Professional Development Activities
Over the semesters at Temple, I had many professional development opportunities whether it was meeting industry executives, participating in a challenge, or being a AIS (Association for Information Systems) member.
- Meeting industry executives was available through luncheons with top executives from companies whether it was the VP, Directors, or CIO. These opportunities usually happens when you’re a member of AIS. AIS brings in speakers from all over the place to come in and speak to students and give them insights of the working world. It was very interesting to an MIS professional because whether you’re a freshman or a senior, you will gain valuable knowledge from technology professionals of all levels. From meeting with industry executives, I learned how to present myself better in front of industry professionals and gained many important interview tips.
- Participating in a challenge is a great way for you to showcase your creativity, skills, and knowledge. Every year, AIS members are given the chance to travel to another state to compete in the national AIS challenge. Students can participate in challenges such as analysis and or a security case study depending on the student’s interest. In addition, there is also an analytics challenge every Fall semester where students can either work independently or in a group work to answer questions creatively, create an infographic and a data visualization. Through these challenges, the participants have the chance to let their creativity and teamwork skills shine. This was interesting to an MIS professional because it gives them the ability to work on certain software to a greater depth. For example, if students are highly interested in analytics and decide to enter the analytics challenge, they can be using a software called Tableau to a point where it’s not even taught in class. This past semester, I entered the analytics challenge myself and I learned that it was a great and valuable experience whether you win or not. Regardless, it was a learning experience and knowledge is power.
- Being an active member of the Association for Information Systems is a great way for professional development. Every week, they have professional development workshops where they bring in working professionals to speak to students about what it is like working in the real world in a specific field. Afterwards as stated before, students are given the chance to have lunch with these professionals and get some personal one on one time to ask more questions and learn. Other than professional development workshops, they also host these TDAP sections where students are able to learn technical skills from using data visualization tools to ethnical hacking. On a more personal note, AIS also gives students the chance to give back to the community through volunteering and let them connect with other students through social events. AIS is a very interesting student professional organization not only to MIS students but to all students who has a interest in technology because you’ll have the chance to learn about real world experience, give back to the community, and find camaraderie. After being an AIS member for semesters, I learned that it was a great way to meet your classmates and future classmates because most likely, the people you meet will end up in your class one way or another so I highly recommend anyone to join!