Updated May 2, 2023
Introduction to Careers in Big Data
Big data refers to data sets that are very large in volume and complex because our traditional data storage and processing systems are insufficient to meet their requirements. Data plays a crucial role in enhancing the business by analyzing the customer’s requirements and feedback, and as the customer base is increasing on a day-to-day basis, data is growing; companies need to analyze the data to provide better services to customers and also to remain in competition with today’s rapidly changing world.
Nowadays, companies are in a race, making maximum use of valuable data generated from various data sources using multiple tools and technologies, which have also increased the need for professionals to process, analyze, store, and transfer data. The requirement for big data professionals is growing exponentially in the industries dealing with electronics, retail, insurance, finance, the public sector, etc. This article will show the various available careers in big data options.
Education to Develop Careers in Big Data
1. Certifications
If we talk about courses, one must have at least a diploma in computer-related streams which gives you a basic understanding of computer architecture, operating systems, Networks, etc. Then you can opt for professional online/offline big data certifications provided by different institutes across the globe.
2. Graduation
If you are a school pass-out and primarily looking to make a career in big data, then at graduation level, you must opt for computer engineering, which will give you a deeper understanding of programming languages and algorithms and how and when to use them. To become an excellent big data professional, one must have logical, analytical, and problem-solving skills to deal with real-world data-related challenges.
3. Masters
A master’s in big data will advance careers in big data, which adds a boom to your big data knowledge, resulting in a good, highly-paid job.
Career Path in the Role of Big Data
1. Data Analyst
The role of a data analyst is to use various big data tools to process the data. Analysts mainly deal with structured, unstructured, and semi-structured data. To process this data, analysts interact with tools like a hive, pig, NoSQL databases, and frameworks like Hadoop, spark, etc. Their primary responsibility is to big out the hidden potential information from data to help companies to increase their revenue by making wise decisions. To be a data analyst, one must have good problem-solving and arithmetic skills. The kind of work analysts do is studying past trends, generating patterns, producing reports, etc.
2. Programmer
The programmer writes the code to perform repeated and conditional actions on the available data sets. To write excellent and efficient code, one should have good knowledge of various programming languages and possess good analytical, mathematical, logical, and statistical skills. The most common languages with which big data programmers deal in day-to-day life are Shell scripting, Java, Python, R, etc. The data with which programmers code deals are stored in flat files or databases, so a programmer should understand file systems and databases well.
3. Admin
The role of an admin is to take care of the infrastructure which manages the data and big data-related tools in the big data ecosystem. Their role also involves caring for all the nodes and their network configurations. Admins ensure the high availability time of infrastructure to support big data operations. Admins also take care of installing various tools and managing the hardware of clusters. To be an admin, one must understand the file system, operating system, computer hardware, and networking well.
4. Solution Architect
The role of big data solution architects is to analyze the real-world problem and develop a proper strategy to solve the problem by utilizing their expertise and implementing it using the power of the big data framework. The solution architect decides which tool/programming language to use to achieve the solution. Solution architects must have good problem-solving skills, in-depth knowledge of frameworks and tools, their licensing cost, and their alternative open-source tools available to process big data.
Job Positions or Application Areas
Almost every domain requires big data to unlock the capability of the customer-driven economy. Big data has deep roots in virtually every industry; let’s see a few examples.
1. Banking Sector
The banking sector is one of the major sectors in the world and uses big data in many ways:
- Using big data, banks detect real-time unauthorized transactions and block them.
- Stores the information of millions of customers and merchants in big data systems.
- Studying a customer’s spending patterns by analyzing the data of his past expenditures and providing the offers of the customer’s interest is called Campaigning.
2. Healthcare in Big Data
- The patient data generated by various electronic medical devices like Electronic Health Records (EHRs), wearable sensors, etc., helps doctors diagnose the disease and provide better treatment.
- It Analyzes the reviews of medicines provided by patients on various online forums to determine the effectiveness of medicine and its side effects.
- Careers in big data Maintaining patient-related data like treatment, surgery, medication, recovery time, etc., and if treatment results are positive, then giving the same treatment to patients with the same suffering.
3. Retail Industry
- Careers in Big data help decide the price of newly launched products by analyzing the cost of similar products already present in the market manufactured by their competitors.
- Analyze the data to gather information on products in demand, its review, and customer feedback, which helps the industry improve the faulty products.
- Understand the real-time requirement of the customer and provide real-time suggestions, which help to increase the business and save the customer’s time. Careers in Big data are almost in every industry and service provider around us, like Railways, transport, educational institutes, energy, telecom, government, etc., with similar use cases.
Salary (US Data and Not India-Specific Figures)
There is a massive requirement for big data professionals across the globe; this is the sector where the number of professionals is less than what is required, making it one of the most highly paid jobs. As per www.glassdoor.com, the salary provided by various organizations in the US is as follows:
- J.P. Morgan: $93K – $100K
- Cognizant Technology Solutions: $92K – $98K
- CSAA Insurance Group: $133K – $144K
- ZipRecruiter: $81K – $89K
The above salary figures are analyzed based on employees in these organizations. One cannot deny the fact that the salary of an individual directly depends on factors like the degree (Bachelor/Master), experience in the domain, command over technology, etc. also, it is not very easy to grab an excellent big data job until and unless one has a good grip on tools and technologies to understand and solve the real-world big data challenges.
Conclusion – Careers in Big Data
As per Forbes, IBM predicts that the demand for big data professionals will increase by 28% by 2020. Another survey from Forbes states that 58% are adapting to big data analytics. The careers in big data are booming, and the requirement for professionals is increasing quickly.
- This is an excellent time to grab the golden opportunity to join the big data wave.
- Careers in big data analytics have become the top priority project for many organizations. The career is not only limited to a type of organization but is independent of a domain of industry.
- In the present scenario, big data professionals are paid huge bucks for the correct set of skills. There are endless opportunities and scope for growth in big data. This can be among the best career options if one likes to play with data and maths.
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