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Career Rating and Comparison
| Category | This Career | All Rated Careers |
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| Career Satisfaction |    | |
Degrees and Schools
A bachelor's degree in a technical field from a college or university is usually considered a minimum requirement by employers. However, some will hire graduates with an associate's degree from a vocational or technical school. A combination of relevant work experience with a non-technical four-year degree is also commonly accepted.
Having education in both computer science/information systems and business is highly regarded among employers, who look for Management Information Systems (MIS) degrees, or for higher level positions, MBA degrees with a concentration in information technology.
Classes
Coursework for two-year or four-year degree information systems or computer science programs is usually a combination of classes and computer lab work. Group projects allow students to apply what they've learned through hands-on experience with computer systems. Students also study:
- Installation and configuration of specific computer operating systems, software and hardware
- Theory and design of computer systems
- Data modeling
- Structured analysis
- Mathematical model building
- Sampling
- Information engineering
- Cost accounting
- Security and testing
Additional courses in a particular industry, such as aerospace or telecommunications, can provide leverage for job candidates.
Knowledge of emerging technologies is essential for systems analysts. As part of their job, they may frequently attend conferences, take courses and join user groups.
Online Classes and Programs
There are many online degree programs in computer science or information systems. Aspiring system analysts should consider selecting programs that have been accredited by organizations such as ABET to ensure that credits will be accepted at other schools.
Employment Requirements
Many employers consider a bachelor's degree to be a minimum requirement for systems analysts, and they prefer a degree that includes both business and technical education. Combined work experience and demonstrated knowledge of emerging in-demand technologies, or a two-year associate's degree in computer science, may be sufficient for some employers.
Three attributes employers look for in preferred candidates are:
- Possession of skills that are in high demand
- Being up-to-speed on emerging technologies
- Having specific education or experience in the company's industry (e.g. healthcare or finance)
How to Evaluate Schools
Prospective systems analyst students should consider asking the following questions when comparing two- and four-year degree programs:
- Tuition and financial assistance - Does the school offer financial assistance? If so, what resources are available to help students take advantage of scholarships, loans and work study programs? What expenses, in addition to textbooks and fees, should be anticipated (e.g. purchases of expensive software programs and manuals, or lab time)?
- School and class size - What facilities and options does the school offer and are they appealing? What about online studies – is this an option for the school and if so can it be combined with on-campus studies if so desired? Is the student-faculty ratio comparable to other programs?
- Career assistance - Is there a well-organized career assistance program at the school, including career fairs and job placement? What is the success rate for graduates seeking jobs?
- Accreditation - Has a governing body in computer science / information technology accredited the school? If the program is offered online, has it been accredited by a direct-learning oversight organization?
- Relevant courses - Does the program offer a good balance of both technical and business courses? Do the courses provide training in high-demand technologies? Are there courses relevant to specific industries that are of interest, such as the finance industry?
- Advanced degrees - For those that may seek more advanced degrees, such as a Master's, does the school offer such degree programs that can build on previous studies?
- Practical experience - Is substantial time dedicated to work in the computer lab? Are internships offered?
Systems Analyst Job Description
Every computer in every company has to be set up properly and maintained in order to support its users. Operating systems and application software must be installed according to the roles of a computer's users, and hardware may need to be swapped out or upgraded appropriately. In addition, computers must be configured properly in order to communicate with each other over networks, including the Internet, intranets and wireless. Systems analysts are responsible for deciding what software, hardware and settings are needed for each computer, and the steps needed to maintain them. They plan, implement and manage multi-computer systems within an organization.
Additional duties include:
- Assessing the needs of individual departments within an organization and documenting them.
- Planning for the computers and software they will need in order to interact and meet organizational goals.
- Providing analysis of costs versus benefits and potential return on investments for proposed computer systems.
- Establishing and documenting procedures for related tasks.
- Installing and configuring software according to procedures.
- Testing individual computers for proper function; repairing and upgrading software and hardware.
- Working with computer programmers to set up, troubleshoot and maintain computer systems.
- Conducting assessments on the quality and efficiency of computer systems, and making recommendations.
Systems analysts work with both technical and business customers, facilitating communication between the two. Many systems analysts focus on specific computing areas, such as for business, accounting, financial systems or scientific and engineering. Analysts that specialize in selection of system software and infrastructure are sometimes referred to as system architects while those that are specialized in developing and evolving systems are frequently known as systems designers. System analysts typically work in offices or computer labs, and may be either employees or self-employed consultants.
Career Profiles
To help career searchers evaluate their options, BrainTrack has asked hundreds of workers to profile their jobs with a review and ratings. See below for a summary of this career compared to all rated careers and for detailed reviews.
