Stephanie Gyamfi

So my name is Stephanie. I'm a business analyst apprentice and I'm based in London.

Most of my time has been understanding problems and turning them into clear solutions.

So it consists of talking to people in the business, understanding what they actually need, looking at certain processes and trying to understand what can be improved by them. Trying to rewrite or understand the needs of a business for different technology or features or tools. Supporting workshops or group meetings to gather more information and using feedback or data to help the team make decisions.

Typical day for me includes interacting with a lot of people and doing a deep dive into different documents and processes. So talking to people in the business to gather information, reviewing documents or processes, or doing e-learning or working on my portfolio as an apprentice.

Yes, so I work with quite a few people.

So I work with stakeholders, who are just people who are interested in the projects that I'm working on, to understand what they want.

I might work with a project manager who plans the work and keeps everything on track, my manager or other BAs who do similar work to me but support me in my own role.

I work with developers and the technical team who actually build the technology that we're working on. And I might also work with someone called a product owner who decides what work is most important to do.

And we make sure to have regular communication, regular meetings to make sure we're all on the same page and we know what needs to be done at each stage of a project.

The best thing about my job is really creating positive change.

I really like seeing an idea go from a conversation to then a plan to something that actually helps a business and helps people within a business.

I think it's a role where you can learn a lot about people, about technology and the sector that you're working in. So I feel like every day I'm learning something new.

The hardest part of my job is the different opinions and priorities.

I think everyone has a say on what is best to do, but in your role as a business analyst you really need to understand what the actual problem is, what is the most important thing and how can we keep everybody aligned.

It can also be challenging to understand some technical concepts, but the great thing about working as a team is that people can share their expertise and it definitely gets easier over time.

So I used to work at a startup for six to seven months. After I finished my A levels, I took a gap year.

And when I was working at that startup, I worked in the data and operations team. And I got exposed to a lot of different technology and software, which was quite interesting. Also, the task I was doing was quite intriguing.

And so after I left, I was really trying to find a role that mirrored those similar tasks. And I saw the role that I'm working in now. And I saw the job description and it really aligned with my interests so I applied and the rest is history.

What I really appreciated from education was the work experience opportunities because that gave me a better understanding of different industries and sectors that I didn't know and allowed me to further develop my curiosity.

And that really helped because when I have conversations with people, I feel like they're more in depth and more broad because I have knowledge prior to different experiences that I can talk about.

My job helps improve how people experience certain services and also products. I really try to make sure that I reduce the problems that people are experiencing, reduce frustration and just make smarter decisions in general.

Any way that I can make an improvement, I feel like will create an overall positive customer experience.

So I'm grateful that I'm quite organised. So I like to plan my days in a way that keeps me focused, but also gives me the space to have rest afterwards.

I like to use time blocking, which allows me to set intentional time to do deep work, have meetings and learning, but also make sure I schedule time for myself. I'm very clear about my boundaries as well.

So after the workday, I make sure that I have time to enjoy my hobbies, spend time with people and that balance really allows me to stay productive and avoid burnout.

So as part of National Apprenticeships Week, I was invited to 10 Downing Street to talk to young people about apprenticeships and I even got to meet the prime minister. So that was really fun.

I wish someone told me to lean into my curiosity and pay attention to what I like and don't like because those patterns or clues can really help be a deciding factor as to what you want to do in your future.