Getting a Big Data Job For Dummies

Chapter 1

The Big Picture of Big Data Jobs

In This Chapter

Understanding why big data is important today

Discovering the available career paths

Finding out what kinds of firms hire big data professionals

Some people have said that information is the new oil. There is a wealth of value locked up inside this new black gold. As with oil, the challenge is finding it, extracting it, and converting it to something useful. Information empowers new markets, innovations, and even transformation of societies. Like oil exploration, the challenge is discovering how to unlock potential value deep inside an ocean of data. That’s the art and science of big data.

Big data has gone beyond the buzzword phase and into driving real value for organizations around the world. The Boston Consulting Group recently conducted a groundbreaking study that found a correlation between the use of big data and bottom-line revenue. It studied 167 companies in five sectors — financial services, technology, consumer goods, industrial goods, and other services — and found that those that worked with big data increased overall revenue for their firms by as much as 12 percent. Those are real dollars! The study concluded ...