What exactly do MIS majors do?

escane99

I'll be taking up this course in college yet I don't know a thing about it
I just want to know from the professionals what it is exactly. Like what jobs do you get after graduating, whether it pays good money, or if I'll need to get certifications to increase my "professionality" since this course doesn't really have a board exam.

Thank you in advance

mbarrett

My experience (from going to a school who had both Comp Sci and MIS) was that MIS was lighter on the math requirement and some of the upper-level computer science stuff - more focused on the bigger picture.

Deus Ex Machina

I'm a junior in MIS. A lot of people view MIS as CS without the difficult math pre-requisites but that isn't really accurate.

The blessing and curse of MIS is that it opens a huge number of doors for you in terms of employment, but doesn't give you expertise in any one direction. You will notice on indeed.com that most IT jobs available to CS/networking students also accept MIS students. Even many management related jobs will accept MIS students. Unfortunately, on programming side, you will be usually much less educated than a CS student. On the networking side, you will be much less educated than a networking major, etc. You have to overcome that via independent studies/certifications or else you will get blown out in interviews.

MIS does have specialties of its own though, it best prepares you to be a project manager, business/systems analyst, or sometimes a database administrator depending on how much they cover SQL. All of these careers pay good money usually, but I don't know how much they would pay in the Philippines. I can tell you that in the U.S., you could expect 55-65k starting for many of these jobs straight out of college if you have a good GPA+certs+work experience. Your salary can also rise pretty fast if you are a high-performer.

Unfortunately it just so happens that 2 of the 3 careers I just mentioned (project manager and database administrator) are going through some pretty rough transition periods as careers because companies are drinking the agile + big data Kool-Aid.

In general, I would say MIS is a good major because it prepares you for mid-career management promotions and will help you even if you make some pretty dramatic swings in your career path. However, its a tough road at the start and you should focus on getting some certifications+ technical work experience while in college to be able to compete with the CS kids on the entry level tech jobs. Win the early game and you will be flying higher than them later on.

atippett

Deus Ex Machina wrote: »

I'm a junior in MIS. A lot of people view MIS as CS without the difficult math pre-requisites but that isn't really accurate.

The blessing and curse of MIS is that it opens a huge number of doors for you in terms of employment, but doesn't give you expertise in any one direction. You will notice on indeed.com that most IT jobs available to CS/networking students also accept MIS students. Even many management related jobs will accept MIS students. Unfortunately, on programming side, you will be usually much less educated than a CS student. On the networking side, you will be much less educated than a networking major, etc. You have to overcome that via independent studies/certifications or else you will get blown out in interviews.

MIS does have specialties of its own though, it best prepares you to be a project manager, business/systems analyst, or sometimes a database administrator depending on how much they cover SQL. All of these careers pay good money usually, but I don't know how much they would pay in the Philippines. I can tell you that in the U.S., you could expect 55-65k starting for many of these jobs straight out of college if you have a good GPA+certs+work experience. Your salary can also rise pretty fast if you are a high-performer.

Unfortunately it just so happens that 2 of the 3 careers I just mentioned (project manager and database administrator) are going through some pretty rough transition periods as careers because companies are drinking the agile + big data Kool-Aid.

In general, I would say MIS is a good major because it prepares you for mid-career management promotions and will help you even if you make some pretty dramatic swings in your career path. However, its a tough road at the start and you should focus on getting some certifications+ technical work experience while in college to be able to compete with the CS kids on the entry level tech jobs. Win the early game and you will be flying higher than them later on.

This is an excellent description. Something I want to add, is in MIS you will take a lot of business courses. Management, Marketing, Finance... It helps you understand how to use information systems in a business and how it can help...

