Case for hiring MIS graduates The Case for Hiring MIS Graduates Hugh J. Watson I
ID: 458175 • Letter: C
Question
Case for hiring MIS graduates
The Case for Hiring MIS Graduates Hugh J. Watson
Introduction
One of the companies on our MIS (management information systems) Advisory Board recently posted a position for a BI business analyst. The company is mature in its use of BI and analytics and employs a rich variety of traditional and big data platforms and data analysis tools. The position is entry-level and the announcement is targeted to new graduates of the University of Georgia’s MIS program. The announcement caused me to think about the skills needed for BI and where to find people with those skills.
The announcement states that candidates must have a good understanding of databases, database design principles, and SQL skills. The person will be part of the finance business intelligence team and will help users in finance, accounting, marketing, and sales operations access information for analytical reporting. Specific technical skills include SQL (with Oracle DB 11), Oracle BI, and Excel. The person will manage a network of manual and automated reporting procedures; work with users on ad hoc reporting needs by providing training, guidance, and report design; help users access information; assist with the development of dashboards; help with user training for new applications; ensure that the data infrastructure meets new application needs; and administer user accounts. The candidate should be familiar with the systems development life cycle (SDLC). This sounds like a typical BI analyst position.
Analyzing the Skills
The position calls for a variety of skills.
Technical skills.
All BI positions require technical skills. In the announcement, database skills are a “must have.” I would argue that database is the most common technical skill required across a large number of BI positions. The announcement also calls for experience with Oracle BI and Excel. These are data access and analysis tools—the “getting data out” part of BI. I imagine that if an applicant had experience with MicroStrategy, Business Objects, Cognos, or some other reporting/ OLAP tool, the person would be seriously considered. Like database fluency, the ability to access and analyze data is a technical skill.
Business skills.
The position also requires the person to work with people in finance, accounting, marketing, and sales operations to provide training, guidance, report design, assistance in accessing information, dashboard design, and user training on new applications. To be effective in performing these tasks, the person should have business skills. It is important for analysts to be familiar with business concepts and terminology such as ROI, NPV, P&L, incremental costs, sales channels, customer affinity to buy, and customer lifetime value in order to be effective.
I had a conversation several years ago with a BI director about the supposed difficulty of getting face time with senior executives. The conversation illustrates the importance of business knowledge. The director thought the face-time problem was perhaps exaggerated but that it was critical for analysts to understand the business. He expanded by saying, “It takes about five minutes for an executive to decide if the analyst is going to be of any help, and if the answer is ‘no,’ the analyst will never get on the executive’s calendar again.”
One of the problems with new hires, and especially new graduates, even if they come from business schools, is that they don’t understand the organization-specific terminology. This is why it is difficult to hire new graduates into BI, and if they are hired, they often start out in technical positions.
Soft skills.
Soft skills are critical for projects that require interactions with internal and external stakeholders; and isn’t that the case with nearly all BI projects? Although there are opportunities for some “back room” technical gurus, most BI projects require people who can lead projects; work and collaborate well on teams; are well organized; have an ability to prioritize, learn, and adapt on the fly; possess good communication and presentation skills; and have strong interpersonal skills. The need for soft skills is seen in the announcement in that the position requires candidates to be able to work with users in various ways, work on project teams, and be well organized.
System development skills.
The announcement indicates that the applicant should be familiar with the SDLC. It might better say agile development methodologies, but giving the benefit of the doubt, some people use the SDLC generically to refer to all development methodologies. It has been my experience that being formally trained in various development methodologies is important. Sometimes I come across IT people who have very specific skills, such as building Web pages or administering networks, but do not either understand or appreciate the importance of using a methodology. Often these people fail to see system projects holistically as socio-technical undertakings and how their part of the project relates to the overall project and business needs.
The MIS and Computer Science (CS) Options
One of the things that frustrates me (as an MIS professor) is how often business and technical writers equate IT with computer science and fail to recognize the existence, size, and nature of MIS programs. For example, you often read statements such as “businesses need more CS graduates” or “IT professionals need business skills.” Although these statements are generally true, they fail to recognize that on most campuses, MIS programs (sometimes called IS or CIS) have as many majors as CS and require a full complement of business courses.
