The Gies Information Systems program has earned a strong reputation for preparing and placing our graduates.
Recent Gies information systems graduates have been employed with companies such as EY, Deloitte, PwC, Allstate Insurance Company, Protiviti, Synchrony Financial, Grant Thornton, Teach for America, KPMG, and John Deere.
The information systems major prepares students to comfortably navigate through the challenges posed by the new-age organizations and society that are increasingly getting digitized. The major equips students with critical skills necessary to understand and manage the flow and use of information, information technology development, systems analysis, and e-business management. Our students are trained in the application of information technology to streamline business activities. They are familiar with the state of the art practices related to the design and implementation of digital systems to support the information processing needs of organizations.
Our graduates are not only ready to take on difficult challenges related to the use of Information Technology infrastructure in an organization but can also help the organization in transforming its Information Technology assets into a strategic strength. Here are some roles you might work in during your career.
Professionals in this field manage information and use it to help in improving business processes and making strategic decisions by analyzing data to obtain useful insights. A person in this position is the link between those that manage the hardware/software and others who need the information extracted from raw data to accomplish organizational goals.
In this role, you will assess, design, and combine leading information management and operational processes, approaches, technologies, and controls to help enable sustained business value and risk management in support of the client's business. You will likely focus on identifying pain points in client processes and scope technology-enabled transformations in multiple industries. You may specialize in certain technologies, functional areas, or industries in this role.
In this role you would match the business objectives/requirements and assess IT needs and capabilities. You might help with advice on the selection of appropriate new solutions and be a part of a team that helps deploy such such solutions, thus improving the effectiveness and efficiency of business processes.
As information becomes central to competitive advantage, the associated risks due to issues with confidentiality, integrity or availability of information systems become a big focus. In this role you will identify risks in a firm's systems, as well as the extended value/supply chain for the firm. You will build/execute/ monitor plans to mitigate such risks. In some cases you could focus on infrastructure risk (on premise or in the cloud) or you could focus on digital strategy risk.
In this role, you will focus on applying your skills in extracting data, analyzing it using machine learning algorithms, and visualizing insights using languages such as Python/R or tools such as Tableau/PowerBI.
In this role, you focus on what a user sees and does while interacting with a system. You may use survey research, observations, focus groups or more often A/B testing of digital interfaces to iterate and improve the interfaces or the user experience. This may also involve designing physical experiences. You do not need to be a designer to succeed at this role.
In this role, your focus is on having technical conversations with customers and prospects to understand their business needs and challenges. You are a cross functional partner not only with sales, but also with implementation consultants, product managers and customer success partners within an organization. This role requires you to effectively communicate with software engineers to help pass off customer feedback and distinguish the future of the product roadmap.
Think of a product owner as the quarterback of a technology development effort; at Spotify, you might be in charge of building out playlist features. At Anheuser-Busch, you might run design and development of a cutting-edge sales rep application. Product managers are extremely cross-functional and own the full software development lifecycle (SDLC). They partner with business stakeholders to collect requirements, development product plans, lead engineering efforts, deploy to users, conduct training sessions, and track against key performance indicators (KPIs), objectively measuring success.
Career Services provides information about job roles, career spotlights, and how to get a job using your degree.
Would you still like more information about careers in IS? Check out our career profile document.
We are committed to career and professional development. Our dedicated Career Services office, conveniently located inside the Business Instructional Facility, supports all undergraduate and graduate students with career advising, skill development workshops, résumé reviews, career fairs, and are always happy to assist you with any questions.
Gies Business Career Services discusses Information Systems career paths. This presentation took place February 2021 and may contain outdated content. For the most up to date information, contact Vishal Sachdev at vishal@illinois.edu.
