I am scared I won't get a job. MIS Degree.

mismajor · July 2015

Hello everyone,

I am currently pursuing my BS MIS degree and I am scared once I graduate I won't find a job. I haven't learned much of the technical stuff while pursuing the degree so I am afraid about technical jobs. I've applied to multiple internships but none of them have been successful. What types of internship titles should I apply for? What do you suggest will help me get a entry level job once I graduate?

kohr-ah · July 2015

Beyond the degree to you carry any certifications ?

mismajor · July 2015

No, I do not carry any certificates. Do you recommend any certificates that I should get?

kohr-ah · July 2015

What interests you? Systems work? Virtualization? Networking ?

There are basic certs you should get to get your foot in the door but what interests you after that to guide you along?

nelson8403 · July 2015

Look at internship programs that can get you a few months in each field, or post graduation programs where you maybe spend 6 weeks with networking, security etc.. the company I work for now does that with new grads in IT fields to help them figure out what they may want to pursue in the future.

Internships can range from IT Security, Networking, System Administrators, Helpdesk Interns etc.. it's really all dependent on your location and job market.

olaHalo · July 2015

You can work and goto school at the same time.
Get an entry level job now before that MIS scares people away from hiring you for entry level jobs.

SoCalGuy858 · July 2015

An MIS degree is better than no degree, and I know plenty of people (myself included) who are in the industry and varying levels without college as even a thought in their mind. Some of it is luck, but the majority of it is drive and determination. Start with some basic certifications dependent on your desired path. If you're not sure, check out the CompTIA "trio": the A+, Network+, and Security+. Those are always good to start with, especially if you don't have any experience. If you can't find internships, volunteering in an IT capacity is always a helpful boost for entry into the industry. Seek out local non-profit organizations (churches, YMCA's, veteran's organizations - VFW, American Legion, etc.) that might have some basic tech infrastructure, but lack the resources to manage / maintain them to their fullest.

There's many paths in, and having a related degree is definitely a plus. Education may not directly result in a job, but I've never seen a situation where it's hurt!

SephStorm · July 2015

SoCalGuy858 wrote: »

There's many paths in, and having a related degree is definitely a plus. Education may not directly result in a job, but I've never seen a situation where it's hurt!

When you have no experience. It puts you in the area of "over qualified" or too expensive to hire for entry level work. At that point you are shooting yourself in the foot, no one wants to hire a guy with more paper qualifications because they will have to may you more now, or in their mind you'll jump ship as soon as you can.

Danielm7 · July 2015

Try to figure out what you want to do with your degree first, then prepare yourself for that career. Do you even want to be purely technical? If so, any reason why you chose MIS vs maybe CS or IT? Either way, if you want to go into systems admin work, then build yourself a home lab, learn as much as you can, try (harder!) to get an internship so you'll have working experience. If you get out of school with a year+ of experience, a degree, a cert or two, you won't have a problem.

Take any other specialty and apply the same logic.

mismajor · July 2015

I'd rather be more on the business side then the tech. So what jobs with mis degree are more business oriented then tech? Do I still need the certs for the business oriented jobs?

GreaterNinja · July 2015

Yep, look at internships. Try to get A+ or MCP/MCTS then go onto CCENT/CCNA or MCSA or Linux+

Business side: project+, PMP,
certs: Project Management, Coordinator

IMO with MIS its probably better to go tech side first to get a foundation early.

Khaos1911 · July 2015

I have an MIS degree as well and I had no trouble finding jobs when I was in school nor currently. I actually had a two year IT internship my junior year and before I graduated got offered a Full-time IT job from a fortune 100, so it can definitely be done. Alot of MIS major at my company are IT Business Analyst and work with ERP solutions such as SAP. That may be something that interest you.

mismajor · July 2015

Khaos1911 wrote: »

I have an MIS degree as well and I had no trouble finding jobs when I was in school nor currently. I actually had a two year IT internship my junior year and before I graduated got offered a Full-time IT job from a fortune 100, so it can definitely be done. Alot of MIS major at my company are IT Business Analyst and work with ERP solutions such as SAP. That may be something that interest you.