My belief is that although CS graduates are a good fit for technical BI positions, the majority of BI work is better performed by MIS graduates. Table 1 shows the coursework taken by the University of Georgia’s undergraduate MIS and CS students. The courses are typical of MIS and CS programs across the country.
Management Information Systems (Table 1)
Courses
Common body of business knowledge courses (economics, accounting, finance, marketing, management, operations, etc.)
Introduction to Information Systems
Computer Programming (Java)
Business Process Management
Data Management
Network-based Application Development/Advanced Java Programming
Project Management
Systems Analysis and Design
Electives: Business Intelligence, Energy Informatics, Enterprise Systems (ERP), IS Leadership, etc.
Computer Science Courses (Table 1)
Introduction to Programming
Software Development
Systems Programming
Theory of Computing
Data Structures
Computer Architecture
Software Engineering
Operating Systems
Computer Networks
Web Programming
Database Management
Electives: Computer Modeling, Introduction to Game Programming, Numerical Methods and Computing, Simulation, Artificial Intelligence, Algorithms, Introduction to Robotics, Real-time Systems, Distributed Computing, Computer Graphics, etc.
An important difference between the programs is that MIS requires a combination of business (MIS programs are housed in business schools) and technical courses while all CS courses (housed in the arts and sciences departments) are technical. Students of CS also take more technology courses in total. If your staffing needs are for someone who is highly technical, a CS graduate is a good hire. However, some MIS students are also very technical and take their elective courses in CS.
MIS students take all of the courses required of business majors. Some CS students take a few business courses to broaden their knowledge. In general, however, MIS students have a better understanding of business concepts, terminology, and processes.
The MIS program helps students develop their soft skills. There is a required course in project management. Nearly every course requires a group project, such as building a database application for a client. The teams make end-of-project presentations, often to the client, and receive feedback on their work and presentations Both MIS and CS programs teach various development methodologies and have projects that require their use.
Conclusion
McKinsey & Company recently surveyed more than 800 executives about their organizations’ technologytalent needs next year. Heading the needs list was people with analytics and data science skills. Number two on the list was people with joint business and IT skills. These are exactly the skills that many BI positions require. Driving this need are the growth of analytics in organizations and Baby Boomers who are retiring at a high rate and taking their years of knowledge and experience with them. These forces are causing a shortage of technical talent in general, and specifically, the skills needed for BI and analytics work. There are several options for securing talent for your BI team—hiring them away from other companies, converting power users into BI professionals, and using consultants. Another option is to hire new college graduates. Although computer science grads are great for the most technical BI positions, and marketing, finance, and accounting grads are appropriate for some positions, MIS grads tend to have the combination of technical, business, soft, and system development skills that fit many BI positions.
Don’t reject applicants if they lack specific technical skills. New graduates are unlikely to have experience with all of your technologies. If candidates demonstrate an ability to learn and execute (e.g., class projects), they can quickly pick up new technologies. By way of contrast, business and especially soft skills are more difficult to learn.
Hiring these graduates can be challenging, however. Demand for them is rivaling that of the dot-com boom of the late 1990s and they are receiving multiple job offers at top salaries.
If you want to hire MIS grads, I encourage you to go beyond relying on HR to find potential candidates. My experience is that college recruiters are often not granular enough in their understanding of BI to find what you need. If there is a major university near you, it is likely that the MIS department offers a course in BI. I recommend you let the instructor know of your hiring interest and offer to be a guest speaker. This approach is likely to give you a pipeline for hiring the best BI talent coming out of school.
Questions
3. Why do you or why do you not agree with the author's conclusions?
Explanation / Answer
The author's conclusion is based on the research which he has carried out over the years. He is well expeirenced with roles and skills set required in Business Intelligence (BI). College graduates do not have an expeirience but if they demonstrate an ability to learn and execute, they can quickly pick up the skills required in BI. The author also demonstrated that if the HR hires a candidate from those college who offers BI as a subject, it would be more suitable candidate for the company.