Hello,
I recently stumbled upon this great site and wanted to get some advice from some experienced BA's and hiring managers out there. I am currently a full time MBA student concentrating in MIS and will begin to take the majority of the IS courses ( systems analysis & design, process analysis & modeling, project & program mgmt etc...) next semester. My backround is in IT recruiting which I have to thank for sparking my initial interest in the field.
That being said I am keenly aware of the difficulties breaking into this field and can use all the help I can get. Considering the types of courses I will be taking I am curious if there are any other specific literature or resources I should get my hands on in order to prepare myself further? Any ideas on how to get some real experience in the field or should I initially focus on my studies and self help resources to get a shot? I have thought about joining the local IIBA for networking purposes...would that also be helpful? Any advice is appreciated.
Many thanks,
Stelio
Wow your story sounds so familiar... I too was in the same perdicerment (4 years ago), that you are currently in. I graduated in MIS in 2003. During my sophomore year I began to really stress about being able to obtain a career after graduation. I decided to continue my education while pursuing as many internships as I could (that wouldn't disrupt my school schedule too much)- I ended up with 2 1-year long internships that carried me out through the 1st part of my sernior year. By doing this I was able to get the hands on experience that I so needed, and was able to obtain great networking contacts- networking skills are extremely important when it comes to finding a position after graduation. I made a point to stay in close contact with the people I worked with during my internships, which was a huge plus after graduation- I was able to get a good job 2 months after graduation. So I guess my answer would be to do both... if you possibily can.
Thanks for the reply bookluver. How did you go about finding your internships? Where they titled "BA intern" or something else? Did you network anywhere else besides your internships? In light of the current economy it seems internships are as hard to come by as anything else and I may not have the opportunity to network in that type of environment this summer like Ihave hoped.
Thanks again
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