7 Top Skills to be an On-Demand Big Data Professional

Big Data is one of the hottest fields in Information Technology (IT) sector. We are currently generating over 2.5 quilton data every single day. The shortage of data is no longer an issue. The huge problem is figuring out the way we can get the highest return on investment on the information that we’ve collected.

We need professionals who can play around with data to give us valuable insights. However, the world does not have enough qualified Big Data professionals. Currently, employers are paying from $70k to over $150k annually to Big Data professionals.

Image Source: dasca

How to lure Big Data Employers to Hire You?

The prospect of Big Data is massive, but how to enter in the field of Big Data is the question. In this section, I will reveal some essential skills that can help you be an on-demand Big Data professional. Without further ado, let us check out some of the skills that can make you an on-demand Big Data employee.

Learn how to communicate and work in a team

This skill is not directly related to Big Data profession, but it will help you be ahead of others. One study revealed that there is a considerable lack of soft skills among IT professionals. An employer does not want to work closely with a developer who has no idea about how to communicate and work in a team.

There are plenty of resources online, and offline that can help you build soft skills that you need to get a substantial success. Many professionals only focus on technical skills, but completely miss the soft skills. Your job is to learn how to communicate and work in a team on the side apart from other technical skills that I’m going to reveal in this article.

Image Source: Linkedin

2. SQL

SQL is an essential skill that you must have in your arsenal to move ahead in the Big Data field. SQL means Structured Query Language. It is a primary language that helps you play around with the database technology of the organization. Furthermore, a knowledge of SQL will allow you to quickly learn other Big Data technologies, such as NoSQL and Hadoop Scala.

Before jumping into many other Big Data technologies, build a strong foundation by learning SQL. It is a ridiculously simple language to learn as well.

3. Know how to mine data and solve problems

There is a vast pool of data within the corporations. As a Big Data professional, you must know how to generate useful insights from the pool of data. There are Data Mining technologies, such as Apache Mahout, KNIME, and so on that, you can use to mine data. It is crucial for problem-solving.

After you have the appropriate information with you, you can analyze those data to solve organizations’ problems. Be aware of Big Data techniques that you can use to offer applicable solutions to an organization. You can take help of Data Mining books, connect with professionals online, and be a part of a community to learn how to use data mining technologies to solve problems.

Image Source: Tech Target

4. Know how to use Apache Spark and Apache Hadoop

Apache Hadoop is immensely growing in popularity for a few years. It comprises of open-source software utilities that assist networking and solving computing problems. Some of the popular Hadoop components are MapReduce, Hive, HBase, Pig, and so on. Many corporations are using Hadoop clusters these days.

Apache Spark is an open-source framework, which consists of many in-built modules for significant data processing, machine learning, SQL, and graph processing. It is an excellent alternative for MapReduce. Some corporations prefer using it with Hadoop, while some others prefer using it without Hadoop.

To broaden your scope, you can opt for Big Data Hadoop Certification training course along with Apache Spark training. Enrolling for training will give you an in-depth understanding of the technology that you can utilize in a real-world right away. You can be eligible for providing your service in many organizations who are using the combination of Apache Spark and Hadoop along with a few organizations that only use Apache Spark if you know both.

5. Quantitative Analysis and Data Visualization

These two skills are interconnected. Quantitative analysis is all about playing around with numbers and statistical tools and techniques. It holds a crucial position in the Big Data space. There is no need to be an expert in Statistics; however, a strong background in Statistics will be a big plus for you.

There are tools, such as SAS, SPSS, and others that will help you compute smaller to moderate quantity of data. For the massive volume of data, you may need to use a programming language.

Keep in mind that you are not computing data only for yourself. You are doing it for your organization. Your analysis will be of no use if you cannot present your insights to your co-workers and seniors. It is where the role of data visualization comes into action.

There are tools like Tableau, QlikView, and others that can help you with data visualization. You should be able to use these tools to generate graphs, pie charts, and so on to make your colleagues understand your findings after analysis.

6. Learn how to code

There are various readymade tools on the market for computing a pool of data. However, these readymade tools cannot help you sort out every type of problem in Big Data analysis.

The knowledge of programming languages is a big plus, and it will put you ahead of others. Knowing a programming language helps you compute sophisticated Big Data problems. Some of the popular programming languages for Big Data are Python, R, Scala, and Java.

7. Machine Learning

There is a shortage of professionals who know machine learning. Machine Learning is also an essential part of Big Data. You need to have the knowledge of machine learning for carrying out prescriptive and predictive analysis. Many professionals do not know how to carry out these sorts of study.

Image Source: SlideShare

You can develop recommendations, classifications, and personalized systems via machine learning. The combination of Machine Learning and Big Data can do wonders.

It is a time to Take Massive Actions

The Big Data industry has not matured yet. We are however to see any progress in the field of Big Data. Now is the perfect time to build your skills to position yourself as a Big Data professional. There is a massive demand for Big Data professionals, but there is a lack of skilled Big Data professionals. Due to that reason, the pay of Big Data professionals is rising at a steady rate.

You can expect a massive increase in the demand for Big Data professionals shortly. Why? It is because we are now starting to collect more data than ever due to the rise of IoT (Internet of Things). The future will be bright for you if you gradually work on skills that I’ve mentioned in this article.

Now that you have a blueprint of success, you should start taking massive actions without procrastination. If you have any questions or if you want to express your opinion to our readers, feel free to comment below. I would love to read your comments and answer your queries.