<p>Hello all.
This is my first post as you can see.
I'd like to ask about these two majors "Accounting" & "Information Systems"
I like accounting, it's my favorite business class. I heard that it's dull, repetitive, boring. And that it's really hard to find a job nowadays in accounting(Lots of people get into business, especially accounting). And having a high degree is a necessity in order to find one or get a better salary.
Information Systems, I heard it's a very good major, with a lot of job opportunities. But I also heard it's too hard. Or needs a lot of memorizing. I am looking for a better future, more job opportunities, and it's more diverse than Accounting is.
My main problem is that I'm not passionate about a specific field of study. I really like accounting but I don't feel like taking it as the career of my life if I have other better options.
I'm waiting for your suggestions.
Thanks for your attention. :)</p>
<p>Almost everything you said is crazy (no offense).</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Umm if you like it, enjoy it, and think it is interesting, why in the world would you decide not to major in it because OTHER people dislike it?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It is really hard to find any job nowadays in any field. Lots of people are majoring in Accounting, more so than in the recent past, but only some of those people are succeeding in it and making good grades (though still, a lot of people). However, even MORE people are majoring in other business and non-business fields, and since in most colleges they are all easier than Accounting, those people make higher grades and therefore there is even MORE competition in those fields.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Complete opposite of the truth. There is not one single business major/field where a Master’s degree is preferred for an entry-level or low-experience job. Yes, once you get several years of experience, often it is advantageous to get an MBA or related Master’s degree, but that is in every single business field.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>At the moment, overall it has more decent opportunities than Management, General Business/Business Administration, Marketing, Human Resources, and other such over-generalized business majors. However, there is less demand for it than Accounting. Also, compared to Computer Science, it is a terrible major. All things being equal, a Computer Science major has an advantage over an IS major in applying for EVERY single possible IT job. Furthermore, there will be numerous types of IT jobs an IS major will not even be considered for at all, whereas the CS majors will be considered.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Since they are different fields requiring different skills, the difficulty can vary for every student. Overall however, it is the opposite: at <em>some</em> schools IS/MIS is more difficult than Accounting, but at <em>most</em> schools Accounting is more difficult than IS/MIS.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>VERY important information here:
First, Accounting is naturally FAR more about memorization than IS. In fact, there are few, if any, fields that require as much pure memorization as Accounting.</p>
<p>Second (the VERY important part!):</p>
<p>I am not sure where you are getting all this bad information, but if you heard from people at your school that IS requires more memorization than other classes at your school, this is a CLEAR sign of a VERY BAD Information Systems department. This means the department probably has faculty/staff teaching in it that does not know much about IS and are incapable of and/or unwilling to teach their students the important PRACTICAL skills necessary to obtain any entry-level IS job. So they load their classes with a bunch of quizzes/tests over theoretical textbook information that will do nothing to help you get a job, much less succeed at the job after you get it.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, teaching quality has and continues to drop across the nation (and probably the world). So you have to deal with useless memorization everywhere. However, the IS degree particularly should have much less memorization than other business majors. If this is not true at your school, that means your school has a particularly bad IS department, and if you are concerned about getting a job after graduating, you should not consider majoring in IS at your school. I got an MIS degree from such a department, and now I am unemployed. If you do decide you want to major in IS, transfer to a school with a better IS department.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Accounting wins on all three aspects. First, there is age discrimination everywhere in America now, in just about every field. However, Information Technology is notoriously worse than others, and it is increasingly becoming worse. Although it is certainly not limited to development roles, just as an example, executives from IBM and SAP recently said they were increasingly hesitant to hire anyone over the age of 35 for development-related roles, regardless of their skills or experience. Information Technology is not a career you want to pick for the highest chances of a “better (long-term) future.”</p>
<p>As for job opportunities, once again, there are FAR more Accounting and Finance opportunities (as an Accounting major you will be eligible for both) than there are computer-related occupational opportunities. Outsourcing and H1-B visa imports are hitting all technology-related fields harder than any other. The competition is fierce, even more so than the already-fierce competition for the rest of the fields due to the economy. This also hurts the “better future” aspect. The IT opportunities are proportionally shrinking every day.</p>
<p>More diverse than Accounting? Non-sense. An IS major / IT worker, 99% of the time, will always remain an IT worker. Very rarely can you ever get another type of job outside of the IT field unless you go back and get an MBA from a top school. Accounting majors transition to other fields/industries all the time after proving themselves. Not to mention the entry/early opportunities are equally diverse, just in a different way, since Accounting majors are also eligible for Finance opportunities.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The only better option in terms of career opportunities, if you can handle it, is Engineering (non-computer). But considering the difficulty of engineering and your interest in Accounting, then Accounting is clearly the best option for you, unless you would like and succeed in Engineering too. It is even worse to be dispassionate about IS. There is a very high proportion of “extreme geeks” (cult-like, not just normal people with geeky interests/personalities) in American-operated/American-based IS departments, and in those departments the geeks often have the final word on who to hire. If you don’t fit the culture (and they will check you in the interviews), you’re going to have trouble even getting the job, much less keeping it:</p>
<p>Interests outside of IS are considered a negative. Life-interfering obsession (not just interest) with technology and your field is considered a must-have. Extensive at-home experience “tinkering” and “playing” with technology ON TOP of IS-related homework/study/internships/work is required. In some cases the culture is so extreme that anti-social behavior is even considered a positive.</p>
<p>It is not like that everywhere - but since you do not have a passion, it is best to go with the odds. With less and less opportunities for American graduates/workers, and an increasingly large proportion of the American opportunities controlled by this geek cult, and you’re a non-geek American without any particular interest in the field, I think it is a bad idea altogether for you to major in IS.</p>
<p>GoalsOriented.
Firstly, no offense taken. & Thank you very much for your opinion.
Secondly, I think you might be confused about how diverse IS is.
IS (Information Systems) is considered as a Business + IT major, It has lots of Management. And that the job doesn’t have to be IT-only oriented. It’s the bridge that connects IT with Business. At least that’s what I’ve been told, unless you also call that “crazy”.</p>
<p>As a software engineer with 23 years experience, I am not sure that I agree with the age discrimination statement. As long as you keep updated on the new technology, recruiters will hire you.</p>
<p>Having said that, I did THINK about the possibility of age discrimination once I was in my late 30’s so I went into defense/homeland security contracting…where you will always have jobs as long as the USA maintains their current foreign policies. Getting into the security-clearance industry helps too since having a clearance will trump your skills and experience for hiring. Of course, that means that you would have to work in certain geographical areas BUT HEY…it IS NICE when you know your paychecks are pretty much guaranteed.</p>
<p>If you have an interest in both, major in MIS and minor in Accounting. This would give you both and there is a field called AIS (Accounting Information Systems). All business majors at my school take the fundamental MIS course, except accounting majors. Accounting majors take AIS instead.</p>
<p>Both fields are in demand. MIS majors however make much more money in entry level jobs than Accounting does. Both are great majors so don’t let money scare you away from Accounting if you like it. Accounting has a lot of opportunity to make more money, especially if you get your CPA certification.</p>
<p>I would also like to add that MIS majors are not hardcore programmers. We have to understand the basics of computer science but we do not do the hardcore computer science work. We are the bridge between IT (computer science) and management. We translate what management needs in their computer system to IT and we translate what IT can do back to management. We are the middlemen.</p>