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Overview
Getting a Big Data Job For Dummies is the ultimate guide to landing a position in one of the fastest-growing fields in the modern economy. Learn exactly what "big data" means, why it's so important across all industries, and how you can obtain one of the most sought-after skill sets of the decade. This book walks you through the process of identifying your ideal big data job, shaping the perfect resume, and nailing the interview, all in one easy-to-read guide.
Companies from all industries, including finance, technology, medicine, and defense, are harnessing massive amounts of data to reap a competitive advantage. The demand for big data professionals is growing every year, and experts forecast an estimated 1.9 million additional U.S. jobs in big data by 2015. Whether your niche is developing the technology, handling the data, or analyzing the results, turning your attention to a career in big data can lead to a more secure, more lucrative career path. Getting a Big Data Job For Dummies provides an overview of the big data career arc, and then shows you how to get your foot in the door with topics like:
- The education you need to succeed
- The range of big data career path options
- An overview of major big data employers
- A plan to develop your job-landing strategy
Your analytic inclinations may be your ticket to long-lasting success. In a highly competitive job market, developing your data skills can create a situation where you pick your employer rather than the other way around. If you're ready to get in on the ground floor of the next big thing, Getting a Big Data Job For Dummies will teach you everything you need to know to get started today.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781118903841 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Wiley |
| Publication date: | 12/10/2014 |
| Series: | For Dummies Books |
| Sold by: | JOHN WILEY & SONS |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 264 |
| File size: | 3 MB |
About the Author
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
About This Book 1
Foolish Assumptions 2
Icons Used in This Book 2
Beyond the Book 3
Where to Go from Here 3
Part I Getting a Job in Big Data 5
Chapter 1 The Big Picture of Big Data Jobs 7
How We Got Here and Where We're Headed 8
Why companies care about big data 9
The future of big data jobs 10
Exploring Big Data Career Paths 10
Not everyone is a data scientist 10
Requirements of big data professionals 11
Looking at Organizations That Hire Big Data Professionals 12
Public sector and academia 13
Commercial organizations 13
Corporate information technology 14
Marketing departments and business units 14
Big data firms 15
Consulting companies 15
Chapter 2 Seeing Yourself in a Big Data Job 17
Planning Your Journey into a New Frontier 17
Finding a Future Career in Big Data 18
The growth of big data jobs 18
Predictions for the next several years 19
Sizing Up Your Skills 21
Evaluating your aptitude for big data 21
Doing a self-assessment plan 22
Finding your gaps 25
Charting Your Path 25
When to fill the gaps with education 25
Filling gaps with experience 26
Planning your milestones and timeline 27
Measuring your results 28
Chapter 3 Key Big Data Concepts 29
The Four V's of Big Data 29
Volume 29
Variety 30
Veracity 30
Velocity 30
Value 31
Building a Big Data Platform 32
Looking into Big Data Use Cases 32
Big data in risk and compliance 33
Big data in financial services 36
Big data in healthcare 37
Big data in government 39
Big data in retail 43
Part II Getting Your Big Data Education 47
Chapter 4 Roles in Big Data Revealed 49
Big Data Jobs for Business Analysts 49
Assessing your interest 50
Looking at a job posting 51
Big Data Jobs for Data Scientists 54
Assessing your interest 54
Looking at a job posting 55
Big Data Jobs for Software Developers 58
Assessing your interest 59
Looking at sample job postings 60
Chapter 5 Foundations of a Big Data Education 63
What's Your Major? Undergraduate Majors That Fill Big Data Jobs 64
Math and statistics 64
Computer science and engineering 65
Continuing Education and Graduate School 67
Programs in analytics 68
PhD programs for big data 71
Chapter 6 Making Your Own Way (For the Experienced Professional) 73
Learning on Your Own Time 74
Hitting the books 74
Online tutorials 75
Online communities 76
On-the-job training 78
Building Your Own Big Data Test Lab 78
Step 1 Define your goals 80
Step 2 Take a skills inventory 80
Step 3 Mind the gap 80
Step 4 Acquire knowledge 81
Step 5 Look back 81
Chapter 7 Knowing Your Big Data Tools 85
Database Tools You Need to Know 86
Relational databases and SQL 87
NoSQL 88
Big Data Framework Technologies 93
The Hadoop framework 93
Pig 94
Hive 94
Spark 95
Analysis Tools You Should Know 95
Business analytics or business intelligence tools 95
Visualization tools 96
