MSc Information Systems Management Masters NUIG

bookthief

Hi Doovdela

People who did the course last year are now doing stuff like software testing, business/systems analysis, technology consulting, web design- and a couple went onto to go for a Phd. In fairness, the rate of employment seems to have been really high. Have a look on gradireland.com- companies like HP, SAP, Accenture, Deloitte, Cisco etc all hire graduates from courses like this one.

My degree discipline was in nothing even remotely related to IT or Business- it was pure liberal arts, I had no interest in it at the time whatsoever and I came out with a very poor grade.

The work load for this Masters is pretty immense, and if you want to do well in it you do need to put in a massive amount of work. I loved it, the subject matter is really interesting and the lecturers are for the most part top class, and very sensitive to the fact that a lot of people are coming into the area for the first time. They start each module from scratch at a basic level, but as someone else pointed out in this thread, they accelerate the pace of learning really fast, so you need to be able to stay on top of your work. I worked part time throughout so it was a very intense (and depressing) year but it was so worth it when I got a 1.1 degree and a good job.

In terms of IT vs Business content, it's pretty much 50:50. Most of the more technical courses take place in the first semester. You start off programming in Visual Basic, which is a relatively easy language to learn because its very visual (as the name suggests!) and then in semester two you can opt to take a course in Java which is more difficult. You also cover web design in semester 1, not much coding involved though as it's through Dreamweaver, and you do a good bit of image editing in that course too- Photoshop and Fireworks. The database systems module in semester 1 is pretty tough but really useful. There's a module on business data communications which is basically like networks 101.

After that it's mainly business, but its business that is tailored to relate to IT management so its not like commerce or accounting or anything. It's a bit dull to be honest but for the most part, its very easy to do well in as its all theory.

You say you did a BA in ISM and a hdip in computing? That sounds like quite a bit of IT so I'm not sure how much more you'd pick up from this course? Depends what you want to do really I suppose, this one is probably useful to you if you want to get into the management or consulting sides of IT. What kind of jobs have you been applying for, or what are you interested in doing?

starlit

bookthief wrote: »

Hi Doovdela

People who did the course last year are now doing stuff like software testing, business/systems analysis, technology consulting, web design- and a couple went onto to go for a Phd. In fairness, the rate of employment seems to have been really high. Have a look on gradireland.com- companies like HP, SAP, Accenture, Deloitte, Cisco etc all hire graduates from courses like this one.

My degree discipline was in nothing even remotely related to IT or Business- it was pure liberal arts, I had no interest in it at the time whatsoever and I came out with a very poor grade.

The work load for this Masters is pretty immense, and if you want to do well in it you do need to put in a massive amount of work. I loved it, the subject matter is really interesting and the lecturers are for the most part top class, and very sensitive to the fact that a lot of people are coming into the area for the first time. They start each module from scratch at a basic level, but as someone else pointed out in this thread, they accelerate the pace of learning really fast, so you need to be able to stay on top of your work. I worked part time throughout so it was a very intense (and depressing) year but it was so worth it when I got a 1.1 degree and a good job.

In terms of IT vs Business content, it's pretty much 50:50. Most of the more technical courses take place in the first semester. You start off programming in Visual Basic, which is a relatively easy language to learn because its very visual (as the name suggests!) and then in semester two you can opt to take a course in Java which is more difficult. You also cover web design in semester 1, not much coding involved though as it's through Dreamweaver, and you do a good bit of image editing in that course too- Photoshop and Fireworks. The database systems module in semester 1 is pretty tough but really useful. There's a module on business data communications which is basically like networks 101.

After that it's mainly business, but its business that is tailored to relate to IT management so its not like commerce or accounting or anything. It's a bit dull to be honest but for the most part, its very easy to do well in as its all theory.

You say you did a BA in ISM and a hdip in computing? That sounds like quite a bit of IT so I'm not sure how much more you'd pick up from this course? Depends what you want to do really I suppose, this one is probably useful to you if you want to get into the management or consulting sides of IT. What kind of jobs have you been applying for, or what are you interested in doing?

Thanks a mill for that. I've applied to most of the big companies and all of them just not been very successful with the bigger ones compared to the smaller sized companies. I only got a 2:2 which is making it harder for me but did better in the hdip at least so that kind of helps with the application process though think they always look at the degree even though the hdip would take priority over it.

