Best certifications for management information systems students

The business-technology bridge — and the most hireable certifications in the school.

Management Information Systems internships for college students

When management information systems recruits

1. Sophomore year — Sophomore programs at consulting firms and Big Four technology practices. Earn a cloud or Salesforce credential.
2. Junior fall (Aug–Oct) — Technology consulting, Big Four risk and technology advisory, and IT rotational programs recruit.
3. Junior spring — Company IT departments and startups hire on a rolling basis.
4. Junior summer — The internship; return offers are common in consulting.

Management Information Systems sits between business and technology, so MIS internships — IT consulting, systems analysis, cybersecurity, ERP — value certifications that prove technical basics. The good ones are vendor or industry credentials employers recognize immediately, and several entry-level exams from Microsoft, AWS and CompTIA are within reach of a motivated student.

How to choose

• Pick a direction: cloud (AWS or Microsoft Azure fundamentals), security (CompTIA Security+), or data (SQL and analytics).
• Fundamentals-level exams are designed for beginners and are the best first step; check for student discounts before paying.
• Free training from Microsoft Learn, AWS Skill Builder and freeCodeCamp covers most of what the entry exams test.
• Build something small — a database, a dashboard, a cloud-hosted site — so you can show the skill, not just the badge.

Certifications for Management Information Systems majors

• Salesforce Admin Beginner trail — Salesforce Trailhead. Free: Free. Objects, fields, and reports in a free developer org. Badges link straight to LinkedIn.
• Intro to SQL — Kaggle Learn. Free: Free. SELECT through GROUP BY on real tables. Nobody in analytics escapes SQL.
• Salesforce Certified Administrator — Salesforce. Paid: Exam ~$200 (retake ~$100). All training on Trailhead is free. One of the most hireable business-tech credentials there is. The training costs nothing; only the exam does.
• AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner — Amazon Web Services. Paid: Exam ~$100. All AWS Skill Builder training for it is free. The business-literate cloud credential. Common for MIS students heading into consulting or tech.
• Deloitte job simulations — Forage. Free: Free. Technology, audit, and analytics tracks from one of the Big 4. Usually the shortest sims on the site.
• AZ-900: Azure Fundamentals — Microsoft. Paid: Training free; exam ~$99, with student discounts. Cloud concepts and Azure services. Pairs with AWS Cloud Practitioner for consulting roles.
• Accenture job simulations — Forage. Free: Free. Consulting, technology, and strategy tasks. Broad enough for most business majors.
• Advanced SQL — Kaggle Learn. Free: Free. Joins, window functions and nested data. The SQL that interview case studies actually test.
• Python — Kaggle Learn. Free: Free. Syntax to functions in a browser notebook. The on-ramp to everything else.
• SAP Learning journeys — SAP. Free: Free learning journeys; certification exams are paid. SAP runs the finance and supply chain of most large companies. The learning journeys are free.
• CAPM — Certified Associate in Project Management — PMI. Paid: Exam ~$225 for PMI members (membership ~$32 for students), ~$300 otherwise. The student-accessible PMI credential — no work experience required, unlike the PMP.
• CISA — Certified Information Systems Auditor — ISACA. Paid: ~$575 for members, ~$760 for non-members. Student membership is cheap. Where accounting meets IT: auditing systems and controls. In demand at the Big Four for accounting and MIS majors alike.
• CompTIA Data+ — CompTIA. Paid: Exam ~$250+; academic pricing is available through many schools. A vendor-neutral data analytics credential, recognised by employers that do not use one particular tool.
• CompTIA Security+ — CompTIA. Paid: Exam ~$400; academic pricing is available through many schools. The baseline security certification, required for many government and defense roles.
• DP-900: Azure Data Fundamentals — Microsoft. Paid: Training free; exam ~$99, with student discounts. Relational, non-relational and analytics data on Azure. A cheap named credential for analytics and MIS majors.
• Google Advanced Data Analytics Professional Certificate — Google · Coursera. Paid: Coursera subscription, ~$49/month; financial aid available. The step after Google Data Analytics: Python, statistics and regression models.
• Google Business Intelligence Professional Certificate — Google · Coursera. Paid: Coursera subscription, ~$49/month; financial aid available. Dashboards, data models and pipelines — what a BI analyst builds all week.
• PSM I — Professional Scrum Master — Scrum.org. Paid: Exam ~$200, no mandatory course. All Scrum.org learning material is free. Cheaper and more rigorous than the weekend CSM course, and it never expires.
• PSPO I — Professional Scrum Product Owner — Scrum.org. Paid: $200 assessment; no course required. The product-owner counterpart to PSM I. Worth having for product management internships.
• Salesforce Certified Platform Foundations — Salesforce. Paid: Training free on Trailhead; the exam has a fee — check Trailhead. The entry-level Salesforce credential (formerly Salesforce Associate) — a good first step before the Administrator exam.

Questions students ask

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