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April 15, 2006

If I Were 21 ... and Majoring in Information Systems

Last week I spoke to the MIS Association at Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA.  Professor Craig Tyran is the sponsor.  Seemed like a great group of students, actively networking in just the ways we all like to see.  I concluded the talk with a list of ten things I'd do if I were 21 Years Old and majoring in information systems. Craig mentioned the list might be useful to others, so here it is.

Ten Things I'd Do:

  1. Your Mother was right.  Stop smoking and wear sunscreen!  Take good care of your body ... it supports your mind and in this business, we live by our minds.
  2. Think innovation.  In 2005, a RAND Corporation study indicated the strongest job prospects for the next fifty years involve either creating innovative technology or, more in line with IS majors, creating innovative applications of emerging technology.  Example:  How can you use a video game metaphor for innovative user interfaces?
  3. Read two books:

            Thomas Friedman, The World Is Flat

            Ray Kurzweil, The Singularity Is Near

  1. In The World is Flat, Friedman says there are four ways to compete with off-shore outsourcing.

    Be:

    1. Special (be Steve Jobs or Brad Pitt)
    2. Specialized (skill or technology)
    3. Localized (do a job that requires you to be here, e.g., install networks
    4. Adaptable (be ready to change, learn new skills, apply skills in new industries)

    If possible do a.  For most of us, though, that's not an option.  In that case, I'd focus on b and d.  Note, too, that b is perishable.  Success lies on the derivative.

     

  2. Move!  Go to where the great jobs are.  Don't stay home.  Go to the other side of the country, to another country.  Find work that will give you great experience!  You can return home in 10 years if you want to.
  3. Learn to speak Spanish or Chinese.
  4. Find a parade and get in front of it.  Leading parades today:
  1. XML Web Services
  2. XML - Relational Databases.  XML data stores
  3. Computer Security
  4. Data mining.  Either reporting based like OLAP and RFM or statistical/math based like decision trees, market basket, neural nets
  1. Be entrepreneurial.  You don't have to take life, or school, or work in the way they're presented to you.  There's often opportunity for creativity.  Example:  negotiate with your professor on term projects.  If you want to study XML data stores, write a paper, do a project.  See your prof and negotiate a substitute for an existing project in one of your courses.  Learn to look for creative options.  
  2. No company or organization can provide job security, so don't look for it.  The only possible security is a marketable skill and the courage to use it.  Focus on those.  Every time I sought security, I paid highly and didn't get the security.
  3. Build and protect your personal brand.  Your name is everything.  It's a small world and a small industry.  Find out who you are, what you want to do, and do it well.  Guard your reputation.

Posted by DavidK at April 15, 2006 05:06 PM | Permalink

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