I'll be graduating in May with BSBA - MIS, concentration Cybersecurity and have taken 2 management courses, a marketing course, an operations analysis course, an accounting course, about 6-8 cyber courses, and a couple courses that are specifically to help you understand how to use IS in an organization (ROI, do you upgrade or not, when to outsource, blah blah)

jeremywatts2005

Personally I would go with the computer science Masters degree. The MIS is very well rounded, but with the additional focus on Match and Science will help you when moving onto more technical and engineering type positions. Not that you couldn't do it with an MIS it's just the math and engineering focus in CS would probably help. My first degree was an AAS in Computer System Networking and when I went through it you had to have a year of electrical engineering then you branched to specialty which I chose systems and network. That year of solid math, science and engineering has helped me my entire career. I hold two Masters degrees now and in Digital Forensics I constantly use the skills I learned in the engineering portion of my AAS. All the math with conversions, subnetting and so on is a lot easier because I was taught it and taught it well.

escane99

Deus Ex Machina wrote: »

I'm a junior in MIS. A lot of people view MIS as CS without the difficult math pre-requisites but that isn't really accurate.

The blessing and curse of MIS is that it opens a huge number of doors for you in terms of employment, but doesn't give you expertise in any one direction. You will notice on indeed.com that most IT jobs available to CS/networking students also accept MIS students. Even many management related jobs will accept MIS students. Unfortunately, on programming side, you will be usually much less educated than a CS student. On the networking side, you will be much less educated than a networking major, etc. You have to overcome that via independent studies/certifications or else you will get blown out in interviews.

MIS does have specialties of its own though, it best prepares you to be a project manager, business/systems analyst, or sometimes a database administrator depending on how much they cover SQL. All of these careers pay good money usually, but I don't know how much they would pay in the Philippines. I can tell you that in the U.S., you could expect 55-65k starting for many of these jobs straight out of college if you have a good GPA+certs+work experience. Your salary can also rise pretty fast if you are a high-performer.

Unfortunately it just so happens that 2 of the 3 careers I just mentioned (project manager and database administrator) are going through some pretty rough transition periods as careers because companies are drinking the agile + big data Kool-Aid.

In general, I would say MIS is a good major because it prepares you for mid-career management promotions and will help you even if you make some pretty dramatic swings in your career path. However, its a tough road at the start and you should focus on getting some certifications+ technical work experience while in college to be able to compete with the CS kids on the entry level tech jobs. Win the early game and you will be flying higher than them later on.

I see....
These are the specializations offered by my college for MIS majors:
Enterprise SystemsData Science and Analytics
Interactive Multimedia
Enterprise Systems
Business Intelligence

What do you think about these? And also, what are examples of good certs?
(I'm so sorry for all the questions)

NetworkNewb

jeremywatts2005 wrote: »

Personally I would go with the computer science Masters degree. The MIS is very well rounded, but with the additional focus on Match and Science will help you when moving onto more technical and engineering type positions. Not that you couldn't do it with an MIS it's just the math and engineering focus in CS would probably help.

I believe the OP is getting his BS in MIS (Management information systems). Right? Looks like you might be referring to Masters in Information Systems.
I agree with that I think that CS degree would be more beneficial. But that really depends on what he plans on going into and each person's personal opinion. I got my BS in CIS (Computer Information Systems) and wish I would've just gone for the CS degree at the time. Think I just wanted to complete my BS at the time and took the easier route. Pretty sure I'm going try and make up for it and go for my Masters in Applied Computer Science here soon though.

Blucodex

Majority of MIS grads from the college I attended went on to get entry-level programming positions.

I was already a Sysadmin at the time and was only interested in getting the BA and to move on to a MS afterward so I took the easier program between Management and Engineering.

Deus Ex Machina

No worries about all the questions! I've asked a ton of questions myself here.

In terms of the specializations, I roughly translate them as follows-

Data Science and Analytics- data scientist jobs. I mentioned the "big data Kool-Aid" that all the companies can't get enough of earlier and this is what that refers to. This is hands down the best area in the business world to get into right now in terms of job prospects and pay and I would recommend this specialization if you like statistics. A lot of people think they like math and then find out they can't stand it later on. Take that into consideration.

Interactive Multimedia- I'm pretty sure this correlates to graphics design type work- kinda blending MIS with Marketing. I wouldn't recommend this specialization as the job outlook isn't that great, marketing has fallen in value a long way from where it used to be as a discipline.

Enterprise systems- Refers to Database administrator/Systems analysis type roles. Systems analyst roles are plentiful but Database admin's are in a tough spot right now, I'd do more research into this option if it interests you as I do not know exactly what they would be teaching.

