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Career Change: From Software QA Engineer to Systems Analyst?

I am considering a career change. I am currently working as a Software QA Engineer with 10 years experience and now I am considering a career change and going for a Sr. Systems Analyst position. What are my chances to be hired at a senior level? Any advices on what preparations I should do in this change? Thanks for your inputs in advance. I would like to add that my current position is Sr. Software QA Engineer. I have some programming experience. I have at least 3 years of test automation experience. With that, could I quality for a Senior position? Thanks for your reply.

Public Comments

1. Hiring in at a senior level is a bit of a stretch. "Software QA Engineer" sounds sort of like "I couldn't program for crap, so I just tested the software."
2. Depends on what you did exactly in your QA role, and what the Systems Analyst role requires. You should study the job description of the SA position, then see how you can match up your experience and responsibilities in the QA role to it. Plus, it would help if you knew the hiring manager, or had people available as references to vouch for your skills.
3. The short answer is not likely. One would expect a senior SA has experience with full development life cycle. Even though QA is an integral part of the life cycle, your experience lacks specification and development phases. For an SA, even more important than actually writing code is the ability to translate end-user requirements into pseudo code - where the data are coming and going and what the user interface might be like etc. If you really want to become a SA, I would suggest that you start with a junior level position at the same time pursuit appropriate professional certifications (i.e. MCSE). Best wishes.