Labor Market and Career Information

Systems Analyst
Bill Davis

	Introduction Bill Davis is a walking advertisement for the value of a college degree. In today's topsy-turvy labor market, you never know when you'll need to change jobs or even careers. Bill is proof that if you have a Bachelor's degree, you can start a new career by hitting the ground running. If you don't, you may have to start at the bottom again and work your way up or go back to school altogether. Bill's dream career as a professional musician flourished for over twenty years. Eventually, though, he wanted a change--to pursue music in the way he wanted, in his spare time, separate from his day job. So he decided to become a systems analyst despite his lack of experience in that field. Today, Bill works at a university in Central Texas. His new career is blossoming and so is his enjoyment of his first love, music. His story proves that a strong educational background gives you freedom, power and options in your work life. It opens doors you may never have dreamed you'd want to enter.

	What exactly do you do? I'm an information technology (IT) developer, working on both mainframe computers and web applications. I also help administer databases and train employees on how to use the applications that I design. This year I'm working on a project called Information Quest or "Project IQ." It's designed to help make the university accounting system more user-friendly. Currently, the accountants and managers use a common database when making purchases for the university. When they need reports on these transactions, they have to ask a programmer to design a special program to run the report. It takes a lot of time and the reports are often on paper, making it difficult to put the data in other formats. I'm designing another database that will mirror the current database and allow users to make their own reports. This "data warehouse" will be updated from the original (or "legacy") database on a regular basis so it stays an accurate copy. Running reports from this new database will allow the original database to continue to function at its current fast pace, updating every second. If we ran reports off the legacy system, it would slow it down too much to be useful. With this new database, accountants and department heads will be able to run all kinds of reports and ask questions ("queries") of the data whenever they want and get the answers immediately. It will also free up the programmers to work on more complex programming issues that they don't had time to focus on usually.

	Describe a typical day. Every day is different so I'll describe what I'm doing today. This morning I spent some time with system support people troubleshooting problems with one of the computer model tools I've designed. Troubleshooting means figuring out why something doesn't work and fixing it. Then I attended a team meeting to discuss Project IQ. After that, I worked on developing a model of the system and met with some accountants--the people who'll use the system. This afternoon, I'll teach a class to some accounting people about the new system and update the Project IQ website, which informs people of our progress on the project. It's a full day every day!

	What's the coolest part of your job? How fun it is--like doing puzzles all day long. I've always loved crossword puzzles; I finish every New York Times puzzle I start. That's probably the reason I love troubleshooting and debugging [finding and fixing errors with a program or system] so much. Not all systems analysts enjoy that aspect of the job but I do. Another cool part of my job is that when I go home at night I can leave work behind me. Some people have jobs that consume all their energy, even when they're at home. As a systems analyst, I can set down my "puzzle" at the end of the day and pick it up the next day and I don't think much about it in between.

	What's your favorite part? I get to help train people who are learning to be systems analysts and programmers. Our department's education team comes up with problems or "challenges." I help trainees learn the specific skills they need to finish the tasks defined by the challenge. I also help them acquire problem-solving skills. Finally, I help them learn and employ our "shop standards" as they design and code their systems. It's a chance to be a teacher and I love it. I'm really making a difference with people, helping them grow in their careers. It's very satisfying.

	How do people react when they learn what you do? Most people know someone who's a systems analyst already, so they usually just say "Oh, that's interesting." Sometimes they ask a follow-up question or two.

	Describe the atmosphere at work. The people I work with are really wonderful--interesting and helpful. The university hires people from all areas of life so my coworkers have a wide range of backgrounds. Most studied liberal arts in college so they usually have good communication and social skills. Because we all trained together and help train others, we work in an environment where everyone is happy to help others. If you have a problem, you can just go down the hall or pick up the phone and someone will help you with it.

	What's the part you like least about your job and how do you handle it? I don't like attending too many meetings. I need time to get my work done and not just talk about it. I also dislike meetings that don't have a clear focus and go over time. I deal with it by setting an example in the way I run my own meetings. I always send around an agenda beforehand so that people can know exactly what we'll discuss. I run the meeting tightly, encouraging everyone to share their ideas but making sure that we don't get off the topic too much.

	How did you become a systems analyst? It's actually my second career. I am a musician primarily. I have a degree in music and for most of my adult life I made my living as the music director of a church, playing the organ and directing the choirs and so on. I'm a professional performer and I've received special training in Europe, where organ playing enjoys more popularity and admiration than in the U.S. A few years ago, circumstances in my personal and professional life made me want to make a change. I took a leap of faith and quit my job without knowing what I would do next. I soon saw an ad for a training program that would pay me while I learned to be an analyst. I took the entry test, which focused on math and logic, and did really well. I trained to be an information analyst and then I apprenticed [worked as an assistant as I learned] for another year and became a systems analyst. I've been here ever since.

	If you were a musician all those years, what made you think you could be a computer systems analyst? Well, I've always had an aptitude for math. And when I was in high school, I took a programming course. I did very well in it and really enjoyed it. And I was experienced with computers already. I'd long been using software to write music by hooking up my computer to an electric organ. There are a few other musicians here at my office and it makes sense. There are definitely similarities between being a musician and being a systems analyst. With a piece of music, you have to be able to look at the architecture of the overall structure but also see the individual parts that comprise it. It's the same way with a computer system.

