Forum Moderators: phranque
Ben
By business aspect, are you referring to management? A career in MIS management can be quite rewarding, but can also be quite taxing. Also, you can find yourself in that role with or without a degree, but the degree route will be easier and faster. Without a degree you are going to have to work the proving grounds and gather experience and knowledge. Either way, communication skills are ultimately going to be your best asset, IMHO.
It will, of course, depend on where you land, but under the management realm some responsibilities you may be looking at are Board of Directors meetings, company steering and other committees, reporting, employee management, workload/project management, budgeting, ... in a nutshell it may more than likely be the hands *over* rather than hands-on work. More often than not, a position as such also requires travel. One of the biggest upsides to positions of this nature is there is typically a salary to match. I'm not saying this is the ulitmate goal, or your career path is going to be money-driven, so let's not start this thread down that path.
Interesting careers? The sky is the limit, what did you have in mind?
Best wishes on your education and application -- coopster
There's what seems to be a constant back-and-forth in the field between those that think MIS should be more management or more technically oriented. In the near future, I think you'll only land as CIO if you are very strong on both sides of the equation- and before that the most interesting roles are going to be accessible only to those that can bridge those two domains.
thanks for your responses... I am 22 years old and have about 2 years of college under my belt... After my second year I started working in the hotel management business but kind of decided I did not like that field all to much.. I decided to go back to school but before I really start with that I decided to take a course or two in MIS because I remember back in University Of Arizona I loved that class... I like the fact that you get to travel in a field like this but then again the salary also would have to have some potential. Just out of the blue, do you know where I could look to find where these jobs are offerred? Any sources would be beneficial.. Thanks again
ben
As you discovered that hotel mgmt may not be to your liking, after a few years in a large MIS department you might walk in one day and realize it's not working out. It can be stressful, there can be long hours, late nights and working holidays, and a 24/7 pager. Welcome to the real world :)
No matter what you choose consider this: any knowledge of computers will almost certainly be to your advantage for any career path you follow. Learn how a PC and a Mac work. Explore operating systems. Learn some basic programming. The steps involved in successful programming can easily be applied to other areas, and you'll be able to say "Hello World" in several languages :) Sure, you might end up one day the corner office and have a secretary in the outer office... wouldn't you want to know how to maintain your own desktop (or whatever they might have in the future)?
In the final analysis I opted out of my MIS career after becoming weary of staff meetings, moving targets, flourescent bulbs, lack of fulfillment and changing responsibilities. The money was the only good part by the time I quit it all.
I am more into the business aspect of computers rather then the detailed programming aspect of it.
Everyone wants to manage, no one wants to do any real work.
You'll be a lot more marketable if you learn the detailed programming aspects. No one wants to hire a 22 year old kid to be a manager.
Go back to school and get an MIS or MBA or something like that after you put in a few years doing the detailed stuff.
Marketability in any job is going to rely heavily on the job description and what the organization desires from it's potential hire. What I mean is that when Company A wants a manager they may not care about the technical programming skills of the individual. They may be looking for somebody with a high level of communication and motivational skills, and perhaps some technial background or education in the related field. Yes, it is more common to see the tech background requirements, but not always necessary.
Let me clarify that I do agree that there is an advantage to having the technical background -- the biggest being if you don't like management, you can still drop yourself into a tech career that you truly enjoy.
Generally, the more power you have the less work you have to do. Lots of middle managers have close to zero power. If the grunts have zero power, then maybe the middle manager has 0.001 power, close to zero.
My point however, is that there are too many people with "MIS" degrees and not enough technical knowledge. As a 22 year old kid, no one is going to hire you to do the "big picture" stuff, so you better learn how to do some grunt work so you can get enough experience working so that one day you can get that management job.
