The majority of organisations depend on the design, implementation and management of IT. As an information systems graduate, your skills will be invaluable to employers from a range of sectors

Job options

Jobs directly related to your degree include:

• Application analyst
• Cyber security analyst
• Data analyst
• Data scientist
• Database administrator
• Information systems manager
• IT consultant
• IT technical support officer
• Penetration tester
• Software engineer
• Systems analyst

Jobs where your degree would be useful include:

• Applications developer
• Border Force officer
• Business analyst
• Estimator
• Forensic computer analyst
• Network engineer
• IT sales professional
• UX researcher
• Web content manager

Work experience

Getting a range of work experience in hardware, operating systems, software and team leadership will enhance your skills portfolio. Some degree courses include a placement year or a placement in your final year of study, where you can develop your practical skills and build a network of contacts.

Summer placements and internships in IT are also offered by a range of companies. Speak to your university careers service about where to find vacancies.

Work experience in a corporate environment can help to develop your commercial awareness, client management skills and the ability to understand and communicate the business benefits of IT.

Typical employers

There are opportunities for information systems graduates in any organisation that makes use of IT facilities, meaning the range and variety of employers is vast.

Examples of employers in the not-for-profit and public sectors include:

• local and central government
• secondary, further and higher education
• the NHS
• charities
• the media.

Recruiters in the private sector include:

• IT consultancy firms
• software houses
• IT service providers
• telecom companies.

Employers within the IT sector range from multinational companies such as IBM, Microsoft, Cisco and Oracle, to small and medium-sized organisations, to the smallest companies employing fewer than five people.

Skills for your CV

An information systems degree provides you with a range of specialist skills in areas such as:

• hardware, software development and programming
• systems analysis
• database systems and design
• networking and operating systems
• data mining
• emerging technologies
• mobile applications
• computer security
• business analysis.

You'll also pick up other skills valued by employers, including:

• problem-solving and change management
• the ability to contribute to a team objective
• commercial awareness and business acumen
• the ability to understand and respond to user or customer requirements
• project management experience
• planning and organisation
• negotiation and influencing.

The development of these skills allows you to interpret employers' informational needs and translate them into business applications, working with a range of other specialists such as computer programmers, software engineers, computer scientists and business analysts.