Tanya Malik is a senior majoring in Management Information Systems (MIS) here at UConn. Tanya is very active in the Operations and Information Management (OPIM) Department as a member in both the Information Management Association (IMA) and the Advisory Group for the OPIM Innovate Initiative.
As a member of IMA, Tanya said she attends many of the informative meetings on career building and networking events. Through her involvement in IMA, Tanya said she has had the opportunity to network with professionals in the MIS field and other MIS students at UConn.
“IMA provided me with the opportunity to network with former UConn MIS students who have guided me to further pursue the MIS path,” Tanya said.
She said that the guidance of UConn MIS graduates now working in the field has helped her greatly in developing her future career path.
As an active member of the OPIM Advisory group, Tanya helps promote the OPIM Innovate Initiative by brainstorming ideas, providing feedback, and assisting in bringing new and emerging technology to students. Tanya said that her job is to test out the different technologies in the OPIM Department’s Innovation space and provide a personal account and recommendations on how to instruct students to use the technologies. Some of the technologies that Tanya has worked with as an advisor include the HTC Vive and 3D Printing.
There was rarely an OPIM Innovate event or workshop where Tanya was not in attendance this year. She said that her involvement in the Innovation space at the workshops helped her really grasp different aspects and new technologies in MIS. She said the workshops allowed her to learn about different career choices in the MIS field and the different technologies she will be working with.
Tanya said that the most interesting aspect of information technology for her is the fact that it is so broad, allowing her to learn more than just one skill.
“With information technology you are able to work with different technologies and are able to explore everything MIS has to offer,” Tanya said.
The MIS field is not monotonous, which is something she said she really likes about it. MIS professionals have the opportunity to learn and work with a bit of everything, such as software design, database design, data analytics and project management.
Tanya said her interest in MIS began when she took the OPIM 3103 (Business Information Systems) course and attended the Careers in Information Management and Business Analytics (CIMB event), as a Finance major at the time. At the CIMB event, panelists from the information technology field came to speak about their own experience in the field. She said it gave her insight into the vast amount of opportunities available in MIS. It was at this time that she said she had the realization that technology is and will always be all around us. And so began Tanya’s journey in the MIS major.
During her time in the MIS program, Tanya said she has learned many technical skills, as well as soft skills. Some skills that she learned throughout her coursework include how to analyze data, create databases and learn coding language.
Although not directly related to the MIS major, two other important skills Tanya said she developed during her time at UConn – public speaking and teamwork. She said being involved in countless group projects and presentations allowed her to build these soft skills that will be extremely beneficial to her in her career.
As for her advice for younger MIS students, Tanya said to take advantage of internship opportunities as soon as possible to find out exactly what area of MIS you are interested in taking your career. Tanya highly encouraged those who are still considering the MIS major to pursue it.
“Because of the broadness and newness of the major, the possibilities are endless for what you can do with the degree. You’re always going to be learning about new innovative technology and how it can be implemented in a business setting,” Tanya said.
Another big advantage of the MIS field is job security, she said. Because of our capitalistic society, Tanya said that we will always have businesses and technology with the need for someone to bridge that gap.
Tanya will be graduating in just a few weeks and she said she plans to work in her family’s business for a year before applying for a business analyst position at UnitedHealth Group.
“My ultimate goal is to be a part of an organization that allows me to keep learning and gain more experience and help me develop my skills further,” Tanya said.