I hate to come asking for advice, as I don't know where it'll lead, but I'm running out of ideas on what to do.

Back at the beginning of May, I graduated with a BBA in Management Information Systems. I graduated with an overall GPA of 3.94 out of 4.0, and I was also named the university's outstanding student in MIS for 2010. Despite this, I have little relevant experience, having had mostly normal summer jobs and only did a website and some minor tech support for a local small company.

Since graduation, I have had many interviews (both phone and on-site) - my last one being today. As of yet, none have resulted in an offer of employment. I am running out of ideas as to where to look, and I'm hoping that someone here might have some suggestions as to career path based on my degree or even potential employers to look into.

Any advice would be appreciated.

You should join the rebel alliance.

The Empire pays better.

Not sure about where to look, but maybe start a project that interests you and demonstrates your skills while you look, so you'll have something impressive to show potential employers sometime down the line.

MIS? That's rough.

Try internships. They don't have to be for students only, and the better ones can even pay the bills.

Maybe you already do this, but...

Do you mail a thank you note after the interview? Thank them for the opportunity to talk with them, talk about how excited you are for the chance to work with them, tell them explicitly that you want the job.

Do you send a follow-up letter the next week reiterating your strengths? Again expressing your desire to work there, telling them how great their company is, how you look forward to hearing from them, etc.

And Freelancer's suggestion is a good one too--being able to bring a portfolio of your work helps make up for lacking experience.


These are little things, but they can help you stand out from other interviewees. My boss told me that it was these elements that got me my current job--taking the time to assemble and bring a portfolio of relevant work, sending thank you notes and follow up letters after the interview--despite competing with candidates with much more experience than me. She thought it demonstrated that I sincerely cared about the opportunity and that I would show the same attention to detail in my work.

Heh, two of my housemates are majoring in MIS.
Good luck.

That's why our economy is crap... employers prefer the brown nosers over the better workers.

....or.... the people they already hired and trained over a professional chair warming service?

None of that is going to get you a job if they've decided to hire someone else.

At the end of an interview people generally have a good idea whether or not to hire you. It's then down to a comparison with other candidates. No one's gonna go "oh he was so nice and sent this nice e-mail, hire him."

And this is why recruitment agents encourage their candidates to do these very things. However, after the first 2, I decided to ignore such messages and focus on the merits of the candidates rather than their ability to brown-nose.

I agree, Emon. Just sending a note isn't guaranteeing the job. If you are unqualified or have a bad interview (or let's say, an interview that isn't as good as other candidates), niceties won't do ****. And I don't think OMG YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST is the tone to strike either. But I don't really see the harm in following up.

Yeah, I agree. It's just the way you made it sound at first.

It does sound like I'm advocating sucking up, but really I'm trying to say that the interview process is about making the case for why you are the best candidate, and that even after the interview is over it can help to continue to making the case.

Mailing or hand delivering to a receptionist a Thank You note is a must if you are seriously interested in a position you interviewed for.

Get out there & make friends w/ people in your field. You could start by joining a meet-up group (or something like that) in your area. Networking is half the battle.

I am still in school and have no work experience or any real interview experience. But hearing this I have to ask.....people actually do this? It sounds like horrible ass kissing and I can't imagine anybody worth working for would be shallow enough to be influenced by such things. If anything, if I were looking to hire somebody to work for me, I'd be turned off by such ass kissing.

Or would I be surprised?

It depends on the industry and who you're applying to. Generally, the better companies have really good hiring practices and none of that will mean a damn.

Who actually hires MIS people? Where is it useful? I think Zecks should focus on companies with bad hiring practices and a diseconomy of scale, where he can quietly slip into middle management and live out his days as an example of the Peter Principle.

Well, I know what forum to post on when I need some career advice that will make me want to jump off a skyscraper.

Well I think a large part of it is that a whole lot of people are spending a lot of money on degrees that sound like they would be good, but there isn't a huge need for that skill-set.

I figured I would post here as well. I graduated with my MBA at the end of June. I have seven years middle management experience at a local retailer. I submit around four resumes per day and I have yet to be called for an interview. Do any of you have any tips for me?

The only job I can help anyone get is as a web developer, but that's because those interviews are a piece of piss if you know your stuff.

Does MIS lead to Service Delivery Management type roles rather than development?

You do need to follow up after an interview, but I don't believe in being pushy about it

New forum header tag line?

Here is a link that describes what MIS as a major is.

I chose MIS because it required less math (which I often find boring/tedious) and because I thought I would still be well off. I've had a variety of courses that dealt with business and with MIS. I've also taken personal time to learn new things, which I often to in a project-based fashion.