Just I think employers aren't recognising my degree has similarities to the BIS degrees they see mine as either business or business admin rather than IT/IS as well. Despite my hdip more IT/computer science orientated.

Would you think there is potential to teach after completing the Masters like secondary teaching/lecturing in IT's?

Has anyone you know who did the course with you or previous grads of the course gone down the cloud computing or social media route? They be areas I might interested in other than technical support, multimedia/web programming and business admin/systems analysis type stuff. Technology consulting would be something i'd love to do or quality testing/project management in relation to IT.

Though I don't know what detail we would have studied similar subjects compared to a BIS degree. Some areas I flew through like databases, multimedia, technical writing, some IT subjects some business management subjects but then other subjects I weren't great at in particular specific business ones like financial accounting and e-commerce though did grand in project management and strategic information systems. I did ok in marketing kind of in between don't like it but did ok in it like good enough I suppose! Its hard to find a balance!

Really its totally different Arts degree you did so.

I recall when doing the degree in ISM I felt you have to put in a lot of work and hours into it. The workload was probably more intense than what I had in my hdip but I felt 3rd year was my toughest over 4th year but the subjects varied on how I did and outcome of projects I did well in some others not great. I think I didn't spread out my workload as evenly as I should have and made sure I didn't do that when doing the hdip and worked out very well for me the course.

Did you work part time as well? How did you find that? What is the timetable like? Guessing from what it states online nuig course webpage that there are a lot of subjects are there any optional subjects?

I'd imagine it be 50:50 I suppose. How is it on the practical and theory side of things would it be 50:50? What programming languages are covered? Would it be at entry level? Java was one language I found difficult the rest I did great in them.

The subjects you mentioned I've covered them already but might be good to brush up on them though haven't learnt fireworks though. I like the sound of IT management type subjects. Though think UCC BIS Masters might cover more IT management/IS type subjects that they don't do much technical/programming or don't do multimedia type subjects so a bit more narrowed down. Ya I suppose. Well just that looking at the list of subjects in ISM masters in NUIG I do feel I'd have covered a lot already, still trying to compare which course be better suited for me in the long run in terms of job prospects!

Regarding projects would they mainly be group or individual or a combination? Had ye many or did ye have one major project - thesis?

I've applied for a range of jobs in business, shop work, office work, and IT/computing/programming, technical support, multimedia, various industries and companies. I don't think i'd qualify for a grad programme for much longer but haven't managed to land into any of them so proving a bit difficult.
Jobs which that have a mixture of IT and business is what I'd be most interested in or one or the other, web programming/design, multimedia, technical support, cloud, and social media be my main interests but would still apply for business/office admin type jobs too.

Sometimes wonder that my degree and hdip combined and this masters are too alike that I might not learn much new compared to a similar masters but with an emphasis on other subjects in greater detail like IT Management/consulting/Business Analysis. BS Analysis is something i'd be interested in too but I don't think I be good enough at maths to do it, I am good at statistics alright be an exception what else would business Analysis involve?

Did ye have to do a foreign language? I've only leaving cert french didn't bother taking it as an option in college wonder if I should have?

Must have made a huge difference for you that you loved the course despite the hard work!

Thanks for your help!

reap-a-rat

bookthief wrote: »

Hi Doovdela

People who did the course last year are now doing stuff like software testing, business/systems analysis, technology consulting, web design- and a couple went onto to go for a Phd...

Hi Bookthief! I'm just wondering, what discipline of PhD did people tend to go for? Are there many BIS type PhDs or were they primarily IT related PhDs?

g5fd6ow0hseima

cheers for those posts book thief, very helpful. I've applied for this course now so hoping I get accepted. If not ill be gutted. If it comes to fruition, it will be some laugh going from international politics to this course.

bookthief

doovdela wrote: »

Just I think employers aren't recognising my degree has similarities to the BIS degrees they see mine as either business or business admin rather than IT/IS as well. Despite my hdip more IT/computer science orientated.

Would you think there is potential to teach after completing the Masters like secondary teaching/lecturing in IT's?


Regarding projects would they mainly be group or individual or a combination? Had ye many or did ye have one major project - thesis?

I don't think i'd qualify for a grad programme for much longer but haven't managed to land into any of them so proving a bit difficult.


