Employees

Senior Business Analyst

Employee Name:

Lorelei Solomon

Title:

Senior Business Analyst

Ministry:

Ministry of Environment

Background:

Education: Diploma, Data Processing (Saskatchewan Technical Institute)
Member of the BC Public Service Since: 2006

My Role

I am in charge of managing a portfolio of applications and business areas for the ministry. That includes any of the cross-ministry initiatives, as well as the compliance division and the fisheries parts of the eco-systems branch. I provide direction and guidance to the business areas on implementing computer solutions to their business problems.

Career Path:

I started as a computer operator for a farm implement manufacturing company, and then moved on to a program analyst position. I consulted for 20 years before joining the provincial government as a business analyst and I recently became a Senior Business Analyst.

What I Like Best:

I like assisting the business areas and getting a solution implemented. I am a problem solver, so this is a good role for me. It's a great group to be working with. I'm also working fewer hours than I did as a consultant, so my kids love it; Mom is home to make dinner.

Ideas At Work:

In helping the business areas implement good solutions that make their jobs easier, they can deliver better quality to the clients or public. I recently took on the Cross-Linked Information Repository (CLIR) project, which will allow public and internal staff to search five different document repositories in order to find information about certain species or habitats.

Advice:

Take post-secondary education in computer science. A good starting job might be as a coder, because it really helps to understand how that is dealt with. From there, you could move up to an analyst position. Typically, if you are strong in maths and sciences and are a good problem solver, you'll do well. You have to be able to work as part of a team and communicate at all levels. You want to know how to talk the business side and the techy side too.