You are considering starting your career in Big Data, but you’re wondering if it’s still a promising field? Find out if it’s still relevant to pursue training to work in this area!
Over the past few years, data has become one of the most valuable assets for businesses. By analyzing it, many organizations have been able to gain a competitive advantage and valuable insights to guide their strategic decisions.
Faced with this enthusiasm, Big Data professions have experienced a real boom. In 2012, LinkedIn’s Chief Data Officer and co-founder of Kaggle, Jeff Hammerbacher, thus described the role of Data Scientist as the “sexiest job of the 21st century” in an interview given to the New York Times.
Both exciting, highly paid and in high demand, this job had indeed everything to please and make you want to discover big data courses. However, more than ten years later, a question arises: is Big Data still a good vocation?
The growing importance of Big Data in companies
Let’s say it right away: the amount of data generated by companies and users is not decreasing. On the contrary, it continues to grow exponentially.
To give you an idea of the speed at which this volume is increasing, humanity is expected to generate 3 times more data in 2023 than in 2019.
Two-thirds of the world’s population will be connected to the internet by the end of the year, and there should be 55.7 billion objects connected to the IoT by 2025. Alone, they will generate 80 zettabytes.
Organizations from all sectors collect information from various sources such as social networks, online transactions, IoT sensors, and much more.
They can then use this massive data to make informed decisions, thanks to analysis tools that can identify hidden trends, patterns, and correlations in the data.
This allows them to optimize their operational performances, improve customer satisfaction, develop new products and services, and even anticipate market needs.
Big Data has already greatly impacted different sectors. For example, the analysis of medical data can lead to more accurate diagnoses and better clinical decisions.
Similarly, in the field of finance, data analysis can help prevent fraud and improve risk management. Marketing and advertising also take advantage of Big Data to better understand consumer behaviors and target campaigns.
These are just examples, as data analysis can play a major role in all industries. However, it requires technical expertise, which is why professionals are highly sought after by employers.
Many career opportunities
Companies of all sizes and sectors need qualified professionals to manage and analyze their data.
Analysts are responsible for exploring and interpreting data, while data scientists develop predictive models and machine learning algorithms.
For their part, Big Data engineers are responsible for designing and implementing reliable and robust data infrastructures.
There are job opportunities in a wide variety of sectors such as health, finance, marketing, telecommunications, energy, and many others.
Big Data professionals can also choose to work as independent consultants, offering their services to multiple companies.
If you have an entrepreneurial spirit, it’s even possible to found your own startup based on the analysis and valorization of data.
The growing demand for Big Data professionals leads to a shortage of talent. According to the “The Quant Crunch” report published by IBM, there were nearly 2.7 million vacant positions in this field in 2022.
In the United States alone, the Bureau of Labor estimates that the number of Big Data jobs will increase by 31% by 2030. Nearly half of company executives deplore a lack of labor in this field.
A direct consequence of this high demand: the salaries offered are very attractive. On average, according to HoneyPot, a Data Scientist earns more than 60,000 euros per year in Europe.
Therefore, a professional can very easily find a position in the company of their dreams… provided they have the appropriate skills.
What skills are sought after?
Clearly, Big Data remains a booming industry. However, technologies evolve and the skills sought after change over time.
A professional must be able to manipulate and analyze large amounts of data, and master tools and programming languages like Python, R and SQL as well as specific technologies such as Hadoop and Spark.
In addition to these technical skills, a Big Data expert must have analytical thinking and be able to understand complex problems. They must also be creative in their approach to finding innovative solutions.
Obviously, the ability to effectively communicate the results of the analysis to stakeholders is also important. This includes creating data visualizations, interactive dashboards, and storytelling.
In parallel, it is essential to consider ethical issues and the protection of personal data. This is all the more important following the adoption of the GDPR in the European Union in 2018.
A Big Data professional must be aware of the implications related to the use of data, and respect the regulations in force.
A deep understanding of data privacy and security practices is essential to establish the trust of clients and users.
In addition, machine learning has become a key element of Big Data. It allows professionals to develop predictive models and extract actionable information from data.
Knowledge of algorithms, modeling techniques, and model evaluation has become an essential skill.
Nowadays, experts also need to master cloud platforms like AWS and Microsoft Azure and their services dedicated to Big Data analysis. Finally, the rise of generative AI like ChatGPT and its incorporation into data analysis solutions like Microsoft Fabric requires skills in prompt engineering.
In conclusion, Big Data continues to evolve rapidly and remains a highly attractive career path. However, it is essential to choose your training wisely to acquire the relevant skills in the modern landscape of data analysis!
