<p>Hey guys</p>
<p>I majored in poli sci/public administration for undergrad at my state school, originally intened to do Law school, but switched to public administration focus after some internships with some State and municipal governments. </p>
<p>Graduated, job market isnt super bad, but hard to land a good entry level job. So I applied to graduate schools with a new plan…</p>
<p>I was accepted into the Heinz School (Info sys management) at Carnegie Mellon for graduate school.</p>
<p>My plan is to combine my interests in technology with the public administration experience to become valuable in the upcoming “big data” field (analyzing massive amts of data to streamline govt services)</p>
<p>Do you guys think this plan will set me up to land a good job when I graduate? This plan sound valid? Just want some outside input on if this will possibly work.</p>
<p>Sounds like a super plan, enabling you to get jobs in a) public policy and planning, b) elections and campaigns, c) public management and d) business.</p>
<p>These are great skills to have. Big data is very hot in all these fields. If you can learn GIS, too, even better.</p>
<p>Awesome. Thanks for your timely reply.</p>
<p>GREAT idea to add GIS into the mix. Will definitely be doing that. Didn’t even think of it!</p>
<p>I’m not sure that information systems management is the best degree for managing massive data sets - I guess it depends on how quantitative/technical that degree is, as I’ve always imagined it more of an IT kind of job. But if it is a job that teaches you quantitative analysis and computer programming along with systems management, then yes, it could set you up nicely.</p>
<p>Just glancing over the degree requirements, though, it doesn’t look like it actually prepares you for analyzing large datasets. There’s only one statistics class, and it’s “Statistics for IT Managers” which has to be an intro-level statistics course. There’s also economics analysis, but two clsses in stats aren’t enough to prepare you to be a data analyst.</p>
<p>Thank you for your input. So what would you suggest is a more realistic path for these two degrees? I will try to take some more technical courses in my graduate program, but it is my understanding that the goal is to develop a orientation towards IT implementation and uses but acting in a management/administrative capacity. I am not sure if that sounds too vague, I would also like input in focusing this a little bit.</p>
<p>There are some specific classes I will be taking such as Large data set analytics (not the exact name) </p>
<p>I think beefing up the GIS and Stats could be done through electives </p>
<p>Thanks again!</p>