What type of IT internships should I look for? The problem is I don't live in a big city so its hard to find something with a fortune company.

Khaos1911 · July 2015

I don't live in a big city either, but luckily there are a few fortune companies in a 30 min drive. I lucked up and with no IT experience got a paid internship in Information Security where I did compliance work, made sure documentation was ISO compliant, reset passwords, created user accounts, and handled Sarbanes Oxley duties. I learned all my job function from the other interns there (I have no idea why they would have interns handling such sensitive information, but I made the best of the opportunity and used it as a spring board.....)

As for Internships/jobs, what are you interested in? What aspects of IT or business do you enjoy? I'd start there and cater my searches/resume toward those interest.

TechGuru80 · July 2015

What year are you first of all? That makes a bit of difference in the advice you should be getting.

When you finish your degree, assuming you are a traditional student, companies are not going to put you in a senior level position. They should understand you need to grow and in some companies they want you to be green to teach you. Although we don't know your curriculum for school...certifications should be part of your life (not before finishing class work), learning some type of scripting or programming, and getting some type of experience.

Frankly those first two items should be high on your list because depending on what year you are in school, the experience might not mean much compared to having the foundational certification knowledge. Especially if there aren't many opportunities in your area of the country or world. Start with vendor neutral CompTIA...at minimum network+ and security+. From there you can branch on what you enjoy learning about but generally it's either an OS cert like MCSA for servers or Cisco for networking.

There are a lot of options to improve your skill set and make you more valuable but take it one step at a time because your interests and the demand can change yearly.

TechGuru80 · July 2015

With the business side it doesn't hurt to have many certs but you probably will become an analyst. I would look into Big Data and Business Intelligence.

mismajor · July 2015

Khaos1911 wrote: »

I don't live in a big city either, but luckily there are a few fortune companies in a 30 min drive. I lucked up and with no IT experience got a paid internship in Information Security where I did compliance work, made sure documentation was ISO compliant, reset passwords, created user accounts, and handled Sarbanes Oxley duties. I learned all my job function from the other interns there (I have no idea why they would have interns handling such sensitive information, but I made the best of the opportunity and used it as a spring board.....)

As for Internships/jobs, what are you interested in? What aspects of IT or business do you enjoy? I'd start there and cater my searches/resume toward those interest.

Honestly, I am not sure what I am interested in. Information security sounds interesting but then I am afraid it will be too technical. I'd like to do something on the business side. Then I am not sure if I will enjoy business analyst. What are there duties? I think I need some hands on experience to really see what I enjoy doing and that is where i am having problems. I don't know where to start.

mismajor · July 2015

TechGuru80 wrote: »

What year are you first of all? That makes a bit of difference in the advice you should be getting.

When you finish your degree, assuming you are a traditional student, companies are not going to put you in a senior level position. They should understand you need to grow and in some companies they want you to be green to teach you. Although we don't know your curriculum for school...certifications should be part of your life (not before finishing class work), learning some type of scripting or programming, and getting some type of experience.

Frankly those first two items should be high on your list because depending on what year you are in school, the experience might not mean much compared to having the foundational certification knowledge. Especially if there aren't many opportunities in your area of the country or world. Start with vendor neutral CompTIA...at minimum network+ and security+. From there you can branch on what you enjoy learning about but generally it's either an OS cert like MCSA for servers or Cisco for networking.

There are a lot of options to improve your skill set and make you more valuable but take it one step at a time because your interests and the demand can change yearly.

I am a rising senior. My anticipated graduation date will be May 2016. Okay so for the certificates do you just buy books and teach yourself? How difficult are the exams?

mismajor · July 2015

If I go for a position like Business Intelligence or Business analyst will the certs like Network+ and security+ help? Or will I be wasting my time.

twodogs62 · July 2015

Try to get entry or part time job before you graduate. Look at opportunities at your college for support positions or research positions. That way you have something and you can keep looking.

goatama · July 2015

Apologies if this is impolite, but, uh, why are you getting an MIS degree? I mean you're afraid of the technical, and not sure if you want to be a business analyst, so why exactly did you choose this for your major? What is your passion? I had a coworker who got into IT and got a degree in MIS because he thought that's where the money was. Unfortunately it was not what he really wanted and he's been miserable ever since. He's going back now for his MBA. But he's been in IT for so long that he's pretty much all in now.