BS Analysis is something i'd be interested in too but I don't think I be good enough at maths to do it, I am good at statistics alright be an exception what else would business Analysis involve?

Did ye have to do a foreign language? I've only leaving cert french didn't bother taking it as an option in college wonder if I should have?


Thanks for your help!

Maybe you're not selling your skills as well as you could be? Get your CV into an IT recruitment agency and ask them to prime it for the type of IT jobs you want. You should list out the technical skills you have very clearly on your CV to make sure that potential employers know exactly what you can do.

I don't think IT is offered on the second level curriculum currently, so opportunities for teaching are probably fairly limited. If you wanted to lecture, doing a PhD is probably the way to go.

There is typically one project per module, plus a major project, and all of these are group based.

You can qualify for graduate programs as long as you are a recent graduate of a degree, diploma, masters etc. They're not supposed to be ageist about it but I'm not sure how this works in practice.

There's not a whole pile of maths involved in Business Analysis- google it, it involves things like requirements gathering and process mapping, it's pretty interesting.

The MSc ISM doesn't offer any language courses. Some IT employers look for German or French though, eg for technical support, so if you could do a course on the side it would probably help you out on the job front.

reap-a-rat wrote: »

Hi Bookthief! I'm just wondering, what discipline of PhD did people tend to go for? Are there many BIS type PhDs or were they primarily IT related PhDs?

Hi reap-a-rat

They were BIS related PhDs I think. It would be pretty difficult to do an IT based PhD after doing this Masters, unless your undergrad was a technical one!

starlit

bookthief wrote: »

Maybe you're not selling your skills as well as you could be? Get your CV into an IT recruitment agency and ask them to prime it for the type of IT jobs you want. You should list out the technical skills you have very clearly on your CV to make sure that potential employers know exactly what you can do.

I don't think IT is offered on the second level curriculum currently, so opportunities for teaching are probably fairly limited. If you wanted to lecture, doing a PhD is probably the way to go.

There is typically one project per module, plus a major project, and all of these are group based.

You can qualify for graduate programs as long as you are a recent graduate of a degree, diploma, masters etc. They're not supposed to be ageist about it but I'm not sure how this works in practice.

There's not a whole pile of maths involved in Business Analysis- google it, it involves things like requirements gathering and process mapping, it's pretty interesting.

The MSc ISM doesn't offer any language courses. Some IT employers look for German or French though, eg for technical support, so if you could do a course on the side it would probably help you out on the job front.

Thanks bookthief.

That's probably it I'm just not selling myself well enough yet I can help others do it no problem. I can barely sell a pen so maybe I am missing something. Marketing was never my fort but I didn't do too badly in it. I've very much mentioned my technical skills in my cv and cover letters. I find I have better success with online applications they know what they want and looking for when you state what skills you have.

I was looking back over all my rejection emails and letters and feedback from interviews over past few years and there is often similarities what they are saying, lot of applicants applied, not qualified enough, not enough technical skills and not experienced enough, better qualified candidates, other candidates match closer to the job spec despite 6 months work placement in technical support? My degree bit similar to the ISM Masters like!? Covered similar subjects.

From experience there is a limit I think for how long graduates can apply for graduate scheme programmes. Some its only for recent ones or those who have graduated after 12, 18 to 24 months is the maximum they will allow those to go forward after graduation whether its a degree or postgrad can apply here.

Other requirements that need to be met be affected to get through in them also.

Same applies for J1's you need to be going to college age limit max to 26 years old and for working holiday visas you need to graduate no longer than 12 months after or have 5 years work experience age limit 18-35 years old I think.

Think there are specialised courses in BS Analysis but be professional courses I think. Seem they are very much into statistics and business analysis. How easy would it be to transition into a role like that with just ISM?

I've leaving cert french but only at ordinary level so I don't know if doing it at 3rd level or on the side be feasible. I was only ok at it better at than german though. I've never done spanish though did learn JC italian loved it and did well in it. I am not great at german. There are a lot of technical support jobs that look for other languages and I'd have little interest in learning them. Spanish or Italian maybe. There are beginners and night courses but I don't know are they worth doing at all.

Hi reap-a-rat

They were BIS related PhDs I think. It would be pretty difficult to do an IT based PhD after doing this Masters, unless your undergrad was a technical one!

