I recently moved into a business analyst role, working on a complex project has given me a lot to learn. It also somewhat aligns to my ulterior passion for innovation and start ups. Being a BA is something I have wanted to do for a long time, thank fully so far, I enjoy the role (well most of it). I am now, due to my self improvements, really enjoying the 'stakeholder facing' component of the role and would love to expand it.

Our department however has no clear direction, a lot of failed projects, nothing extensive in the pipeline, has had a few redundancies etc. So unless senior management comes out with some sort of clear and transparent direction, there is going to be a lot of uncertainty and speculation moving forward. I come to work every week expecting a redundancy notification, but willing to hold onto the role as long as I need to.

My options as I see them:

  • Find another BA role else where - I might have to take a pay cut as I don't have extensive experience yet - I'm not keen on taking a pay cut - but the role would see me align my self with my passion a little more and continue to do what I've been enjoying this year.
    Con: risk moving to an organization that is a slave house; will have to wait a while before opportunity arises for management type of role; may have to take pay cut
    Pro: work in a field I like and it somewhat aligns with my passion; will allow me to become a consultant; gain exposure to new ways of working in system development

  • Take on another role within the company - now this gets a bit interesting, my previous role (not BA- and one that I got sick of)(same company) has a senior role available - it's not technically a team leader role, but it is a senior role where I'll manage a small team of analysts. This will be a side step for me as I haven't considered a career in management. I've been asked to come take this role up.
    Con: I was sick of the analytical work I had to do there, which I'll have to do some of again; The product or service the team works with has limited scope and I won't be gaining much value from that perspective; I have previously always avoided management roles (maybe due to my self growth over the last year or so I'm starting to have a different view); this will be a side stop to what I was planning my career around (i.e. of being a BA)
    Pro: step into management (foot in the door), stable team, opportunity to work with switched on people, network etc, very flexible work environment (work from home, flexible start/finish times), good boss, a focused and switched on senior manager who is creating an empire, although not a good personality- but good networking can potentially lead to good things here.

I'm a big believer in 'if opportunity knocks then grab it'. But I have done that too much in the past and if you were to look at my CV you'd see a 'jack of all trades, master at none'. As in, I've changed jobs too many time instead of honing in and gaining seniority in a certain area.

So my question is what sort of questions should I be asking my self to help me come to a solid decision. I'm normally very decisive in what I want to do, but due to the stage of my career, I really want to give this wider consideration? I'm trying to receive some mentor ship from people here that may have been in a similar situation or the high achievers here.