In simple terms, Big Data is a phrase used to mean a massive volume of both structured and unstructured data that is very large and difficult to process using traditional database and software techniques. The continuous and massive data generation is referred to as Big Data. The reason for the exponential growth of data is the introduction of the Internet and the people being more and more connected to it.
While the term seems to refer to the volume of data, that isn’t always the case. Vendors refer to Big Data as technology including tools and processes, that an organization requires to handle large amounts of data and storage facilities.
The three formats of Big Data are:
Structured: organized data set with the fixed schema as in RDBMS.
Semi-structured: partially organized data sets that lack fixed format as in XML.
Unstructured: unorganized data without any format like audio or video clips.
With tremendous growth, Big Data has even become a striking career option for professionals today.
There is a huge increase in demand for Big Data professionals as Big Data is revolutionizing the way a business operates. The career opportunities pertaining to Big Data are Big Data Analyst, Big Data Engineer, Big Data Solution Architect, etc. If you are embarking on a career as any of these roles, it is always recommended to take big data courses and gain expertise in this area.
Top 10 Big Data Jobs
There is immense growth in the usage of Big Data Analysis all over the world. The following is the list of top 10 Big Data jobs in the market.
1.Big Data Engineer
With a 5.8% salary growth in the last one year, the annual compensation now ranges between $135,000 to $196,000. The job of Big Data Engineer is to collect and store large volumes of data and is responsible for database integration. They need to collaborate with Data Architects and Data Scientist and participate in designing Big Data solutions, enabled by exposure to technologies based on Hadoop- MapReduce, Hive MongoDB, or Cassandra. They are expected to build, test and sustain large-scale Big Data Architecture such as Databases and processing systems. They work with unstructured data to transform them into clean sets in a specific format.
2. Data Architect
The annual salary of a data architect ranges between $131,250 to $184,000 with a growth of 4.1% salary growth in the last one year.
Data Architects are responsible for all aspects of an organization’s data architecture like modeling, building, implementing and maintenance. They work out on the data needs of the company and implement strategic models for every department.
They need to update management about plans, developments and other areas of concern.
3. Data Warehouse Manager
The annual salary of a Data Warehouse Manager ranges from $129,000 to $179,000 with an annual salary growth of 4.1%.
They design, develop and maintain data warehouses and data marts. They are expected to collaborate with all experts involved in database operations like developers, administrators, and managers and make sure that the whole data system complies with the organization’s strategic goals and objectives of the organization’s data architectures.
Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle are some of the warehouse products available in the market. Organizations are required to hire data warehouse managers if they wish to use these warehouse products.
4. Database Manager
The annual salary of a database manager ranges between $122,250 and $177,000 with an annual growth of 3.7%.
Database managers specialize in technologies used to store and structure data.
The tasks that database managers are accountable for are:
- Forecast of database capacity requirements.
- Installation of the database.
- Configuration of the database system.
- Designing the database.
- Data migration.
- Monitoring performance of database systems.
- Ensuring data security.
- Addressal of problems.
- Maintaining backups to prevent data loss.
- Recovering any lost data.
Apart from these tasks, database managers are also expected to collaborate with database developers and train subordinates and guide users in ways to use the database wisely.
5. Business Intelligence Analyst
The annual salary of a Business Intelligence Analyst ranges between $118,000 and $171,500 with an annual salary growth of 4.3%.
They transform data into analyzable formats to help in decision-making. They are expected to provide data-based insights to management when required. They study trends in data to extract information vital for business operations. A BIA should be proficient in both analytical and reporting tools to carry out regular tasks. They are expected to have experience in working with database queries and writing procedures.
6. Data Scientist
The annual salary of a data scientist ranges from $116,000 and $163,500 with the highest growth rate of 6.4%.
The job responsibilities include collection, analyzing and interpretation of large datasets to pinpoint ways in which a business can improve its operations and identify ways to benefit the business.
Data mining using statistical modeling techniques like clustering, decision trees, and regression.
7. Data Modeler
The annual salary of a data modeler ranges between $111,000 and $161,500 with a 3.9% annual salary growth.
Their job includes developing user-friendly databases based on complex business data. They collaborate with data architects and use theoretical, logical and physical data models to create database solutions that fulfill the organization’s requirements.
They need to specialize in individual business domains.
8. Database Developer
The annual salary of a database developer ranges between $108,000 and $161,500 with an annual salary growth of 5.1%.
The key responsibilities include identifying the right programming language for development projects and make sure that the new projects are compatible with the company’s data management norms. They use ideal interfaces to connect database with database tools.
9. Database Administrator
The annual salary of a database administrator ranges from $98,500 and $148,500. They store and clean data using the ideal software and work with the IT security team to keep the data secure. Other roles may include database design, data migration, data security management, data backup, and recovery.
10. Data Analyst
The annual salary of a data analyst ranges from $77,500 and $118,750.
The key responsibilities include using data to answer business-related questions and carry out the analysis of data. The data analyst may apply structured statistical tools in data analysis and carry out data mining from primary and secondary sources.
The prerequisites are less than that of a data scientist.
The rapid expansion of the field of Big Data is opening ample job opportunities in all sectors across the world. The number of job fields is increasing because companies have now realized the power of Big Data in decision-making. So, which job role do you aim for? If it is any of the ones mentioned above, you are in for a great career ahead.