I'd agree on that. I think if you were to do a PhD after this Masters you be best to stick with a PhD in BIS unless you did a Masters in IT/CompSci would a PhD in CompSci be worth trying.

reap-a-rat

bookthief wrote: »

They were BIS related PhDs I think. It would be pretty difficult to do an IT based PhD after doing this Masters, unless your undergrad was a technical one!

doovdela wrote: »

I'd agree on that. I think if you were to do a PhD after this Masters you be best to stick with a PhD in BIS unless you did a Masters in IT/CompSci would a PhD in CompSci be worth trying.

My degree is Computer Science so I'd be grand on that front - I was actually wondering what kind of BIS research topics there are available/ what are people doing that are doing BIS PhDs?

Also, bookthief, you wouldn't happen to have any old assignment specs knocking about - I'd love to know the kind of stuff ye worked on during the course.

emcor

Anybody got insight on the commitment required part-time over 2-years for this. Really interested but working away with a new child at home so need to keep working...

Bla112

Really interested in this course. Originally from kerry so ul is the obvious choice of uni but my guidance teacher said that this is the only course worth going to nuig for, so **** it, down as my number 1 choice

Doubt.It

I'm doing it part-time right now - should in fact be preparing for Friday's exam... Course is orientated towards people in employment so in terms of time commitment it's not too demanding. I have friends on the course with children and full-time jobs, and they're doing OK. (Probably they're better organised than I am!) I am glad I didn't do the full-time version though.

My original degree was Arts, but I've long been interested in IT and that helps significantly. Most time-consuming part for me is programming, but most of that was optional.

Melo1991

Hi

Hope people are still here! new to boards so hope im doing this right. I was offered a place on this course on the basis of achieving a 2:1, at the minute i'd be 50:50 of making that, I was told 2nd round offers would take place for 2:2 students. Any1 know how likely this is?

Mike

lennyd

Hello Mike
I was offered a place back in march I think. I had already emailed the office to see if the first round offers had been made and they were very helpful in their response. Why don't you just send them a nicely worded email with your inquiry? Best of luck with your application.

shgavman

Some amazing responses here. I'm considering applying for this course for September. Could I ask about the 30ECT group project that has to be completed by June? I have another major commitment in June 2015 and I can't have any distractions around the time. Do groups fine themselves working up to the June deadline? Are extensions ever considered?

Butterface

I've also applied for a place on the course, but I can't get a hold of my transcripts until I return to the UK at the end of the month. Does anybody know how long unis here keep the pac applications open for if you haven't supplied everything they ask for?! I should have waited until I returned to activate my application, but was worried that it's already quite late in the year to apply!

Anybody on the course who got offers later in the year? I'm really hoping I get a place on the course!

padi23

well lads just wondering if anyone has any advise for me. I'm between this masters and the masters in BIS in cork. Which one has the better employment in bigger companies like accenture does anyone know.. Thanks

GalwayGuy2

As a matter of interest why are people saying three months? I thought the course was a year?

Also, will it be difficult to get into this (or other IT areas) on the last round of offers?

Supercell

Has anyone done the part time version of this? I'm based in Dublin so was wondering if its worth applying for if I'd have to drive there every evening? If its just twice a week i suppose that might be doable.

starlit

padi23 wrote: »

well lads just wondering if anyone has any advise for me. I'm between this masters and the masters in BIS in cork. Which one has the better employment in bigger companies like accenture does anyone know.. Thanks

I've been comparing the two and I come from an ISM/IT background. The two of them are slightly different they have similar subjects. The ISM course you don't need an IT background they teach from scratch but from what I see its similar to my degree and hdip combined. The BIS course, I went to the grad fair to see what it was all about as I had done my hdip in UCC I wasn't sure whether to go down the Computer Science, Multimedia or BIS road but have taken a slightly different path now so don't know if I want to dip back into BIS again. I'd personally only do it if I wanted to lecture. Its work experience what I badly need at the moment.

BIS they say you don't really need an IT background but when at the fair they more or less saying you need an IT background to do the course there seems to be a lot of coding in it and yet there is coding in the ISM in NUIG as well but NUIG its a broad course covers most things in that dicipline. While BIS the impression I get that there is a lot more IT stuff in and that there is very little business in it other than the consulting side of things and business analysis. The course is more geared towards Business/IT consultancy to be honest.

