Any Data, Business, or Systems Analyst in the house?

I am currently a Business Systems Analyst, I do not have a STEM background in education (however I have on the job experience), and looking into going back to school. There are a lot of options if going the IT computer Science general program, Data science, or Business Analyst. I work in high education but would like to get a position in the future into non-higher ed organizations. Also if anybody wants to share what they actually do as a analyst that might help me on deciding which program I would like to pursue.

My title has been Business Analyst, Bank Business Analyst, Operational Risk Analyst, and for the last 4 years I have been in the same role and the title has changed from Business Process Analyst to Capital Analyst to Project Manager to Product Manager to Financial Analyst Specialist. During that entire time, my role - and what I put on my resume - has actually been a Database Manager, Capital Analyst, and Reporting Analyst. 

I was a Mathematics major in college. Minors in Econ and Business. My regrets from my education are as follows: 

• I wish I had taken a year longer, taken less classes at a time, and stuck with Actuarial Science
• I wish that I had taken my programming class with a different professor. I probably would have ended up loving it and adding it as a major
• I wish that I had read the entire course catalog front to back before I started my Freshman year. I could have had a double or triple major in Math, Business, and either Computer Science or Economics. 

As it is, I've learned most everything for my job as a database manager via google, youtube, and various forums and blogs. I'm tired of what I'm doing though and am planning on going back for either an MBA or else an MS in either Data Science or Data Analytics. Probably the MBA though. 

As I'm involved with hiring decisions, your experience as a Systems Analyst means a lot more to me than a Computer Science major.

I do statistical analysis in the medical device field and if there were twice as many people like me, we'd still be wildly understaffed.

Forbes - September 16, 2021 

30 best jobs for the next decade...

#4 Statistician

#9 Data Scientist

#19 Actuaries

Added later...

We are absolutely starving for talent...you could get your BB certification from ASQ, buy a license for MiniTab, JMP, etc. statistical software and go through all of the tutorials and read a book or two on applied statistics (I like Dr Wayne Taylor as he specializes in medical devices) all in a few months and somebody would gladly hire you.

What interests you in the field?   In IT positions almost any degree will do and its more about on the job learning for specific systems.  There are still some of us out there rocking good jobs in the field with no degree.   As a hiring manager the specific degree never really bothered me and I dont really care if someone has one unless the company insists (but then again if they do they probably havent hire me) 

So pick an area of interests to you and pursue that.   If you are just looking for what is marketable, look into IT security, its always going to be in high demand.

I was hired for my current job because I have experience in 3 specific systems that are used in higher Ed, can use the reporting functions and am good at researching. However I interviewed for another position at a different college with the same title but different department and the position was based on researching and rolling out a new software, and being the liaison to teaching everyone how to use it. I have little experience hard coding software and the software I use is eliminating that function, most of what I do is updating systems, data integration, and troubleshooting. However reading non-higher ed postings seem to be very different, when I was applying for analyst positions in the corporate world I didn't make it past round 1, compared to Higher Ed where I am 2 for 2 on interview and one made me a offer. I spoke to my mother-in-law who is a IT supervisor at a Non-profit and she suggested a masters in computer science. However I lack the math, which would take me 2 years to complete the needed math classes to be eligible. The analyst programs have non-stem tracks which are helpful to me. I am not a savant in IT which I have known people who have no education and just get it, I need more education. I am at a private school which are very tough on tuition reimbursement taking course work for my position, State school (salary is usually better) are pretty wide open, on taking what ever course work you want. 

trigun7469 said:

 I spoke to my mother-in-law who is a IT supervisor at a Non-profit and she suggested a masters in computer science. 

I gotta be honest, we've never looked at or discussed a candidates degree during a hiring process in our global corporate IT department.  It checks a box for HR if anything but most of our job descriptions include an "or xxx experience" clause so we aren't bound to a degree requirement.

I'm a data analyst. I basically tumbled ass-backwards into the job a decade ago, after spending 14-years in the office equipment industry. 
 

I'd say 80% of my job is in SQL Server, 5% is SSMS, another 5% in Excel, and the last 10% is just random email/meeting/whatever BS. We're a good company, although things have definitely got crazier over the last 2.5 years. However, it seems like all our competitors, and their staff performing the same tasks, are all just absolute E36 M3shows constantly. 
 

I've really had to make an effort this year not to let my job consume me, because it definitely has the last 2 years.