TechGuru80 · July 2015

For certs like Net+ and Sec+, buy the book and watch some videos. They are conceptual and don't require knowledge on equipment. The knowledge won't ever hurt and it's not like they take forever to get ready for. What has been your curriculum for your major? I mean surely your MIS program covered a wide variety of subjects. Databases is another popular area...stuff like SQL.

mismajor · July 2015

goatama wrote: »

Apologies if this is impolite, but, uh, why are you getting an MIS degree? I mean you're afraid of the technical, and not sure if you want to be a business analyst, so why exactly did you choose this for your major? What is your passion? I had a coworker who got into IT and got a degree in MIS because he thought that's where the money was. Unfortunately it was not what he really wanted and he's been miserable ever since. He's going back now for his MBA. But he's been in IT for so long that he's pretty much all in now.

I completely understand what you are saying. I guess I shouldn't say I don't enjoy tech and business. Those two things are my passion. Currently, I own and manage a e-commerce apparel website. I love the business and tech aspect of my current job. That is what encouraged me to pursue a MIS.

mismajor · July 2015

TechGuru80 wrote: »

For certs like Net+ and Sec+, buy the book and watch some videos. They are conceptual and don't require knowledge on equipment. The knowledge won't ever hurt and it's not like they take forever to get ready for. What has been your curriculum for your major? I mean surely your MIS program covered a wide variety of subjects. Databases is another popular area...stuff like SQL.

Yes, my MIS program has covered many things. I took courses like information systems framework, systems analysis and design, management information systems, and etc. Database interest me as in i like interpreting data to see in what ways it can benefit a business.

goatama · July 2015

If you enjoy both the business and tech aspect, and you think you're interested in BI or Business Analysis, I'd definitely recommend getting some good experience with databases. SQL, MySQL, Oracle, etc. and then start looking at Big Data Analytics. It's a marrying of the two, tech and biz, and is definitely about to explode in the industry. So many companies out there right now have tons and tons of data, but it's just sitting there, not being used. A CIO at one of my former jobs liked to say that we were "Data rich and information poor".

mismajor · July 2015

goatama wrote: »

If you enjoy both the business and tech aspect, and you think you're interested in BI or Business Analysis, I'd definitely recommend getting some good experience with databases. SQL, MySQL, Oracle, etc. and then start looking at Big Data Analytics. It's a marrying of the two, tech and biz, and is definitely about to explode in the industry. So many companies out there right now have tons and tons of data, but it's just sitting there, not being used. A CIO at one of my former jobs liked to say that we were "Data rich and information poor".

For the SQL, ORACLE, and that do they have special courses? I learned basics of SQL in my program but nothing too detailed as of yet. Also, any certs you recommend me getting for BI or business analysis? And also, what types of entry level jobs will get me to one of those positions? Thank you all for your help!

mismajor · July 2015

Also, computer systems analyst is something I am interested in. What entry level positions will lead me to that position?

N2IT · July 2015

I don't see why you couldn't land a job with just a MIS. It's a bachelors aligned with IT. Why wouldn't you be able to land a gig?

Did you do an internships? Try to get on as a Junior / Associate Business Analyst.

mismajor · July 2015

N2IT wrote: »

I don't see why you couldn't land a job with just a MIS. It's a bachelors aligned with IT. Why wouldn't you be able to land a gig?

Did you do an internships? Try to get on as a Junior / Associate Business Analyst.

I haven't completed my bachelors yet. I am trying to get a head start at trying to secure everything to assure once I graduate I can land a job. I just feel like it's a competitive field and I didn't go to a top notch college. I am doing a online program at Albany state University in Albany, GA. I've been trying to get a internship but haven't heard back from anyone. 😔

I am scared I won't get a job. MIS Degree.

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