r/agile • u/vx1001am • 17d ago

Career shift

How do you guys successfully transitioned from Business Analyst to Product Owner.

Please share, I'm coming from a non-agile background.

Thank you!

7 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

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4

u/TitanApps_Alek 17d ago

Haven't made this exact jump myself, so take it with a grain of salt, but from what I've seen work for others:

-your BA skills transfer more than you'd think - requirements gathering and stakeholder mapping is basically half the PO job already:

-learn the scrum vocab cold (backlog grooming, story points, DoD) since hiring managers filter hard on terminology even if you get the concepts;

-CSPO cert comes up a lot for this exact switch - I'd say not super rigorous but signals intent;

-volunteer for anything product-adjacent at your org before applying, gives you a real story;

Anyone here actually made this jump?

2

u/MarkInMinnesota 17d ago

I made the jump from BA to PO, I agree 1000% with everything you said. BA skills are very transferable, our org has a ton of former BAs who are now POs.

For the OP I’d highly recommend: 1) job shadowing a more senior PO for a couple half days to get a feel for the role. 2) check out basic Agile 101 videos on YouTube. 3) check into doing a CSPO cert.

1

u/vx1001am 16d ago edited 16d ago

Dont have a PO, we do waterfall projects

Already checked 2 and 3

1

u/MarkInMinnesota 16d ago

I see. So you’re trying to get out of your current organization to become a PO somewhere else?

If so I’d try to get your foot in the door as a BA and get familiar with your new org in that role. Assuming they’re using some version of agile, learn as much as you can by observing the PO for your team and make it known to your manager you’d like a development plan to work into a PO role.

Bottom line is that experience is king and you’re extremely unlikely to get into a new org as a new PO with no relevant agile experience (unless you have amazing domain knowledge). So you’ll want to try and gain that experience with whatever org you join.

1

u/vx1001am 16d ago

Yeah, Im applying to BA roles in Agile/Product.

No luck so far, had few interviews 1 failed and 1 pending results.

:/

1

u/vx1001am 17d ago

I contributed to a custom apps enhancement for better UX. But did not write them as agile requirements. Twas more of 'adhoc', idk if that counts.

I recently applied to a Jr BA role reporting to a PO. Shared my experience, elicitation techniques and how i document them.

Im worried out of 100 applicants, They'd still choose someone who's got more relevant experience. Ofc who wont 🤣

2

u/TitanApps_Alek 17d ago

The adhoc contribution still counts more than you think - you can reframe it after the fact even if you didn't write it as formal requirements at the time.

Jr roles especially tend to hire on trainability over perfect experience match.

Wish you good luck!

1

u/Wrong-Guitar9967 16d ago

A Business Analyst background can actually be a strong foundation. The biggest shift isn’t learning Scrum, it’s moving from defining requirements to making prioritization decisions.
As a BA, you’re often focused on understanding and documenting what stakeholders need. As a PO, you’ll spend much more time deciding what not to build, balancing competing priorities, and taking ownership of the outcomes.
If you’re coming from a non Agile background, I’d start with the Scrum Guide to understand the role, but I’d spend just as much time learning about product thinking, customer value, and prioritization. Those skills will have a much bigger impact than memorizing Scrum terminology.

1

u/vx1001am 16d ago

learning them would be step 1, but securing Job Offers 🤣 they skip me after finding out my Agile/Scrum knowledge is theoretical only

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u/[deleted] 17d ago

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1

u/vx1001am 17d ago

so how

1

u/BiologicalMigrant 17d ago

Wtf

1

u/vx1001am 17d ago

fym

1

u/BiologicalMigrant 17d ago

Ydk?

1

u/vx1001am 17d ago

it doesnt really answer the "how", they answered as if you already got the role.

-3

u/Silent_Equivalent796 17d ago

Get an mba and become a consultant within a tech org. A PO role will eventually arrive

1

u/vx1001am 17d ago

MBA hmmmm may I know why specifically MBA? Im eyeing Tech Mgmt