Sunday, April 17, 2011

Tutorial Blog 4: Information Systems Career Information

With all of these new skills we have learned over the course of the spring 2011 semester in ISM3004, we have yet but vaguely touched the surface of the information systems universe. If you’ve been moved at all maybe you are considering a potential career in information systems. If you are contemplating a career in information systems let’s review a few of the many potential career and occupational paths in the information systems industry.

The world of information systems is overflowing with thousands of different jobs and occupations. I am going to do my best to break down these numerous jobs into a few different categories in order to better explain and give you a more functional idea of what type of jobs are out there for the aspiring information systems enthusiast. 

We can start by breaking down information systems into 7 major work sectors. These 7 sectors are listed below.

  1.       General business and government organizations and their IT departments
  2.       Computer equipment field
  3.       Computer software field
  4.       Computer service and repair field
  5.       Computer sales
  6.       Computer education and training field
  7.       IT consulting

Within these 7 sectors there are usually 6 different work related fields that are areas of specialization but can be encompassed by any of the 7 sectors listed above. These 6 fields of specialization are

  1.       Management
  2.       System development and programming
  3.       Technical services
  4.       Operations
  5.       Training
  6.       Security

REASONS FOR SEEKING EMPLOYMENT, AND STATISTICS IN THE INFORMATION SYSTEMS WORLD

The information systems world is a very lucrative and rewarding employment sector to venture into and develop a career in. As portrayed in the table below computer science majors first job offers salary is on average higher than all of the other majors portrayed.

Major
Average Offer
Computer Science
$61,110
Economics
$51,062
Finance
$48,158
Accounting
$48,020
Business Administration/Mgmt
Marketing/Marketing Mgmt
$46,171
$41,506
English
$35,453
Sociology
$35,343
Visual and Performing Arts
Psychology
$35,073
$34,095

(Data gathered from http://www.winthrop.edu/cba/economics/default.aspx?id=9833 , Table is an original creation, created with Microsoft word)
A study by CareerCast.com evaluated 200 professions back in 2008 and in the top 20 best jobs which were selected based off of environment, income, employment outlook, physical demands and stress. Within the top 20 jobs list were three different jobs involving information systems, those jobs were; #5 Software Engineer, #6 Computer Systems Analyst, and  #18 Computer Programmer (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123119236117055127.html).
If your having a tough time grasping the gargantuan world of Information Systems and the many jobs within the field the video below is a great informative easy to understand tool that can be used to facilitate your knowledge and search for information about the Information Systems/Technology career field.

 
(Video is not mine, it can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgWnhS5WyfM&feature=related, It is being used for educational purposes)

For many of us getting ready to embark upon the treacherous journey of life and real world job hunting finding a job can be intimidating and job security / availability can be very intimidating. Many industries and careers are being overrun and phased out by computers or being outsourced or just eliminate din general. Security and comfort within a certain career field is somewhat uncommon within the majority of occupational fields, however it is projected that the information systems/technologies career field is in the process of taking off on a track of exponential growth and a end is nowhere insight, meaning for all of us I.S. / I.T. / Computer majors are in for a lucrative, growing, fast paced job market with a strong since of job security due to the high demand for our talents and abilities.

(Not my original image, image can be found athttp://is.njit.edu/academics/undergraduate/bsbis/bsbis-careers.php) 

A career in Information systems has many potential career paths. I hope that this post has opened your eyes an narrowed down any potential specified jobs that you might be interested in. With statistics chronicling salary, industry growth, and a simple breakdown of the career field, I hope the information provided will be able to ensure your decisions to pursue a potential career in IS/IT.



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