Big Data. The term is found just about everywhere, but as shown by this insightful post from UC Berkeley’s School of Information blog, everyone seems to understand it differently. This ambiguity can be a serious disadvantage for businesses. After all, it may be clear that Big Data and analytics can enhance the bottom line, but it might not be obvious how to obtain tangible results. With an already-tight labor market for certain specialties, many employers are concerned about finding the talent they need. However, a clear understanding of your Big Data needs and the nature of the skills sets that will address them can help you bring your A Team to solve your data problems.
I Love It When a Plan Comes Together…
Of course, many companies already have an idea of what they need when it comes to Big Data—or do they? Forbes contributor Bernard Marr noted that companies “risk becoming data rich but insight poor”. He added that one of the key aspects of successful data usage is understanding your company’s specific needs and then only collecting and analyzing the information necessary to achieve those goals. Are you planning on launching an app or wearable device? Are you trying to predict the needs of your best customers? Since every company has different needs, every Big Data solution will be different—as will be the particular skill sets you are looking for in the workplace.
A Crack Team
Depending on the type of solution you need and your current resources, you may be looking at hiring multiple employees—or just one. There are many specialized positions within Big Data. After you have a solid idea of what you want to use Big Data for, you can begin to break down what types of skills are necessary. If you are not quite sure how to match the skills with the title, this article from Big Data Made Simple can help. The most commonly-needed skill sets typically belong to data scientists, data engineers, and data analysts. Glassdoor named data scientist as the best job in 2016, with an estimated base salary of $116, 840. Data scientists can identify a company’s analytics issues and goals, gather and assess the data, create effective models, and then analyze them to deliver value to a company. As you may have guessed, this is an extremely tall order. Since the range of skills is so diverse, it is difficult to find candidates who can address all of these needs. However, not every business will need to hire a data scientist. Your company may need a data engineer or data analyst. Data engineers are usually programmers, and Glassdoor pegged their average salary at about $97, 477. While the data scientist helps deliver value from the data, the data engineer supports that with a variety of data-related activities, including managing storage and implementation issues. The data analyst (sometimes confused with a business analyst) is an important part of your Big Data team. The analyst takes your data and forms it into comprehensive packages that help your company make better decisions. The salary range estimate for data analysts is between $40,000-$80,000.
While there has been some decline in the demand for general Big Data workers, most businesses are experiencing a tough hiring market. This is because there is no one-size-fits all company —-or job candidate. As noted earlier, evoking Big Data can mean anything from using analytics to help your company improve its hiring practices to creating an entirely new service (CIO’s piece on hiring people with the right Big Data skills highlights this very important idea). Big Data is an extremely large umbrella, so understanding your company’s needs will help you know who to hire. If you have questions about finding the right team members to help solve your data problems, contact us today.