Ellis Bowman
Where did you study Business Information Systems?
I studied Business Information Systems at the University of East Anglia between 2016 and 2019.
And what do you do now?
I have just completed an internship for a company called Lifeline24 as an IT technician where I was responsible for first line service response helping out with software and hardware issues and adding users to computers etc. I have just got a new job as a graduate Software and Process analyst which I am really excited about as I am using wider areas of my degree in my job than just focusing on IT issues.
How did studying business information systems at university prepare you for what you do today?
I studied IT from a young age so I was familiar with that side of things but I wanted to take BIS so I could develop a greater understanding of how IT is used in businesses every day. Compared to a Computer Science degree, for instance, BIS allowed me to take a wider range of modules, including one on Practical Law for Management, and an Introduction to Accounting. The breadth of this experience has enabled me to acquire a better understanding of how businesses utilise IT.
What do you wish you had known as an information systems student? And what advice would you give to a current student of BIS?
That it is ok not to know what you want to do once you finish or what area you want to go in. Being a BIS student allows you to make the most of both sides of your degree. Make the most of the opportunities you have in modules you can take, take the ones that pique your interest and that you are keen to learn about. Believe me, once you have graduated you will wish you were back in the seminars and lectures! Make the most of the opportunities you have.
What kinds of skills do you think employers are looking for in BIS graduates?
A great understanding of how to utilise systems to improve current business processes. They want to know that you have the understanding of the technical and business side of things. You stand out from a business or computing student when you have both skills and knowledge in a wider area.
What would you say are the most important hot topics in BIS at the moment?
Information Systems are crucial to businesses now, and being able to understand how these work from the technical and business side of things gives you such a big advantage. Others wish they had the same view as you and it is important that these skills are being used to continuously improve processes. BIS are never going to stop being used and are always getting better and better; that’s what I love about it.
What are the biggest challenges of your current job?
I can’t speak for my new role as I have not started yet but of my internship I would say my biggest challenge was being boxed into one small role. The other half of my degree was ignored and I only focused on the technical side of things.
What are the best elements of your current job?
Again, I can’t answer for my new job but for my previous one it was the ability to help others with the knowledge that I had that I could share. Studying IT for most of my life I forget that others are not as confident with computing so it was nice to be able to help them out and give them more confidence in their ability. It was nice to give them more confidence and to be the one to help them.
