Students who earn degrees in information systems (IS) earn higher starting salaries than fellow business-school counterparts. And they benefit from one of the fastest national placement averages.
These statistics are just some of the findings from the latest edition of the Information Systems Job Index, produced by researchers from Temple University’s Fox School of Business, in partnership with the Association for Information Systems (AIS).
Published and released in January 2018, the third installment of the IS Job Index culled the responses of 2,140 IS graduates of the Class of 2017, from 58 universities nationwide.
Some of the index’s more-interesting findings include:
- Salaries for IS undergraduates ($62,820) are the highest among students who pursue typical business majors ($52,047).
- The percentage of women in IS jobs (39%) is more than double that of women in other STEM fields like computer science (18%).
- Internships double the likelihood of an IS student getting a job offer (39% for those who hold at least one internship vs. 16% for those who do not).
“There are more than 3 million IS jobs in the U.S. alone,” said index co-author Dr. Munir Mandviwalla, associate professor of management information systems (MIS) at Temple University’s Fox School of Business. “This data is critical for parents of college-age children, current and prospective students seeking an accurate job outlook, employers, and policymakers—and it cannot be found anywhere else.”
Mandviwalla conducted research for the latest installment of the IS Job Index and co-authored it with Dr. Crystal Harold, associate professor of human resource management at Temple’s Fox School of Business, and Maria Boggi, a junior MIS major in the Fox School and Temple University Honor’s programs.
The AIS-Temple Fox School Job Index is the only systematic assessment of the IS job market. It is a joint project, with support from AmerisourceBergen and LiquidHub, to produce reliable national-level data on placement, job type, satisfaction, and related factors like career services, knowledge level, preparedness, and search strategies.
More: To read the Information Systems Job Index, visit isjobindex.com.
Interview requests: Please send requests to Christopher A. Vito, associate director of communications & media relations, Temple University’s Fox School of Business, at cvito@temple.edu
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Every brand has a story to tell and they often need help telling it. This is where Lauren Moreno comes in.
Moreno, MS ’16, is the co-founder of Team 624 Communications, a Philly-based firm that develops and executes social media and content strategies for small- and medium-sized businesses in the fashion and lifestyle space.
“I’ve always loved working with small businesses,” says Moreno. “And I always knew I’d go into business for myself.”
Soon after completing her MS in Digital Innovation in Marketing at the Fox School, Moreno and longtime friend Kaitlin Cleary launched 624. Their many clients include Printfresh Studio, a textile design studio that runs a stationery brand and a fashion line, and Whimsy Greenville, a wedding-focused gifts and stationery company. We recently caught up with Moreno and asked her to share some of the big marketing mistakes brands make with their social and digital content strategies (and lack thereof). Here’s what she said.
5. Not Having a Unique Voice
“You can’t be everything to everyone. A lot of brands don’t intentionally try to do that, but they end up doing it by not paying attention to how they’re talking to their customers and to what message they’re sending. We develop brand voice to stand out from the competition and to have a consistency that builds trust. We work with clients to develop personas, and that makes it easier to speak to particular audiences and to what they care about. This makes it more tangible—to say, ‘A customer who cares about how her clothes are made is going to be more interested in the details of the clothing we’re promoting, in hearing the story behind the clothes, than how other people are wearing the clothes.’ One recent client saw that their main competition’s social strategy included a lot of social speak, like ‘omg’ and ‘lol.’ But the client was telling a very different story: They were more serious, more thoughtful. We developed their voice to capitalize on these brand traits and show how different they were from the competition.”
4. Not Engaging Followers and Building Community
“Social media is a great customer service tool and it’s important to answer questions promptly and respond to people’s comments. Beyond that, social media is also about being part of the conversation. When brands come to us and want to increase their Instagram following, posting pretty pictures and having a consistent voice isn’t enough: They need to interact with followers and other influencers. Otherwise, they won’t see the results they want. You have to be aware of the conversations your customers care about, then find a way to drive that conversation and be a part of it.”
3. Obsessing Over Going Viral
“Some clients are obsessed with the idea of things going viral, but things don’t just go viral. There’s a lot of planning and strategy, and most often a lot of money put behind it; it doesn’t just happen on its own. Distribution strategy is just as important as the content itself, and you need to look to paid social to get that content to the people who care about it.”
2. Posting Identical Content Across Platforms
“There’s no reason for your customers to follow you on Instagram if you’re posting the exact same content on Facebook. We work with clients to tailor content that fits into the ecosystem of each specific social platform and on strategically choosing which platforms brands use in the first place. We’d rather them do one platform really well than do two or three poorly, and just use the same content across them all.”
1. Not Having a Goal-Based Strategy
“We have a lot of brands that are active on all these channels, and they’re creating great content, but they’re not clear on how the work they’re doing is aligned with their business goals because they’re not taking time to develop a good strategy. There should be a good business reason, for instance, for creating an Instagram profile. And it’s important to plan the content and what you’re actually sharing so you can be consistent with your brand voice and image. What you’re putting into the world needs to have an impact on your business, otherwise you’re wasting your time. Small businesses have limited resources, so they need to make the most of what they have while ultimately providing value to their customers.”
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Lauren Moreno’s undergraduate education spanned fine arts, journalism, and art history. In search of a graduate program that would enhance her sales and marketing career, Moreno chose Temple University’s Fox School of Business.
In February, Moreno earned a Master of Science degree in Digital Innovation in Marketing (DIM), as part of the online program’s first graduating class.
“I wanted a graduate program that offered the business school background that I didn’t get from my undergraduate degree, while complimenting my work experience,” said the 31-year-old Moreno. “I decided the DIM program was what I was really passionate about and thought that should be where I’d put my energy.”
Moreno co-founded Team 624 Communications, a digital branding, social media, and content marketing firm for which she serves as creative director. The Digital Innovation in Marketing program, which can be completed in 16 months, enables students like Moreno to flourish in a collaborative environment that fosters an understanding of the digital marketing industry.
“It’s always changing,” said Moreno. “As professionals, we need to keep learning and challenge the practices we’re using. If you’re not paying attention to where your engagement is coming from and what type of content is working, it won’t take long before marketing efforts are diminished.”
With the help of an advisory council comprised of digital innovators who are currently in the industry, students in the DIM program are offered a curriculum that coincides with what is part of the professional landscape.
“The overall mission of our program is to create the next generation of digital marketers,” said Amy Lavin, director of the Digital Innovation in Marketing program. “In today’s digital economy, it’s not enough to just be a marketer. It’s not enough to just be technical on the marketing side. We give the students in our program the ability to understand both sides.”
The MS in Digital Innovation in Marketing is managed jointly within the Fox School’s Management Information Systems (MIS) and Marketing and Supply Chain Management departments. In January, the MIS department’s graduate programs earned a No. 16 ranking in the country from U.S. News & World Report — a feat that Lavin said validated what the program has to offer.
“You can complete any kind of Google search right now, and you know this market is hot,” said Lavin. “In this program, we’ll give students the skills they need in order to be successful. As the marketplace opens up and people realize that they need this skill set, we’re going to continue to grow our MS in Digital Innovation in Marketing.”
Currently, Moreno remains focused on utilizing the tools she has taken from the program to grow Team 624, alongside her business partner, Kaitlin Cleary.
“We want to meet our next goals by identifying potential revenue streams,” Moreno said. “We’re looking at offering trainings, workshops, online courses, and like we learned in the program, really using technology to our advantage to reach more people.”