Electronic commerce and continued advances in information technology (IT) has increased the amount of data that can be easily collected by organizations, and people with the right skill sets and credentials find that the type and number of jobs available in data mining have also expanded. Data mining is a sub-discipline of computer science and is often the predecessor of more refined business intelligence activities. The patterns discovered from the analysis of large data sets ultimately assist business intelligence analysts to create original hypotheses needed to forecast the demand of products, services or certain types of human resource talent. Here are some examples of available data mining jobs, the typical education and training taken by successful data mining professionals and the projected job outlook for data mining careers.
Types Of Data Mining Jobs
Data mining analyst positions are the most prominent of data mining positions sought after by companies operating in a variety of industries, according to the University of Nebraska – Omaha. These analysts are expected to identify data sources, synthesize large data sets, determine industry specific patterns of interests and present findings in an easy to understand fashion. Industries that utilize the skills of data mining analysts include engineering, education and government services.
The position of data engineer is another popular one that incorporates data mining as well as traditional business analyst and research skills. For example, data engineers identify business problems, capture associated business requirements and analyze data items that support product or service improvements that are solutions to business problems.
The role of big data architect is a data mining position that focuses on strategic planning and design and not daily operational data collection and analysis. The business professional that fulfills this role utilizes IT system design skills to plan scalable data warehouses that make it easier for other data mining professionals to collect, access and analyze the large data sets needed to do their jobs.
Education And Training That Support Data Mining Skills
While highly competitive candidates have experience in the data mining field along with up to date IT training, there are certain degree programs that support the development of foundational skills needed by data mining professionals. Undergraduate and graduate degree programs in computer science help data mining professionals acquire and enhance skills on the development of algorithms, data structures and general problem solving. Also, related degrees in applied mathematics or statistics support the development of research skills needed by data mining professionals.
Projected Job Outlook For Data Mining Professionals
The field of data mining has become increasingly popular as businesses realize that they can transform their unwieldy amounts of data into a competitive advantage with the help of the right research and analysis techniques. Because of its relative newness, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has not yet reported on the specific career field of data mining. However, a job category of similar function is the traditional operations research analyst. Business IT professionals holding these positions had annual median salaries of $72,100 in 2012, and the expected growth rate for the job is much faster than the average career across all industries which highlights the demand for the data mining skill set within the IT industry.
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Conclusion
Although data mining is considered only an input to higher profile business intelligence activities, it is an important step for organizations that want to analyze large quantities of data effectively. Because of the continued recognition of the value of big data by companies of all sizes, jobs available in data mining attract top technical talent.
