Tina Beamer, BBA 1993
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Senior IT Analyst, Temple-Inland
Skilled IT workers are sometimes compared to talented surgeons. Although the instruments are different, both require sophisticated diagnosis and problem solving skills. Tina came to UT trying to decide between a major in pre-med and one in business. After attending Freshman Orientation, she decided that four years of school would be more than enough and chose to major in business. Since she did well in COBOL and BASIC programming in high school, she first considered computer science and decided it was too narrowly focused. Tina eventually settled on MIS because she would also have exposure to marketing, finance, and accounting, providing a broad business base to hone her IT problem solving skills.
Tina is currently working as a Senior IT Analyst in the Financial Systems group, helping Temple-Inland convert their entire financial system off the mainframe and onto an Oracle-based platform. Prior to this role, she has worked as a programmer, consultant, trainer, and learning center coordinator for other firms.
Like many other McCombs MIS graduates, Tina found that the program provided her with valuable project skills. For Eleanor Jordan's class client project, Tina worked on a team of four to develop a tutoring scheduling program for the House of Tutors in Austin. The four team members shared portions of the coding and documentation work, and she said it gave her the first taste of the consulting model of short-term, team-based client projects. This type of work isn't always available at many other MIS programs in the country.
What advice does Tina have for today's MIS students and recent graduates? (1) There are a variety of jobs that are a good fit for a MIS grad, but it helps to starts with a programming job to get the foundation/basics. (2) This degree is so valuable that you can take three years off (like she did from 2001 – 2004) and still get an IT job fairly easily. (3) It is a good idea to take as many communication courses as you can fit in while at UT, especially ones where you videotape yourself presenting. They will help you with interview and presentation skills, great assets for any major!
In addition to career-related courses, Tina also suggests that students find fun electives—like European Art—while in school. Reflecting on college life, she said, "Take another few classes even if you are booked—even a physical education class. If you are interested in a sport, college is the time to take it. It's much easier than trying to take a tennis class out of school—it costs five times as much and is hard to fit in your schedule." These kinds of experiences will develop your confidence and aptitude for communicating when you go out for interviews.
Tina's project management skills extend beyond IT and allow her to strike a balance between work, family, and pursuing her own activities. One of her outside interests is racing in sprint-distance triathlons, and she somehow finds time to prepare for competition by running, swimming, and biking regularly.
