How good of a major is IS? I really feel like this is the perfect major for me because I love technology and business the same, but I also did some coding in a high school career class and I hated it. I was pretty good at website design though.
I won’t be starting college until the second semester of next year because I’m away in the army but while I’m away I’m completing some business/IT certifications. I’m currently only working on ScrumAlliance but I plan on starting another when I’m done. Any knowledge on how valuable these certificates are?
Also if I did pursue a major in IS, what would be a good minor? I would honestly prefer a minor more towards business rather than CS if possible.
Thank you for any help!
Information systems is a pretty broad field. There are options (in the workplace) that don’t require much or any coding. One option that includes technology and business is a business analyst. Doing things like helping to define requirements for a system that supports a business function. Or testing systems to ensure the meet requirements and function properly.
In addition, you should study something that interests you. IS does cover business and technology, so it does sound like a good match for you. If you want a more technical minor and can tolerate the coding, computer science is a good option. But sounds like you don’t want that and a business-oriented minor would be fine, especially for a BA role (finance, accounting, etc.). It depends upon what minors your school offers. Some schools offer minors that focus on web design, so maybe that would be an option.
Another thought on the web design path. If your IS classes (core and/or electives) cover the technical skills you need for web design, here are another 2 possibilities for a minor.
Option 1: Choose a marketing minor. In my experience the company departments that direct web design tend to be marketing and/or product teams. Maybe the technical coding of the page is done in IT, but marketing defines the specs. However, more and more companies are moving to content management tools that allow business groups to own and modify the actual content on the screen. An option if IS/web design/marketing would set you up for groups like that, especially if you can get internships along those lines.
Option 2: Choose an artistic minor. Possibly web design if that is offered through an art related department. Or an art minor itself, especially if there is a digital component to it. The thought is to give you the creative eye for what a good web page looks like, how to draw people’s eyes to your critical content, etc. You could then partner with the marketing/product folks to design your web site.
Either would be good coupled with an IS major.
Another option to consider if you want a major that combines aspects of business and IS is MIS (Management Information Systems).
Thanks for the advice guys! A lot of good info here!