Binh Tran

For this post, I just wanted to take some time and share my experiences on how MIS has helped me in my career. I graduated on December, 2011 with a major in Finance and minor in MIS. I was blessed that I was able to find a job quickly under this economy. I have been working for Citco Fund Services on December of 2011 and I really enjoy it. Citco is the leader in hedge funds industry where they concentrate on hedge funds, private equity, and real estate services. Citco has many divisions not only in the United States but also in the Canada, Caribbean, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific.

I work as a regulatory reporting accountant and my department concentrates on reporting international accounts and trades. We ensure that all records follow the regulations of the Federal Reserve Bank. My department is considered “new” when compared with Citco’s other services. What set me apart from the other candidates was my MIS background. Not only they wanted a candidate with knowledge in finance and accounting but they also wanted someone had strong database and excel skills. There is a lot of involvement with programs like Access and Excel. After a while, my understanding of ERDs and database schemas (SQL server) allowed me to quickly learn and get to a point where I was making suggestions on how to improve their Access table structures and streamline operations. As I continue to work, I try to always keep an eye out for ways so that I could apply my MIS knowledge to improve our business.

MIS has brought me a tremendous advantage and I strongly encourage students should consider MIS as a minor or major. This will give you a different perspective about technology and make you stand out from the rest of the crowd.