Hi guys,

I know i could google, but wanted to ask you, the difference and career path for not so techy but with some sql knowledge and some data warehousing concepts. I see data analyst , i know ba but not so much about system analyst.
What is the major difference between these 3 and in terms of jobs , which is one has growth prospect? I know through some of my friends that BA's are having difficulty getting jobs..not sure about sa and da.

Please share your experience.

While the job description will vary from company to company here are my inputs : 

The data analyst mostly work with data but they are NOT developers. Even though optimization of query skills are nice to have but it is not absolute requirement for data analyst position. Data analyst basically work with database developers or DBA who are more toward developments and performance. Hope it helps.

Hi mvc, sajhamitra,

Thanks for your inputs. How is job prospect for all these three?. I dont like too much technical but know database design, can use visio to create data models, erds , can query a database comfortably using SQL. I dont like dev track. What area would be good to get into for someone like me?. Plz help. I am comfortable talking with people.

Thanks

Well you can't just design the database and don't do dev works. It will be hard for you find the job if you do that. There are tons of people in market who can do the database design and dev works too. For you closest match would be data analyst position.

Thanks for your response, How about QA?.Is it easier to find jobs for QA?.I hear from people, that pay are almost comparable and less headache. I know , every jobs will have pressure. I see some QA reqs asking for dev background etc...

Well in the QA world you have two type of QA : 

Majako career ko kura hudai raechha. I am also interested in either a QA or a BA. Salary wise which is better? in BA , do you have to do presentations and speeches? I am not very comfortable speaking in front of ppl. 

The simple rule of thumb is if any "aire gaire" can do your job then your salary is low and if your job requires expertise then you get paid higher. That is true any profession. Even in BA or QA there are different career paths like Automated QA, manual Tester etc. If your job can be done by a normal house wife then do you really to expect to get 100K per year? Absolutely not. I would suggest if you love programming and want to make money then go for something which requires programming(dev or test or anything).
Also Mismas,
You don't have to do presentation in front of mass in the beginning of your career but you have to speak up in the regular daily meeting.

BA, SA, DA, and QA work together. As my experience BA and SA have more responsibilities during the project. They stay in touch with project manager in daily basis and DA and QA usually work for BA and SA. BA and SA job descriptions are almost same. They can do both job plus testing as well. Most of my team members title was Business System Analyst. Data analyst/QA jobs are easier if you have little bit knowledge about different phases of project and some testing tools like QC/ALM, QTP, defect tracking tools etc. If you know visual basic you can work on QTP easily. QA needs to communicate with BA/Developer frequently because they are the one who finds hidden bugs in the application. QA does thorough testing and at last BA does UAT testing and sends for production. Once it goes to production...it will be very costly for the company to re-work on same application because there is always projects line up one after another. I see most of the Project mangers are in tense.It is so difficult to work with someone who comes from desi consultancy. They come with 8 years of experience to become BA/SA and they know nothing.  There are different level of QA such as, Junior, senior, lead, test manager etc. I think it is better to start from QA/DA and BA later. Salary is almost same to all developer, BA and QA depends on their experience and Company. These days almost all company ask for automation experience for all QA even if you don't have to work on them. 

Thanks for sharing knowledge and your opinion. I am interested to get trained in QA in east coast, but not sure, how the market is for QA to get jobs.  bityo jiban bro, kunai in classroom training garaune thau chha ki north east ma, like in NJ for QA.Afulai, basne thau pani chainchha.  I have sdlc knowledge with some sql. Please advice if u know any thanx bro.