I do have plans to go to grad school at some point in the next couple of years. I am not sure as of yet on what to focus, which is why I wanted to get some experience and better know what I would like to do. In addition, I wanted to start paying off some of my student loans before racking up more debt with grad school. For the time being, grad school is not really an option because I do not have the funding.

I know it is recommended to follow up to interviews. However, I cannot afford to send letters out, and I often do not have contact information to be able to send an email. It is something I wish I had more control over.

As for why someone might hire MIS? MIS graduates have a strong understanding of business. CS students where I went to school take only 2 or 3 courses in business. This is hardly enough to have any understanding of business. For my program, there was a lot of talk about how information systems could be used to create a competitive advantage and how IT and business strategies could be aligned to create synergies. I think that could be valued by some employers, though value would be higher in upper level positions where strategy is made as opposed to entry level where orders are followed.

Let's all make fun of the guy who probably just typed "synergies" with a straight face.

Yeah, I really don't know where to begin. I have no idea what your program is like, but MIS always struct me as a "you nerdy CS guys don't know business, so that's where I come in!" type of deal. Which is a pretty terrible idea. You end up with people that have mediocre understanding of business, mediocre understanding of technology and mediocre understanding of organizational psychology. The perfect useless middle manager.

Edit: Not saying you're useless, Zecks. It just strikes me as a very mediocre type of degree. I think if someone wants to be able to better apply technology to a business, they should have a science or engineering degree (whatever is applicable to the field) and get an MBA. That being said, anyone can be good at anything no matter what degree they have. If you want to be a developer, you need to practice it. Personal projects are a great way to do this.

Emon: You're right on it being a rather mediocre degree. It sounds good, but there's really not enough focus on any one thing. I switched into MIS in my 3rd year of college, and I didn't realize this until the 4th year, when it was too late to switch again. If I could have started over with college, I would have majored in MIS as well as CS or IT. I went business for the undergrad, and I'm thinking about technical for the grad.

CS definitely seems better at a functional level. MIS really wouldn't be of much worth unless it's at a strategic level. And chances are, you're not going to be making strategic decisions straight out of college.

BobTheMasher: Yes, I did type "synergies" with a straight face. After having had the importance of such stressed in both of my capstone courses for much of a semester, it's one of those words I tend to use when talking about competitive advantage.

I have people skills!

It's okay, I take a lot of stuff seriously that other people think is silly to talk about. I totally understand.

well, why dont you go around to a few small businesses and convince them that they need you to develop and implement data management systems for them. offer to work with them for cheap. build a protfolio and gain that mythical "experience" at the same time.

i know this probably sounds a lot easier than it is, but hey, its worth a shot. get started on your own instead of relying on an employer to pick you up.

I wish I could do this. However, because I live in West Virginia, I would be required to get a business license, which I believe would require money that I don't have.

I would recommend taking on a few jobs that you're grossly overqualified for in order to make enough money to do so. I've been making about $30-$40/hour ($10-$20 delivery fee plus tips) on average delivering food for a local cafe (not counting my hourly wages). It's nothing fancy & it's only part-time but it's money in the bank while my wife & I are saving & working on our business plan. It sounds like you also weren't born w/ a silver spoon in your mouth & will have to work twice as hard (if not more) as some people to accomplish your goal(s).

You make that sound horribly easier than it actually is. Not doing the job but getting it.

This. If you have no real work experience, internships are a great way to build it.

Of course they spent a lot of money on a degree that sounded good because their HS Guidance Counselor, who should have perhaps retired years ago, made it sound good ~7 years earlier in the 10th Grade when they started jamming college down your throat.

My experience anyway...

It's pretty obvious that many college freshmen are still too young to know what they want to do. I have some in some of my classes that I want to throttle and ask why they are paying 30+ grand a year in a degree program they obviously aren't that enthusiastic about.

Next semester will conclude my 6th and final full time year at my local Community College. I am **SO GLAD** that it worked out this way.

The first 2 years I had no idea what I wanted to do. If I had transferred after that into some BS major I would be done by now and probably hating life.

Eventually I got impatient and fed up with being at the school and not knowing what I want to do and arbitrarily picked a major that I wasn't enthusiastic about. I spent 2 years on this and when I was about to transfer I said F this, I want to do Engineering. Hello 2 more years at JC.

I'll be done at JC after next semester and transfer to UCD next fall already half way done with an Engineering degree. Only 2 years worth of University debts in a field I am *DEFINITELY* enthusiastic about? I'll take it.

All these years at JC figuring out what I really want to do have been absolutely worth it.