in December 2026.

Is this the same as ATS keywords?

Close. An applicant tracking system searches your resume for the skills in the job posting, so the skills job postings ask for most often are the ones an ATS is most often looking for. The only way to know for one job is to check your resume against that job posting.

Which of these is your resume missing?

Scan your resume against a real Business Analyst job.

Scan my resume free Keyword finder