In China, the application of big data is just budding, and the talent market is still not so mature, so the requirements for big data jobs vary from company to company: some emphasize database programming, some highlight the knowledge of applied mathematics and statistics, some require consulting firms or investment bankers to have relevant experience, and some hope to find applied talents who know about products and markets. Because of this, many companies will be for their own business type and team division of labor, to the group of people dealing with big data some new titles and definitions: data mining engineers, big data specialists, data researchers, user analysis experts, etc. are often in the domestic company title, we will be collectively referred to as the "Big Data Engineer ".
I. What do big data engineers do?
In the words of Xue Guirong, a researcher at Alibaba Group, big data engineers are a group of people who "play with data", play with the commercial value of data, so that the data become productive. The biggest difference between big data and traditional data is that it is online, real-time, massive in scale and irregular in form, no rules and regulations to follow, so it is very important to "know how to play" these data people.
So analyzing history, predicting the future, and optimizing choices are three of the most important tasks for big data engineers when they "play with data". By working in these three directions, they help organizations make better business decisions.
1.
Finding out the characteristics of past events
An important task for big data engineers is to find out the characteristics of past events by analyzing data.
2.
Predicting what is likely to happen in the future
By introducing key factors, big data engineers can predict future consumption trends.
3.
Find out the optimized results
Depending on the nature of the business of different companies, big data engineers can use data analytics for different purposes.
2. Required Competencies
1.
Mathematics and statistics related background
2.
Computer coding skills
Practical development skills and large-scale data processing skills are some of the required elements to work as a big data engineer.
3.
Knowledge of a specific application domain or industry
Experience in one or more verticals builds a candidate's knowledge of the industry, which can be useful in becoming a big data engineer later, and is therefore a more persuasive plus when applying for this role.