Business Intelligence- Refers to Business Analyst roles. These are the "accountants" of the MIS world. You will be pretty safe in terms of job prospects. You basically use the scientific method to find areas for financial improvement in business processes, and its a job that never ends because businesses are always changing. You won't get the same pay as a data scientist, but you get more job security in exchange. Data science is a hot trend right now, but like all fads, it will eventually cool down and then the culling will begin.


In terms of good certs to have at this point in your life, its usually best to tailor them towards your profession of choice. I'll recommend the "CompTIA Trio" as CompTIA is vendor neutral and considered to be good for foundation level certs no matter what you want to do.

The trio encompasses A+, Network+, and Security+.

threatguru

I have a BS in MIS and I current work as Director of Information Technology and Information Security Officer. I've been in management for 6 years. Have done sys admin, network admin, some coding work and of course management. The degree doesn't dictate your path. It really depends on what YOU want out of it.

escane99

Thanks so much for the descriptions! One last question, if you don't mind me asking, what will you be planning to do once you finish your BS MIS?

Deus Ex Machina

You're welcome! Personally, I am trying to get into cyber security/information protection. I'll be doing an internship in the summer and I am hoping to find a full time job in that field when I graduate.

escane99

Alright wish you luck! Thanks again )

Mide

I got a BS and MS in MIS from State Schools so here is my $.02 on the matter.

This major is configured to give you a baseline into whatever you wanted to go into. I knew people who were interested in systems, networking, web programming, databases, etc. and they all headed in those particular directions. Know that if you don't find yourself with an interest or specialty, that is where you may run into some problems. You'll really need to self-study for certs to get better at something. Just having the degree is not enough. Trust me on this...I recently interviewed a guy for a sys admin position and he knew nothing about anything...no desktop skills, no server skills, nothing. He just went to class and got his degree, so without the interest he would've not been useful for my team.

The 2 areas that other MIS majors hoped for was to get into an IT Consulting via companies like Accenture. It was either this or to get an internship anywhere in IT so that they could get offered a FT job after graduation. After you get your first job and develop in it, then your career can further develop.

Cisco Inferno

I am minoring in Information Systems Management, which is just another name for MIS.

It is much more on the business side. I am writing mock up letters to CIOs, letters as a CIO, letters to stake holders and analysis of each of their individual needs vs the organization, change requests and CAB, corporate sponsorship of projects and architecture, reviewing systems planning and implementation etc. Things such as ERP and data centralization vs data silos and redundancy throughout an enterprise.

A lot of justifying the business needs of technology and how to implement it efficiently. As a technical person, this really opens up my mind to the 'why' of IT. Not just the how to's. For us, its 'cool, server...' for them, its 'i need x,y,z app on servers' and they have to interface with a,b,c'

*One thing about this subject vs others in school is that there are ALOT of papers. Expect to research case studies. If you need probably THE best database of MIS research and articles, look at MIT's CISR. Sign up for free. PLENTY of case studies and journal entries on LARGE enterprise projects at places like UPS/Southwest/HomeDepot etc. Understanding IT at this scale is really neat and gives you an idea of CIO's vs CTO's.

My courses at University of Maryland-UC :

Information Systems in Organizations: This is a foundation class that goes over things such as competetive advantage and how technology can bring strategic outcomes to an enterprise. Different Enterprise systems such as ERP/CRM/SCM and how to rationalize requirements for them. Phases of SDLC.

Information Systems Management: This is mostly about how a CIO would manage IT in relation to business objectives. How to set guidelines and frameworks such as SDLC. How to structure/reorg IT roles and functions, how to reduce data silos, how to prioritize project portfolios, timelines, resources with governance and change orders.

Infrastructure Concepts: This was a good course on various types of infrastructures for different business needs. Alot of focus on cloud infrastructures and their optimization for different environments. Plenty of network architecture talk here which i feel MIS majors should know!
Worked with SaaS, Paas, Iaas analysis and justifications.

