Why a career in information systems?

• U.S. IT employment is growing. There are 17 percent more IT workers in the United States today than back in the bubble days of 1999, even after the "fury" of outsourcing in early 2000s'.
• The growth of IT careers from 1999 to 2004 was not the same in all types of jobs. Computer Programmer jobs decreased 22%, while other jobs increased significantly: Network systems and data communications analysts (70%), and Computer software engineers, application and system software jobs (50%).
• The US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that the U.S. economy will add eight hundred thousand IT jobs over the next decade, a 36 percent increase.
• Six MIS occupations are in the list of the 30 fastest growing occupations from 2004 to 2014. Two (Computer software engineers, applications and Computer systems analysts) are also in the list of the 30 largest job growth occupations in absolute numbers from 2004 to 2014.
• Workers in the IT industry earn 75 percent more than the private sector average -- $66,000 as compared to $38,000.
• The marketplace recovered after the IT bust of 2000. E-commerce sales in the U.S. have been growing over 20% a year since 2002.
• Between 1995 and 1998, the IT sector has contributed one-third of all U.S. economic growth.
• IT now accounts for nearly one-half of all business investment.

  Sources:

  1. Fastest growing occupations, 2004-2014, US Department of Labor, November 2005 Monthly Labor Review.
  2. E-commerce sales by quarter, particularly Table 1. US Department of Commerce, News, February, 2006
  3. Globalization and Offshoring of Software, The Association for Computing Machinery, February 2006, particularly chapter 1, table 1-8. See also their press release. Note: parts of this report were cited in Newsweek, CNN, New York Times, Cnet, Information Week, etc.
  4. National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates,US Department of Labor, November 2004, particularly All occupations and Computer and Mathematical Occupations.

If you are going to pursue a career information systems, what do you need to do?

The demand for workers in IT occupations requiring at least a bachelor’s degree is expected to grow by at least 30 percent over the decade (2004-2014) while the demand for less educated workers is expected to decline.

The growth rate varies by IT specialization: Network systems and data comunications analysts (54.6%), Computer software engineers, applications (48.4%), Computer software engineers, system software (43%), Network and computer system administrators (38.4%), Database administrators (38.2%), Computer systems analysts (31.4%). These are the jobs that the Merrick School information systems programs prepare you to work after graduation. You can choose from a BS in Business with a specialization in Computer Information Systems(CIS), a BS in Management Information Systems (MIS), a MS in MIS, or yet a MBA with specialization in MIS.