If you got an IT background BIS might be the way to go it balance out your skills and enhance what skill sets you have but I think the ISM course is a better option if you haven't got an IT/Computer Science background if you have a business or other background ISM in NUIG I think be more suitable. If anything be like repeating what I done in my degree but might be no harm brushing up on things but I am happy enough the slight change in discipline I am in now so hoping to pursue that might be more suited to it just a matter of getting work experience for myself.

Accenture and any other company like that are looking for highly qualified grads to be honest it can be difficult to get into those companies I find as long as you are a good match and have what they are looking for you should be ok but the whole interview process is a job in itself. Best of luck!

Butterface

Has anybody received any offers for this course recently? I applied in April but haven't heard a peep since (won't have my final results until end of June). I was invited to interview for one of the other courses which I applied for at the same time.

h2005

You should email Melissa O'Hea melissa.ohea@ nuigalway.ie ·

boo85

Butterflies- the NUI website says they review applications on 1April and then 1 June so hopefully you'll hear something soon. But if you're worried log onto PAC to check your status and email course coordinator. It couldn't hurt.
Good Luck.

PureBred

Hi,

I have been accepted on this course to start full-time in Sept.

Can anyone tell me what are they typical types of group projects that are involved?

reap-a-rat

PureBred wrote: »

Hi,

I have been accepted on this course to start full-time in Sept.

Can anyone tell me what are they typical types of group projects that are involved?

Hi,

Just finishing up this course now. What's your background in?

I can tell you all the assignments we had for each subject. In semester one, there are 6 subjects: Interactive Systems Design, Business Data Communications, Web Design and Development, Business Applications Programming, Database Systems and Systems Development/Project Management.

Interactive Systems Design: Group project worth 25-30%. Basically, design and prototype a system incorporating the good design features learned in the course - typically a lot of mockups done and a system designed using VB or something similar - no need to be fully functional, but the functions must be explained even if not present.

Business Data Communications: Group project worth 25-30%. Propose a web-hosting plan for a company, considering pricing, network costs, inhouse/outsourced, security, maintenance etc.

Web Design: Group project worth 60%. Design and develop a website

Business Applications Programming: No group assignment. 6 assignments (bi-weekly) in advancing stages of VB programming.

Database Systems: One group project - reverse engineer a website to get it's likely database structure. Individual project - pick a database and write 30 sql queries of varying complexity. They were 25% each I think.

Systems Development and Project Management: Another group project worth 30% I think where a project plan is developed for the Major Project component of the course. Done in your project group.



Semester 2 then has 6 more subjects: Information Systems Strategy and Innovation, Enterprise Systems, Decision Systems and Business Analytics, Information Systems Management, Applied Systems Analysis and then an option of either Java programming or Information Security and Ethics.

IS Strategy and Innovation: Group project worth 25-30%. Pick a company and design an IS innovation strategy for them.

Enterprise Systems: Individual component: complete a series of SAP tutorials. Worth 10%. Group component: Analyse a case study indepth and make recommendations. Worth 30%.

Decision Systems and Business Analytics: Individual Component: Using an Excel plugin, design a prediction system. Worth 10%. Group component: Using another Excel plugin, predict airfare costs. Worth 20%.

Information Systems Management: 3 multi choice quizzes worth 10% each. Individual, done online.

Applied Systems Analysis: An assignment of diagramming basically, based on a case study. Group project worth 30%.

Information Security and Ethics: Group Project worth 30%. Write a short essay (800 words) and make a presentation on a security case/issue of your choosing.

I didn't do Java, but it was weekly or biweekly assignments in groups of two.



Some of the assignments mentioned above will change next year; some will stay the same. All in all they weren't too bad; some were cumbersome moreso than challenging, and one or two were exceptionally vaguely worded, leaving you to doubt the direction in which you were taking the project. All doable though. They can all seem to come at the same time, but in reality they don't take long if your groups are good.

The Major Project is the other component then (1/3 of the course). Groups are formed in September and there are a number of milestones to be reached throughout the year, with a final deliverable of a user manual and report due at the end of June.

