Title: 14 years in IT, 6+ years as an Insurance BA — stuck at 30–40% below the pay grade I should be at
I’m currently earning around 30–40% below what I believe the market/pay grade should be for my experience, and I’ve been trying to move for quite some time. I’ve also been with my current organisation for 5+ years, so I’m feeling pretty stuck.
I have around 14 years of IT experience, with 6+ years as a Business Analyst, primarily in Life & Health Insurance. I’m currently a Lead BA in Bangalore.
The frustrating part is that I keep getting through the initial rounds:
Round 1 → Clear
Round 2 → Clear
Final round → “We regret to inform you…”
Over and over again.
I prepare extensively before every interview — company research, role, projects, BA concepts, behavioural questions, insurance domain questions, etc. And I’m self-aware enough to know when I’ve had a bad interview. But honestly, 8/10 times I come out feeling that I performed well.
My experience includes insurance product changes, requirements, claims, SQL, APIs, JIRA/Confluence, stakeholder management, impact analysis, working with Product/Operations/SMEs, and end-to-end BA responsibilities.
So I’m starting to wonder if there’s something fundamentally wrong with how I’m presenting my experience, particularly in the final/managerial round.
For those of you who are Senior/Lead BAs:
WWhat makes you reject an experienced BA at the final round despite them clearing the earlier rounds?
Is it communication? Storytelling? Leadership presence? Not demonstrating enough ownership? Being too technical? Not showing business impact strongly enough?
I’mq genuinely looking for blunt, constructive feedback. I’ve been preparing harder and harder, but clearly preparation alone isn’t fixing whatever the issue is.
Would really appreciate perspectives from people who have been on the other side of the interview table.