Austin Olson Returns to Technology
Austin Olson, MSIS ’21, was a techy child growing up, building computers and tinkering with codes on video games like Minecraft. However, he assumed that his hobby wasn’t practical as a career, so he shifted to medicine, enrolling in a pre-med program at Indiana University Northwest while serving in Army ROTC. But medicine didn’t hold his interest the way building code and modifying servers online did. “I realized it wasn’t something that truly interested me the way IT did,” he says.
From 2013 to 2021, Austin served in the Army National Guard as an Infantryman and held leadership positions such as Platoon Leader for a UAV detachment, and Military Intelligence Officer for various battalions, supporting US Military Engineer, cyber/information security, anti-terrorism, and intel reporting operations. He was following a familial path: his uncle is a Purple Heart recipient after several deployments to the Middle East; his grandfather and great-uncle served during the Vietnam War; his great-grandfather served in World War II, piloting a boat at Normandy.
Finding new career path with Northwestern Master’s in Information Systems
While in the military, Austin decided to revisit his initial passion for technology. “A family member went through the MSIS program at Indiana University Bloomington and was telling me about it, and I found it super interesting.” He decided to apply to Northwestern's Master's in Information Systems (MSIS) after learning about the quality of the program and the fact that he could conduct his studies online.
“By joining the MSIS program, I was able to shift to a new career path that I was more interested in rather than having to go back through another four-year degree. The master's program offered me an opportunity to learn all I needed to learn in a matter of two years,” he says.
He's thankful to the School of Professional Studies for allowing him to find a career between his two passions. "Sometimes we go into undergrad, and we think we know what we want at 18 years old. That quickly changes once you start to get in the trenches and learn about that particular skill set, or craft, or science. Programs like the MSIS allow you to shift in a way that doesn't completely disrupt whatever your plans were.”
Austin pursued his online Master's in Information Systems while working two jobs and being a husband and father. "The professors' understanding of the fact that their students do have families and jobs made thing much easier," he says. (photo provided by Austin Olson)
Returning to work with new information systems skills
Today, Austin combines his military expertise with his aptitude for IT. He works as an IT Governance and Compliance Systems Specialist and Project Manager for the defense contractor General Dynamics Mission Systems, which partners with entities like the Department of Defense to provide military communications equipment and weapon systems.
At work, he says, “I get an opportunity to look at the strategic side of IT, creating the guardrails that enable us to understand as a company, what we should prioritize and how to meet those initiatives. This includes setting up the associated strategic mechanisms such as structures, roles, policy, and processes. What I like about this work is that it touches on both the operational and tactical side of IT.”
Courses like Information Technology Strategy helped Austin be more effective at work by helping him understand how to use IT to achieve objectives from budgeting, project management, creating enterprise goals, and setting up an IT department to execute initiatives most effectively as a team.
“My degree also helped me to learn that you should never really stop learning," he says. After receiving his MSIS, he received his Certified Information Systems Security Professional certificate, became certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT, and received an IBM AI Professional certificate.
“Some individuals will say, ‘Well, at some point you just get used to the status quo,’ but, that's not me, and that's not what the MSIS program prepared me for. I will continue to learn something new every year. Now, learning is as integrated into my daily life as drinking water or eating food.”
Northwestern University School of Professional Studies offers many degree and certificate programs, with evening and online options available. To learn more about how Northwestern University's Master's in Information Systems prepares graduates to advance their careers, fill out the form below and we will be in touch with you soon.