MIS or Business Administration?

omgcorey

I guess my question would be are there many jobs out there for people with MIS degrees, or would majoring in General business and having MIS as a minor the better way to go?

I have decided that I am going to get my MIS degree from SHSU and am leaning towards the networking side of it. I am almost done with my pre-requisites and will be applying this Fall.

I don't have much experience with technology beyond being an end user. I'm afraid this might cause me some trouble landing interns during school, or jobs after graduating. I do plan on talking to some of the teachers, and trying to intern during my jr. and sr. year. Then again, I am still not to sure on where to begin when looking for interns and how everything will play out being a full time student and interning at the same time.

If anyone has advice on how I should go about finding places to intern at, please do tell.

After I get my degree, I would like to possibly work part-time and get my masters in something that will correlate with my MIS degree. I have not begun to look into this, but if somebody can clue me in on what Master degrees I should look into, I would appreciate it.

Any and all information/advice would be beneficial.

Other than that, I'm afraid MIS might not be for me after reading posts from other members about having trouble landing jobs because of MIS not specializing in anything in particular. This worries me because I am nothing more than an end user right now. This is why I ask if I should focus on majoring in General Business with a Minor in MIS?

passcert23

I graduated with a MIS degree and currently working as a desktop tech. MIS is so broad... you can really specialize on anything. My friends and I graduated at the same time with a MIS major but ended up doing totally different things.

me:Desktop Support
friend 1: Website developer
friend 2: Programmer
friend 3: Information Security
friend 4: Retail
friend 5: Consultant
friend 6: call center on a government contract

It took me 6 month to finally land my first I.T job as a printer tech once I graduated. Hopefully I can land a sys admin job in the near future. My only advice is to pick up some certs up before you graduate. Check your college for internship or look on Craigslist.

omgcorey

passcert23 wrote: »

I graduated with a MIS degree and currently working as a desktop tech. MIS is so broad... you can really specialize on anything. My friends and I graduated at the same time with a MIS major but ended up doing totally different things.

me:Desktop Support
friend 1: Website developer
friend 2: Programmer
friend 3: Information Security
friend 4: Retail
friend 5: Consultant
friend 6: call center on a government contract

It took me 6 month to finally land my first I.T job as a printer tech once I graduated. Hopefully I can land a sys admin job in the near future. My only advice is to pick up some certs up before you graduate. Check your college for internship or look on Craigslist.

What took you so long to get a job? Did you not have any certs or not intern while in school?

I have looked further into certs and will be trying to get my A+, Network+, Security+, CCNA, and MCITP. I'm hoping with these certs and some internship, I should have no problem getting a job. I don't mind working from the bottom up if I have to either. I don't need no high position.

Forget the whole business admin thing. MIS is what I want to do. I just do not want to be a code monkey.

hackman2007

omgcorey wrote: »

What took you so long to get a job? Did you not have any certs or not intern while in school?

I have looked further into certs and will be trying to get my A+, Network+, Security+, CCNA, and MCITP. I'm hoping with these certs and some internship, I should have no problem getting a job. I don't mind working from the bottom up if I have to either. I don't need no high position.

Forget the whole business admin thing. MIS is what I want to do. I just do not want to be a code monkey.

I wouldn't worry about getting a job.

I am/was a recent college graduate and graduated with my university's equivalent of MIS. I had a job 7 days after I graduated (including interview). You might think I'm an unusual case, but most of my friends had jobs within a reasonable time-frame as well.

(I had both A+ and Security+ when I applied. I also recently took the Network+ exam, but this was after I accepted the offer.)

Megadeth4168

A couple of quick points.

1. The job market in a lot of places is still weak. I know several people with Master's degree's of a ranging variety that have trouble getting work right now.

2. Having a MIS without having some years of practical experience creates a problem... You get overlooked for most entry level positions as being "over-qualified" while also being overlooked for upper level positions for not having enough work experience.

3. I hear all the time that MBA's are a dime a dozen. Every seems to have one, so how do you stand out from the crowd? It's just an observation made by a few people I know... I'm unsure as to how much merit it has.

4. Getting some certifications may help show that you have an understanding of and possibly have hand's-on experience with the technologies of the workplace.

Ultimately, only you know what type of degree will interest you most. I know that I will be pursuing an MIS soon, but I also have 11 years in IT and want to eventually move to a higher paying managerial position within IT.

omgcorey

Thanks for the information so far guys.

Does anybody have any good input on what a good minor is to go with MIS?

I have also been told I could possibly double Major in MIS and CS. I will find out more on this.

I would also like to see if anybody has any information on what a good Masters program would be good to look into. I have no idea how the whole masters thing works and how it correlates with majors. Please, if anyone can elaborate, go ahead.

The reason I ask, is because I would for sure like to pursue my education after I get my MIS degree. I figure, I would go for my Masters while looking for a part-time entry level job that I can do on the side. I figure, after a few years of internships and a part time entry level job for a few years while I am working on my masters and after will help me move up the ladder rather quickly. A masters, with a bunch of certs, and a few years of experience. I think I should be sitting comfortable ten years from now.

Looking further down the road, is there any of you guys out there with a Doctorate degree in this type of field?