Business Analyst resume keywords
Most business analyst applications are screened by software before a person reads them: the ATS ranks resumes by how many of the posting's words they contain. The lists below are the terms that show up most in business analyst job ads. Use the ones that are true for you, with the same spelling the ad uses.
Hard skills and ATS keywords
- Requirements gathering
- Process mapping (BPMN)
- SQL
- User stories
- UAT
- Jira & Confluence
- Stakeholder management
- Power BI
- Requirements gathering
- Process mapping
- User stories
- SQL
- Gap analysis
- UAT
- BPMN
- Jira
- Stakeholder analysis
- Data analysis
Soft skills recruiters look for
- Communication
- Analytical thinking
- Facilitation
- Attention to detail
- Negotiation
Soft skills only count when a bullet proves them. "Team player" is ignored; "Wrote requirements for a new claims platform that cut average processing time by 40%." shows it.
Action verbs to start your bullets
- Documented
- Analysed
- Identified
- Streamlined
- Defined
- Facilitated
- Reduced
- Delivered
How to use these keywords
- Mirror the job ad: if it says "Requirements gathering", do not write a synonym.
- Put the top 6–8 in a skills section and repeat the key ones inside experience bullets with a number.
- Never list a skill you cannot talk about in an interview.
- Keep the file text-based (no skills inside images or tables), or the ATS cannot read it.
Which ones is your resume missing?
Every posting is different. Paste your resume and the job ad — free ATS Match Score Score your resume free (0-100)
No signup. It lists the keywords from the ad that your resume does not contain.
Need the resume itself? See the business analyst resume example and generate one free from rough notes.