5 Reasons to Jump into an Analytics Career

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Data is everywhere and is slowly seeping into every facet of our lives and our work. Many say that the future belongs to those who can talk to this data. Here are five reasons why you should be thinking of making that big leap into analytics.

1. Data is the most valuable commodity to any organization today

IDC projects that by 2020 we will have generated 40 zettabytes (ZB) of data. Every industry and every sector has realized the potential of structured and unstructured data and if not already, they plan to employ big data initiatives this year. IDC projects that organizations will increase Big Data spending to $16.9 billion in 2015. In India, the industry is predicted to grow 60 times in the next 10 years. Big Data Analytics will become a core business practice for most organizations and they will use it to understand their business and their customers in fundamentally new ways. It is commonly predicted that without the help of data-backed insights, companies will lose their power and edge in the marketplace. With data growing at such momentum and taking on such value in an organization, we even go so far as to predict that soon every function will involve some kind of data analysis and hence there will limit to no growth for those with no data analysis skills.

2. There are hundreds of unfilled data jobs waiting to be filled

The supply-demand gap of analytics talent is bigger than there ever was. It is estimated that by 2018 there will be a 50 -60% shortage of data geeks. More than 1.5 million managers and analysts who have the ability to understand and make decisions using big data will be needed. In India there will be 200,000 new data-related jobs in the next three years. According to statistica.com by 2018 demand will be up to around 440,000 jobs, while supply will be limited to just 300,000 skilled workers. And what happens when you are in demand? You get paid higher salaries, get more perks and your career path is phenomenal. But just how much are salaries in the data industry?

3. Data scientist salaries are higher than IT

Believe it or not, Data Scientist’s salaries are averaging 15 % higher than IT salaries. They have increased 300% in the last ten years and this trend is only expected to continue as the data industry evolves and innovations in the way data are collected, stored and used increase. According to an information week survey, big data practitioners and data scientists are two emerging categories that, while their job descriptions are not consistently defined, are two titles at the top of the pay scale.

In the US the studies showed that the median staff salary for data scientists is $120,000, while the median salary is $87,000 for BI/analytics, $90,000 for big data and $100,000 for data integrating/warehousing.

According to Jigsaw’s 2014 Analytics Salary Report, the average analytics salary in India is 11.1 lakhs per annum. Those professionals who are skilled in SAS, R and Hadoop earn a 10- 20% premium in salary, averaging about 11.6 lakhs per annum.

4. Great potential for career growth

Data Scientists are needed everywhere. You can work in different domains and because of the shortage of analytics talent, as you gain experience you can quickly move up the ladder. As such it is also easier to more quickly move into a strategy related role.

What are the skills a Data Scientiest needs? Take a look at the article The Skills Recruiters Look for When Hiring Analytics Talent.
 5. Great work life balance with a challenging and stimulating work environment

Data scientist ranked highest in a Glassdoor’s study for work life balance. It received a 4.4 rating for on a five-point scale. What’s more, as a data scientist you will be “part analyst, part artist.” Every project will be different. You will look at all sorts of data and then find unique ways to garner insights which you will present in visually stimulating ways. Your insights will bring real change to an organization.

 Want to understand analytics better? Download your free copy of Beginners Guide to Analytics now and take that first step towards a rewarding career.

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