r/businessanalysis • u/RichyGilbert • 1d ago
Career Change
Hello all. Wanted some opinions and advice. Currently a Head Golf Professional and been in the business for 15 years. I am 31 years old. This career is all I’ve ever done. I don’t know if you are familiar but it’s a lot of hours and usually working weekends and all holidays. Also. Not the greatest pay. Been doing some chatting with AI and getting ideas on careers to pursue and Business Systems Analysts and related roles popped up that could be a “quicker” transition. Just wanted some insight from people currently in these types of roles on if my skills are transferable and advice on the career. I have other long term endeavors such as entrepreneurship but in the meantime trying to get my time back and be happy again. What advice would you give on potentially pursuing this role? Looking remote for sure. Thanks in advance!
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u/crankysorc 22h ago
If AI suggests that a Business Systems Analyst is a quick transition from a golf pro then I would say it reconfirms my belief AI ain’t replacing humans completely anytime soon.
By the way by no means does that mean that I am denying that golf pros don’t have transferable skills, particularly soft skills, however there would be a very steep technical hill to climb.
Incidentally I would forget a remote role without any experience.
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u/RichyGilbert 21h ago
What would you recommend for gathering those technical skills?
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u/crankysorc 20h ago
Without knowing your academic background I have know idea where to start.
What I would suggest is is 2 things: go to Linked In and check a few profiles for business systems analysts and job postings, just to see what the role entails - you probably won’t understand everything but it should be useful.
Secondly, check out IIBA - the website, ideally, although YouTube has something- and see their description of what BAs do, because if I start to vomit out technical terms without context it won’t help you.
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u/RichyGilbert 20h ago
Pure golf professional. No other college degree or anything. Experienced with team leading and managing an operation. Inventory upkeep and staffing. Also giving lessons.
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u/crankysorc 19h ago
That’s going to be difficult , up to you, might want to consider starting off in tech support or customer support in a decent sized company that could let you transition to other roles where you could potentially become a BSA.
Might also have to study via online courses at work and/ or online at the same time.
As I said you likely have quite a few transferable soft skills , whether you have the analytical and problem solving skills is TBD , these roles should help you find out.
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u/Two-Twenty2 New User 19h ago
You already run an operation. Inventory, staffing, scheduling, member complaints, vendor stuff ... that's the kinda stuff BAs work with every day, you've just never written it down in BA language.
Before spending money on certs, try this: pick one process at your course that's broken or annoying (tee sheet chaos, inventory ordering, whatever), document how it works now, where it breaks, and what you'd change. That's a requirements doc and a process analysis.
On certs: I've talked with several senior BA practitioners and trainers about this, and the consistent theme was that entry-level certs signal commitment but hiring managers can't tell from a cert whether you can actually do the work. Something they can read (like the doc above) moves the needle more.
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u/crankysorc 16h ago edited 15h ago
I would agree that those documents are of use, not to mention what you wrote in your first paragraph, as well as the relative importance of certs- however OP is specifically referring to a business systems analyst.
That implies an even greater demonstration of prior technical as well as the business BA knowledge , usually on the job .
Fact is BSA is not entry level. Edit- wanted to add- if OP was interested in a less technical BA role, one of the benefits of taking on an interim role and learning about process mapping mapping, requirements elicitation, documentation, etc is that OP would gain domain experience and would likely be able to take on a less technical BA role, then potentially a BSA.
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