I hope this helps somewhat. Depending on your background, you may love or hate this course. I came from a Computer Science background, and I found I had covered most of the material in second year of my undergrad, if not before that - the level is fairly basic if you have experience in it. If you don't, it will be a lot more beneficial for you.

PureBred

Cheers for that.

I come from a Software Degree which I completed 9 years ago. I have not done much coding since but I know it won't take much to get back in the grove of things again.

So the main programming language is VB and Java? I understand from other posts that Dreamweaver and Photoshop are used also. I have no experience in the latter two.

Do you pick a company todo the major project for or are they assigned to you?

Just curious as to how many people attended the course this year?

reap-a-rat

PureBred wrote: »

Cheers for that.

I come from a Software Degree which I completed 9 years ago. I have not done much coding since but I know it won't take much to get back in the grove of things again.

So the main programming language is VB and Java? I understand from other posts that Dreamweaver and Photoshop are used also. I have no experience in the latter two.

Do you pick a company todo the major project for or are they assigned to you?

Just curious as to how many people attended the course this year?

Yes, VB and Java. Very very basic stuff. If you've coded before you will have no problems at all. Dreamweaver and Photoshop are used in web design, as opposed to writing raw html with javascript (which would be vastly more beneficial, but there ya go).

There are a number of companies with proposed projects, and you can try and get one of them, usually with little problem. You can also source your own company if you so please, a charity say, or a department within the university that need something done. It's typically a website redesign with back-end database, sometimes only one of those things. Relatively straight forward but can be time consuming with the documentation etc.

I'm not sure on exact figures; the class if often mixed with the part time students on the same course, as well as a higher diploma class and also the E-Commerce Masters students. There were in and around 50 full timers though, AFAIK.

PureBred

Thanks for all the replies reap-a-rat.

Looks like I won't need to brush up on the programming skills too much so.

I remember I used jsp for my final year project in my Degree year.

What sort of back-end database would typically be used be used for the project? MySQL?

50, Thats a lot of students!

reap-a-rat

PureBred wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies reap-a-rat.

Looks like I won't need to brush up on the programming skills too much so.

I remember I used jsp for my final year project in my Degree year.

What sort of back-end database would typically be used be used for the project? MySQL?

50, Thats a lot of students!

If you can handle JSP, you're laughing! MySQL is typical; I think some groups might have used SQL Server but I think MySQL is perfect for any of the projects I know of. You'd nearly get away with SQLite but there's no point risking it. I did a project (not one of the course projects, it was an independent thing but was not unlike something that could be a project proposed by someone) during the year using SQLite only and it was perfect for it - made the application so light-weight too, and was super easy to integrate with C#. Anyway, I digress.

There are workshops for the Major Project in php and C# I think. I'm doing a research thesis instead of the project, so I'm not 100% up on how it works but there were extra helps put in place taking into consideration that the most coding people did was VB in semester 1.

Butterface

Hi reap-a-rat,

Are there many folks on the course with no background in the subjects at all? I'd be starting programming from scratch, so I'm wondering how intensive it would be for those without even fundamental compsci knowledge!

Also, what were the days/hours like last year? Is it possible to work on the evenings you have class, or is it 9-5?

reap-a-rat

Butterface wrote: »

Hi reap-a-rat,

Are there many folks on the course with no background in the subjects at all? I'd be starting programming from scratch, so I'm wondering how intensive it would be for those without even fundamental compsci knowledge!

Also, what were the days/hours like last year? Is it possible to work on the evenings you have class, or is it 9-5?

Howdy. There's plenty in the class who have no background whatsoever in any sort of IT, so they really start with basics and raise the level very slowly. If you have patience and motivation, you will have no trouble.

As for hours, it was pretty much 6 hours of class on both Tuesdays and Thursdays; 11-6 one day and 9-4 on the other. There are also tutorials; these may be set on Tuesdays and Thursdays but often it is not possible, so they could be on other days. You may not need to go, however. I worked Mondays and Wednesdays the whole way through the course and it was rarely stressful; around assignment deadlines it got tough but that wasn't too often. It depends probably on how on top of things you and your group are - perhaps you could try to juggle both until Christmas and if it's getting too hard, leave the job - second semester seemed a hell of a lot tighter where time was concerned.

Hope this helps - I'm on my phone so apologies for typos.

Butterface

Thanks for all the info reap-a-rat!