Big Data, Big Pay

For anyone evaluating a big data career, here are some facts that will help make your decision easier.

  • According to an Accenture Survey, 56% of executives believe they do not have the talent to analyze the data collected from a big data analytics implementation.
  • McKinsey Global Institute predicts the United States alone will face a shortage of 140,000 to 190,000 analytics experts by 2018.
  • A report by the Tech Partnership and SAS anticipates the UK will create approximately 56,000 big data jobs per year until 2020.

Yes, it’s clear that demand for big data expertise is on the rise. The industry is already experiencing a shortage of talent, which is expected to become a major barrier to growth.

What does it all mean to current and future IT professionals? It means there are great job opportunities in the field of big data and analytics. At Indeed.com, as of March 2015, the search term “big data” yields over 35,000 jobs, with Hadoop ranking 7th in top job trends in the IT industry.

Let’s say you have made a decision to explore potential job opportunities in big data. Where to begin? Start with understanding the most common job titles used by companies seeking expertise in the field. It will help you broaden your perspective on the industry.

RCR Wireless suggests 12 common job titles listed on top job sites:

Data Scientist, Data Engineer, Big Data Engineer, Machine Learning Scientist, Business Analytics Specialist, Data Visualization Developer, Business Intelligence (BI) Engineer, Bl Solutions Architect, BI Specialist, Analytics Manager, Machine Learning Engineer, Statistician Among the titles above, data scientist is the hottest job in today’s big data market. A Harvard Business Review article even called data scientist “the sexiest job of the 21st century.”[6] Currently Indeed.com lists more than 17,000 “data scientist” jobs with an average salary of $117,000 (5).

So how to become a data scientist? Plenty of information is available on the web, but the industry leaders’ job listings are the best resources for identifying the technical skills and backgrounds required to enter the field. Go to major tech companies’ websites and run a search. IBM’s career page, for example, yields 101 job listings for the search term “data scientist,” each describing required and preferred skills in detail. Go ahead and check it out for yourself!