8 skills that will help you a get a Job in Big Data
The secret is out, getting a Job in Big data is the newest hot topic, as Big Data is now seen as the ‘New Gold’! The mad rush is on to leverage big data analytic tools and techniques for competitive advantage. If you’re on the hunt for a new Job in big data, here are 8 highly sought after skills, that will help you a get that Job.
1. Apache Hadoop
Sure, it’s entering its second decade now, but there’s no denying that Hadoop had a monstrous time and is positioned for an even bigger year as test clusters are moved into production and software vendors increasingly target the distributed storage and processing architecture.The raise of Apache Hadoop created lots of new IT jobs in big data as the platform is powerful, Hadoop can be a fussy beast and requires care and feeding by proficient technicians. Those who know there way around the core components of the Hadoop stack–such as HDFS, MapReduce, Flume, Oozie, Hive, Pig, HBase, and YARN–will be in high demand, and alternatively this will create lots of new IT jobs.
2. Apache Spark
If Hadoop is a known quantity in the big data world, then Spark is a black horse candidate that has the raw potential to eclipse its elephantine cousin. The rapid rise of the in-memory stack is being proffered as a faster and simpler alternative to MapReduce-style analytics, either within a Hadoop framework or outside it. Best positioned as one of the components in a big data pipeline, Spark still requires technical expertise to program and run, thereby providing IT job opportunities for those in the know.
Source: Dice Tech Salary Survey
On the operational side of the big data house, distributed, scale-out NoSQL databases like MongoDBand Couchbase are taking over IT jobs previously handled by monolithic SQL databases like Oracle and IBM DB2. On the Web and with mobile apps, NoSQL databases are often the source of data crunched in Hadoop, as well as the destination for application changes put in place after insight is gleaned from Hadoop. In the world of big data, Hadoop and NoSQL occupy opposite sides of a virtuous cycle.
3. Machine Learning and Data Mining
People in IT jobs have been mining for data as long as they’ve been collecting it. But in today’s big data world, data mining has reached a whole new level. One of the hottest IT Jobs in big data last year is machine learning, which is poised for a breakout year. Big data pros who can harness machine learning technology to build and train predictive analytic apps such as classification, recommendation, and personalization systems are in super high demand, and can command top dollar in the IT job market.
4. Statistical and Quantitative Analysis
This is what big data is all about. If you have a background in quantitative reasoning and a degree in a field like mathematics or statistics, you’re already halfway there. Add in expertise with a statistical tool like R, SAS, Matlab, SPSS, or Stata, and you’ve got this category locked down. Thanks to the big data boom, companies in all sorts of industries across the country are in need of ‘geeks’ with quantitative backgrounds and has created a boom in Big Data jobs.
5. SQL
The data-centric language is more than 40 years old, but the old grandpa still has a lot of life yet in today’s big data age. While it won’t be used with all big data challenges (see: NoSQL above), the simplify of Structured Query Language makes it a no-brainer for many of them. And thanks to initiatives like Cloudera‘s Impala, SQL is seeing new life as the lingua franca for the next-generation of Hadoop-scale data warehouses and IT Jobs.
6. Data Visualization
Big data can be tough to comprehend, but in some circumstances there’s no replacement for actually getting your eyeballs onto data. You can do multivariate or logistic regression analysis on your data until the cows come home, but sometimes exploring just a sample of your data in a tool like Tableau or Qlikview can tell you the shape of your data, and even reveal hidden details that change how you proceed. And if you want a job as a data analyst, being well-versed in one or more visualization tools is practically a requirement.
7. General Purpose Programming Languages
Having experience programming applications in general-purpose languages like Java, C, Python, or Scala could give you the edge over other candidates when applying for big data or any similar IT Job. According to Wanted Analytics, there was a 337 percent increase in the number of IT job postings for “computer programmers” that required background in data analytics. Those who are comfortable at the intersection of traditional app development and emerging analytics will be able to write their own tickets and move freely between end-user companies and big data startups.
8. Creativity and Problem Solving
No matter how many advanced analytic tools and techniques you have on your belt, nothing can replace the ability to think your way through a situation. The implements of big data will inevitably evolve and new technologies will replace the ones listed here. But if you’re equipped with a natural desire to know and a bulldog-like determination to find solutions, then you’ll always have Big Data or Data Analytics job offers waiting for you.
For more jobs in Big Data or Data Analytics please check out some of our latest jobs here.