Sentiment analysis tools 98
Machine learning 99
Keeping Current with Market Developments 99
Part III Finding a Job with the Right Organization 101
Chapter 8 Life as a Consultant 103
What Is a Consultant Anyway? 103
Types of consultants 104
Who's who in the consulting industry 106
The Career Path of a Consultant, from Associate to Partner 109
A Typical Day in the Life of a Big Data Consultant 110
Pros and Cons of the Consultant's Life 112
Chapter 9 Working as an In-House Big Data Specialist 115
Working for Central IT to Serve an Organization 116
Looking at roles in corporate IT 116
Examining a corporate IT job posting 117
Working for a Business Unit 119
Pros and Cons to In-house Positions 120
Pros 120
Cons 121
Chapter 10 Living on the Edge with a Startup 123
Startups and Where They Are 123
Phase 1 The seed stage 124
Stage 2 The early stage 125
Stage 3 The expansion stage 126
Stage 4 The turnaround stage 126
Stage 5 The purchase stage 127
Startup Companies Born for Big Data 127
Deciding If Working for a Startup Is the Life for You 128
Chapter 11 Serving in the Public Sector or Academia 131
The Role of Academia in Advancing Big Data 131
Teaching at the college level 132
Conducting research 133
Nonprofit Industry Organizations 133
Organizations within the Public Sector 134
Civilian organizations 135
Defense and intelligence 136
Healthcare and Medical Research 138
Part IV Developing a Job-Landing Strategy 139
Chapter 12 Building Your Network and Brand 141
Real-World Networking to Win a Job 141
Knowing where to look 142
Being ready to make that connection 144
Building Your Brand While Networking 146
Step 1 Define your goals 146
Step 2 List your current networks 146
Step 3 Identify new groups to engage 148
Step 4 Enhance your online profile 148
Step 5 Prospect 148
Chapter 13 Creating a Winning Résumé 151
Understanding the Importance of a Résumé 151
Navigating the Hiring Process 152
Getting Past the Gatekeeper 153
Using keywords 153
Navigating job-posting tools 154
Knowing the Dos and Don'ts for Résumés 155
Crafting the Right Résumé for the Position 157
Reviewing Sample Résumé Sections 158
Objective 158
Technical skills 159
Work experience 159
Education 160
Chapter 14 Preparing to Nail Your Interview 163
Understanding Why Interviews Are Important 164
Identifying what interviewers want to hear 165
Knowing the types of interviews and tips for each 166
Preparing for the Interview 167
How to prepare and what to study 168
Knowing what questions to ask the interviewers 169
Telling Your Story 171
Describing your professional journey 171
Showing why you're a good fit 171
Unlocking Success in a Behavioral Interview 173
Getting ready for probing questions 174
Turning probing questions into opportunities 174
Unlocking the Key Aspects to a Good Case Interview 176
Structuring problems 176
Exhibiting analytics and reasoning skills 177
Showcasing business skills and industry awareness 177
Displaying good presentation skills 177
Showing Motivation and Excitement 178
Displaying your initiative 179
Making it easy to hire you 179
Telling them you want this position 180
Ending on a high note 180
Part V The Part of Tens 183
Chapter 15 Ten Ways to Maximize Social Media in Your Job Hunt 185
Google Yourself 185
Get Rid of Unflattering Pictures 186
Be Your Own Best Editor 186
Get On Google+ 186
Use LinkedIn Like a Pro 187
Start Blogging 188
Become an Expert 189
Focus on Facebook 189
#UseTwitter 189
Check Your Klout 190
Chapter 16 Ten Interview Questions and Answers Your Need to Know 191
Can You Tell Me about Yourself? 192
What Are Your Goals? 193
Why Do You Want to Work Here? 193
Why Should We Hire You? 194
Why Do You Want to Leave Your Current Job? 194
Can You Give Me an Example of a Time When You Had to Make a Decision with Limited Information? 194
How Do Others View You? 195
Can You Tell Me about a Time When You Made a Mistake? 195
Can You Tell Me about Some of Your Accomplishments? 195
Have You Ever Disagreed with Your Boss? If So, How Did You Handle It? 196
Chapter 17 Ten Free Data Science Tools and Applications 197
Making Custom Web-Based Data Visualizations with Free R Packages 198
Getting Shiny by RStudio 198
Charting with rCharts 199
Mapping with rMaps 199
Checking Out More Scraping, Collecting, and Handling Tools 200
Scraping data with Import.io 200
Collecting images with ImageQuilts 201
Wrangling data with DataWrangler 202
Checking Out More Data Exploration Tools 202
Talking about Tableau Public 202
Getting up to speed in Gephi 203
Machine learning with the WEKA suite 205
Checking Out More Web-Based Visualization Tools 206
Getting a little Weave up your sleeve 206
Checking out Knoema's data visualization offerings 207
Part VI Appendixes 211
Appendix A Resources 213
Vendor Websites 213
Standards Organizations 215
Open-Source Projects 216
Big Data Conferences and Trade Shows 217
Leading Analysts Research Group 218
Appendix B Glossary 219
Index 229