Let’s start with a general introduction to the role.
Business Analyst Interns usually stay at the Firm for around 10-12 weeks. They are an active part of client engagement teams, which are usually composed of 3-5 consultants, i.e., Business Analysts, Associates, Managers, Partners.
Interns take on a variety of tasks and support the team with project-specific analyses. The main difference with respect to a Business Analyst is the level of complexity of the task as well as its scope and degree of autonomy expected. Typical activities vary according to the engagement and include, but are not limited to analyzing data, building analytical models (e.g., on Excel), summarizing documents, developing slides for client presentations, and organizing logistics and internal requests/activities.
It is hard to cover all the main tasks carried out by an Intern at the Firm, which is why I have created a summary table below to give you a general but comprehensive overview of the job.
- Typical activities:
- Analyze data, summarize data, generate insights, communicate results
- Tools used:
- Excel for data analysis
- PowerPoint for presentations
- Some projects might require big data tools such as PowerBI, Alteryx, Tableau, but the knowledge of these tools is not mandatory, and it is rather taught on the job
- Time split client vs non client-facing activities:
- 80% non-client facing activities (e.g., daily check-ins/outs with Manager, conduct data analyses, etc.)
- 20% client facing activities (e.g., data request meetings, client updates, steering committee, etc.)
- Skills learned:
- How to master the fundamentals of Excel and PowerPoint
- How to format and proof-read client documents (e.g., client presentations)
- How to perform detailed, repetitive tasks with high quality and dependability
- How to manage a workstream
- How to coordinate internal and external stakeholders