Enterprise Architecture: This is all about the study of Enterprise Architecture, which is setting common frameworks for business processes and IT. Creating standards and common practices throughout an organization are studied. This course explains the needs of it, sort of like a blue print for a house, EA is the blueprint of the business/technology/operations of a company. Just like a building architect hands over just the electrical blueprint to the electrician, or the pipe blueprint to the plumbers; the Enterprise Architect has an overhead blueprint of the company and gives different departments 'their' blueprint part of the whole. Change in organizations affect every department and every stakeholder. EA Governance also plays into this with needing to be fair, transparent, accountable, and overseeing of different department's projects to the whole. EA is a timeline into the future that allows for flexibility in the most efficient way. Being an Enterprise Architect seems like a cool job. Lots of proven frameworks. Look up TOGAF.

Telecommunication in Information Systems: This deals with planning telcom infrastructure based on business needs, requirements, policies, and standards. How to align it with organization strategies. How to analyze business-driven requirements for telecommunications and technology solutions to determine application, feasibility, and potential risks. Securing telcom infrastructures, etc based on compliance/security needs. Here you will create White Papers/ Architectural Diagrams. work with WAN technologies/Metro-E, Voice delivery etc. And lastly, network management from a business side.



these were just the courses for the minor. The major deals with higher up courses such as Project Management, Business Continuity Planning, Databases, Systems Analysis, and Ethics.

Seem's like a cool major based on what you learn. the problem is its hard to get a job managing these things without working on these things. And its tough to work on these things when you havent studied how.

escane99

Mide wrote: »

This major is configured to give you a baseline into whatever you wanted to go into. I knew people who were interested in systems, networking, web programming, databases, etc. and they all headed in those particular directions. Know that if you don't find yourself with an interest or specialty, that is where you may run into some problems. You'll really need to self-study for certs to get better at something. Just having the degree is not enough. Trust me on this...I recently interviewed a guy for a sys admin position and he knew nothing about anything...no desktop skills, no server skills, nothing. He just went to class and got his degree, so without the interest he would've not been useful for my team.

Okok so I have to figure out which specialty I want to focus on then get certs related to that field so I can further develop my skills and whatnot

Are there any certifications that I can get while still being an incoming freshman (college)? Or training? I want to start learning anything related to MIS, and now seems like a good time since I've got 4 months of vacation lol

escane99

That's pretty cool cisco inferno! So what I get is that MIS or ISM focuses more on the business side of IT. But it all really depends on what your specialization is?
Ok, I was just wondering if MIS/ISM majors can earn good money in the US or Australia or Canada, Philippines, etc.

And also, is getting a masters in CS good too?

Mide

escane99 wrote: »

Okok so I have to figure out which specialty I want to focus on then get certs related to that field so I can further develop my skills and whatnot

Are there any certifications that I can get while still being an incoming freshman (college)? Or training? I want to start learning anything related to MIS, and now seems like a good time since I've got 4 months of vacation lol

IT is very vast in terms of what you can learn. Go to a bookstore and open up a CCNA, MCSA, Programming, Database, or Security book and start reading. Some subjects will resonate and some may not. For example I liked systems and security but had very little interest in networking or programming. Eventually I had to learn everything to move on in the systems realm though but at least I knew what I liked. Remember when you graduate you'll be applying for a 'job' and that has various requirements. Take a look at what jobs are out there right now and see what they require...you'll notice how the descriptions will be similar like BS degree, CCNA, x years of networking experience, etc. This is where you know where the certs you need will be.

As Cisco Inferno mentioned, MIS is very heavy on the business side of classes. They teach you how to be essentially a manager in the IT field but there is no way you can do this job without a baseline experience of how technical side works. So many people I graduated with thought their MIS degree would be a ticket to a job, but they had no technical skills, so most found it difficult to even find their first job. That's why my advice is to work in some student work position or internship while in school and try to find some sort of niche (learn something technical) to put yourself one step ahead. You mention CS. CS is totally different. They learn how to code. If they are good they will be coding things on their own (outside of class) and will be able to get any entry-level programming job. This is how their career starts.

DatabaseHead

It's a management degree for the most part.

It can be helpful, but so many other variables factor in.....

escane99

Ah I see thank you so much for your time and help! Appreciate it so much