Need help in choosing a CIS skill to make me employable.?

Question

This question requires someone who is knowledgeable about the CIS (Computer Information Systems) industry and environment. I am a CIS major now in a state school. I will be graduating in a little over a year. It is my goal to someday become a systems analyst. I know a little bit of everything, like Visual Basic, html, C++, javascript, C#, Oracle, and php. I desperately want to get a job in CIS because I want to get my major career path started, and so I can use the information I learn on a daily and practical basis.

However, I do not feel qualified in any one area to get a CIS job. So I want to work on sharpening my skills in one area. My goal is to work hard on focusing on this area, so that, in a few months, I can get an entry level CIS job.

Can anyone make a recommendation, given my goals, as to what area/language/etc I should study and practice?

NOTE: I don't want to hear about the new trend in the future, I want to hear about what would get me a job today if I had the skill.

I am enrolled in a state university. How do I contact human resources in my school?

Answer 1

I am a developer, used to be a CS professor, now I play with php applications for fun. Some of the things that will definitely make you hireable anywhere in the market are:

Strong (emphasis on the word strong) X/HTML and CSS skills... XML/XSLT a big plus since things are leaning that way nowadays.
Most large corporations use Windows servers, so Java, ASP, and other .NET applications are very useful.
If you're into graphics/internet related materials, grasp onto Flash and ActionScript.

Your best bet is to go somewhere like careerbuilder.com or monster.com and just see what people are looking for. But I can tell you many of them want what I've said above.

But if I may give you a word of advice. You said you would like to focus on one area. It is in my experience, that if you walk in to a company and tell them you have 25 years of upper echelon-style ASP programming skills, you will lose out to the guy who has only 1 year of 25 different skills.

What you should focus on, is gaining knowledge of programming concepts in and of themselves. For the most part, they all operate under similar rules, typically it is just the syntax which differs. You will make yourself much more available (and even impressive) if you can prove that you are adaptable and have a broad understanding of languages, as opposed to mastery of just one. Just my ten cents, hope this helps.

Answer 2

Having a cert always pens doors. Failing, you MUST have something to show. A website to show Flash skills, a website that displays data to show SQL and web programming skills. Something. Anything. Take you favorite game, write a small editor for it. THis is a good way to get an entry level position for around $10-$20 an hour. WHile workingthere... GET SOME CERTIFICATIONS!!!!

Enroll in school, and speak with your district human resources department. School districts are ALWAYS hiring.

Most importantly... STUDY... WRITE... STUDY MORE!!! Concentrate on .Net, SQL, and porting data to the web to ghet into the field fast.

Talk to yur counselor. Different states, and communities have different protocols for hiring students. Your counselor would at least know who would have the information for you.

Answer 3

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