| Category | This Career | All Rated Careers |
|---|---|---|
| Career Satisfaction | | |
| Opportunity for Promotion | | |
| Career Flexibility | | |
| How Cool Is The Career | | |
| How Stressful | | |
| Social Orientation | | |
| Earnings Potential | | |
| Task Variety | | |
| Job Security | | |
Job Title: Business Systems Analyst
Attended: SUNY Stony Brook • Stony Brook, NY
Studied Information Systems (completion in 2007)
Highest relevant degree: Bachelor's
• Submitted: 1/24/2012
"My career involves the whole systems development life cycle (SDLC). It is not boring since new projects arrive every half a year."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| School Rating | 8 | The program prepares you well for the real work environment in terms of system design and the SDLC. However, there are a lot of theoretical classes. |
| Opportunity for Promotion | 3 | There are many unemployed, over qualified people who are looking for jobs. It is cheaper to find someone externally than promote within. |
| Job Security | 5 | With the state of the economy, no job is secure. Off shoring is also a big problem. |
| Earnings Potential | 8 | When one reaches about 10 years of being a programmer, the earnings can go 120k+. However, one must adapt to the ever changing technology. |
| How Stressful | 10 | The business does not know what they want. There are plenty of requirement changes last minute without additional time added to the project. This is just one example. |
| Task Variety | 5 | Again, it's all in the SDLC. Your task will cycle though that, from project to project. But it is not as repetitive as being just a coder. |
| How Cool Is The Career | 5 | If you enjoy what you do, it'll become "cool". If you don't have the passion for it, software development is not for you. |
| Career Flexibility | 2 | I am able to work at home on rare occasions. However, it is widely frowned upon. The company wants face time more than anything. |
| Social Orientation | 5 | Interaction - requirements gathering and prototypical to the users. Non-interaction - coding at your desk. |
Job Title: Systems Analyst
Attended: NCCU (North Carolina Central University) • Durham, NC
Studied Computer Information Systems (completion in 2011)
Highest relevant degree: Bachelor's
• Submitted: 3/5/2012
"I am in a great position to start off my career. I just wish I was given more responsibility."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| School Rating | 9 | I had a great time in my undergraduate program. I just wish they had more classes to learn about more fields in the information systems industry. |
| Opportunity for Promotion | 5 | There isn't a lot of opportunity to get promoted. This is because we are very small so people have several job titles. |
| Job Security | 10 | I am very secure at my job. My company is very small but everyone works hard and is focused at getting work done. So there is no reason for downsizing. |
| Earnings Potential | 10 | We get raises every year, based on our performance. We also get bonuses. |
| How Stressful | 1 | No stress in my job. At all. |
| Task Variety | 4 | My tasks rarely vary unless we have new applications to work on. I like this part of my job, though. |
| How Cool Is The Career | 10 | We have a very laid back environment at my job. We often go out to lunch as a company on the regular and we are free to share our opinions without fear of consequence. |
| Career Flexibility | 5 | I am learning quite a bit at my job since I have numerous tasks that are all over the board. |
| Social Orientation | 8 | I have interaction with most people at my job. There are still a few people that I don't really interact with, though. |
Job Title: Systems Analyst
Attended: University Of Florida • Gainesville, FL
Studied Computer Science (completion in 2010)
Highest relevant degree: Bachelor's
• Submitted: 3/5/2012
"I thought my position would include be more hands-on programming. It actually includes a lot of design brainstorming."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| School Rating | 9 | A lot of options for programming languages available. Could take as an elective anything from Information Security to Visual Basic. |
| Opportunity for Promotion | 9 | My project manager was a system analyst before he took his current position. I firmly believe if I do well where I currently am, I could be project manager as well. |
| Job Security | 10 | I work for a bank, which is doing pretty well right now, and bank policy is they don't fire employees over little things. A lot of bureaucracy goes on. |
| Earnings Potential | 7 | I'm happy with what I earn especially having graduated a relatively short time ago. Obviously I would like to earn more, but so would everyone else. |
| How Stressful | 6 | The work can get stressful if we fall behind on a project, but I'm a laid back person and even if we do fall behind, I try to remain stress free and keep a clear head so that I do the job well. |
| Task Variety | 7 | While we do specific projects, the daily tasks change a bit but while doing maintenance. |
| How Cool Is The Career | 5 | I consider my work to be cool, but I am a realist and know that people think it is very geeky. |
| Career Flexibility | 6 | I consider the work schedule to be normal. The variety of locations is good but nothing super spectacular. The other options would be in Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands. |
| Social Orientation | 9 | I work on a team, so social interaction is basically mandatory. Everybody within the group gets along fine. |
Job Title: Senior Systems Analyst
Attended: George Mason University • Fairfax, VA
Studied Computer Science (completion in 1993)
Highest relevant degree: Bachelor's
• Submitted: 3/6/2012
"I enjoy the mechanics of technology solutions (process and software development) and meeting business goals. I do not care as much for support work and pager rotations."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| School Rating | 8 | At the time I found them on the cutting edge for language and software development methodologies (OO, back in that timeframe). It was more of a business oriented career track, so I should have gone that direction instead of Computer Science. In the NoVa area, however, CompSci is a good career path to be on because of the defense contractors. |
| Opportunity for Promotion | 8 | When the excitement of hard core programming recedes, there is significant opportunity to move into business analysis or liaison work that leverages technical knowledge with business goals. |
| Job Security | 4 | The company I worked for went bust. My colleagues split between contractor positions that were not stable and established companies in the area that were and continue to be stable. |
| Earnings Potential | 8 | It is still better than an average skilled job, particularly in specific areas. The salaries have decreased somewhat with the economy but contractors, particularly to government agencies, still obtain high hourly rates. |
| How Stressful | 9 | I found sales systems support to be stressful because we were a retail company that reported to Wall Street based on those numbers. We also experienced peak seasons of activity in retail that could create pressure to meet deadlines. |
| Task Variety | 5 | My later work as a project lead involved the full life cycle of software development, from kickoff meetings and presentations to design to code reviews to testing to support call management and tracking. In more experienced roles, there is diversity of activity and skills that were not as prevalent as a team programmer. |
| How Cool Is The Career | 9 | If you are looking for 'cool' from your job, I'd say IT is cool because it makes money. If you look for personality and character to determine 'cool,' I think IT still facilitates that because the salary allows for more diverse experiences. |
| Career Flexibility | 4 | I know some folks who worked part time or from home while their children were young, however I did not experience this. My experience was 24/7 pager support, particularly in later years when I managed my support team. |
| Social Orientation | 7 | Most of my social interaction was outside of work, as a heads down programmer, but as an analyst and later as a manager I had regular meetings with business and management representatives. Outside of work, we have family, church, and other social interactions to round out our experience. |
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