	You have a Bachelor's degree in music. Has it made a difference? It did with my current job. I couldn't have made the transition into a new field so easily if I hadn't had that degree. I didn't need it as a musician but it allowed me freedom to change careers when I decided not to be a musician full-time anymore.

	What pleasantly surprised you about your job when you first started? How much I enjoyed the the people I work with and the camaraderie we share.

	What disappointed you? Sometimes I struggle with feeling that what I do doesn't matter very much. It makes a positive practical impact on people at work and I know that. Compared to being a musician, though, it doesn't seem as important. As a musician, particularly working in a church, I knew that what I did touched people's spiritual lives and that was very fulfilling for me. Being a musician is my vocation--my calling--while being a systems analyst is my job, my career. Having both is kind of nice. I still work as an organist at a church on the weekends and occasionally direct their choir. I get my music "fix" without working on it full-time the way I used to. Nowadays I tell people I'm a musician with a day job as a systems analyst and that's a pretty accurate description. Being able to support myself with work I enjoy but that doesn't consume me leaves me energy to pursue music in my free time. I have the best of both worlds.

	How has your job changed over time? I've gone from information analyst to systems analyst and soon I'll be a senior systems analyst, so I've grown in terms of responsibility, experience and earnings. I've also grown in knowledge. I've learned completely different computer sytems since I officially completed my training. I've also learned a lot about other topics. Depending on the project, I've had to learn about accounting, web applications and even the oil industry. These days I'm learning about relational databases and database warehousing. It's an ongoing education.

	What are some of the most important skills and abilities needed for this job? You have to be able to think logically and know how to learn new things. You need to have patience and dilengence to figure things out and look at a problem from every angle. You must be able to work a lot on your own but also work well with others. Good communication skills, especially listening, are crucial. Finally, you have to be detail-oriented and creative.

	How much of that is learned and how much has to be natural aptitude? It's hard to say. With a lot of the qualities, like patience, it helps to already have them. Others you can aquire. All of those skills and abilities are important but each person has a different mix of them. Some of my coworkers, for example, are technicially gifted. They pick up on things very quickly. It takes me a while to learn. On the other hand, some of those people are prone to make careless mistakes. I'm more deliberate and avoid really big errors. You just need to be able to develop what you have and compensate for what you lack.

	What information do you need to keep up in your field and where do you get it? I need to learn new languages and new tools. I get that from attending conferences and workshops. A lot of the information I learn at work because my organization is commited to staying on the cutting edge of technology. We have a "tools team" that specializes in learning the latest technology and passing it on to the rest of us. I also read the documentation that comes with our software, I interact with the tech support and I learn through trial and error and experimentation. In fact, I recently learned to apply some software in a way that the tech support people and even the developers hadn't imagined. They'll probably advertise it as a new feature in the next version of the software! Finally, I need to learn about the needs of the end-users. I'm working on accounting systems these days, for instance, so I'm learning from the accountants what they do and what they need so that I can design a system that works for them.

	What advice do you have for people who want to enter this field? Remember that it's a very big field. Information technology includes lots of different jobs. Some people specialize in software, for instance, and others in hardware. I'm a software person, doing programming and designing software systems, but I couldn't do my job without the hardware people. They install, configure and maintain the machines and tools that I use every day. And there are a lot of different ways to get into the field. You don't have to be into computers from a young age. I work with people who, like me, had lives and careers long before they got into IT.

	What do you wish someone had told you before you left high school that would've helped you with your career? In a way, nothing. I wouldn't do anything differently. And I'm glad no one told me not to be a musician! What I would say is do what you really want to do and what you love doing. A vocation and a career are different entities. It can be wonderful when they meet in one job, as when I worked full-time as a musician. But, as I've discovered, it can be good when they're separate. It's up to you to decide which you prefer.

	Quick Facts
	The Job in Brief
	Title:	Systems Analyst
	Description:	Design computer systems that meet people's data-related needs.
	Education level required:	Bachelor's degree. Bill's degree: a Bachelor's in Music
	Equipment used:	Computer and phone
	Workload steady or fluctuating:	Steadily busy
	Dress code:	Business casual
	Work environment:	Office building

	Demands on Worker
	Works hours (time and duration):	40 hours a week on a flexible schedule
	Travel involved:	Score: 1 or 2 (1=never; 5=very often)
	Average stress level:	Score: 3, depending on my own attitude. I like to get things done and to do them well. (1=none; 5=a lot)
	Amount of teamwork needed:	Score: 4-5 (1=none; 5=a lot)
	Level of self-motivation required:	Score: 4, although different managers may provide different levels of supervision and input. My current manager respects and trusts me, so I frequently take the initiative at work. (1=none; 5=a lot)

	Labor Market Information
	Employment outlook:	Computer systems analysts, engineers, and scientists are expected to be the fastest growing occupations through 2008.
	Typical Texas salary:	$46,537 - $56,879 a year