Articles

How to become a Big Data Engineer

by Brian Wallace Affiliate Marketing

Experts say that Big Data Engineer is one of the most sought after and in-demand jobs across the globe. The term “Big Data Engineer” has been revolving around from the past several years across the industry and the hottest buzzwords nowadays that are gaining momentum actively. Most of us must have an idea of what a Big Data Engineer is, but I do believe that some of you might be still looking for what a Data Engineer does and how to become a Big Data Engineer.

What makes a job hot? - High salary and huge demand. Well, it’s a small part of what makes this job hot.

In this article, I will walk you through all the needed information to help you step up and take the first step.

So, let’s get started!

Who is a Big Data Engineer?

Every industry and business requires a framework to handle their data. A Data Engineer is the person who is responsible for building and maintaining this framework. The Data Engineers make sure that the data flows uninterrupted between servers and applications. They design, develop, construct, install, test, and maintain the complete framework and architecture.

So what do they exactly do? Let’s check out the roles and responsibilities of a Big Data Engineer.

What does a Big Data Engineer do?

The job of a Big Data Engineer is not confined to just one particular task, the crucial tasks of a Data Engineer include;

  • To build highly scalable, robust, and fault-tolerant systems.
  • Managing ETL process (Extract, Transform, and Load)
  • Designing, constructing, developing, installing, testing, and maintaining data management systems.
  • Planning architecture to meet all its business requirements.
  • Deploying disaster recovery techniques.
  • Creating frameworks to make data consumable for Data Analysts and Data Scientists.
  • Implementing new data management tools and technologies into the systems to make it work more efficiently.
  • Discovering several new ways of using existing data.

Skills Required to Become a Big Data Engineer

To become a Big Data Engineer, you will need to have a background in computer science, engineering, or a relevant degree in the IT field. Since the job field requires a good grasp of technical knowledge and just opting for certification will not take you through.

Here are the key skills of a Big Data Engineer:

  • Programming Languages: You need to have the knowledge and hands-on experience with coding in programming languages like Python and Java as it has clear and readable syntax and is widely available.
  • DBMS: You need to have a piece of knowledge in relational database management systems such as MySQL or OracleDB to manipulate and manage data stored in databases.
  • NoSQL: Understanding of NoSQL is crucial as It can store large amounts of data: structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data with quick iteration as per application requirements.
  • Real-time Processing Frameworks: Real-time processing is the need of the hour, and Apache Spark is a free, open-source cluster computing framework for real-time processing. A Big Data Engineer needs to have knowledge of a real-time processing framework.
  • Operating System: Nowadays, various operating systems are being used in several industries. Unix and Linux, both the operating systems are widely used, and Big Data Engineers need to have a good hold on at least one of them.
  • Cloud Platforms: Amazon EC2, AWS Lambda, and Amazon S3 are the most prominently used cloud platforms, and having an understanding of at least one cloud platform is required for Big Data Engineers as it will provide the option to handle significant amounts of data.
  • ETL/Data warehousing: Data warehousing is crucial when it comes to managing a massive amount of data where you need to apply ETL. Various data sources and numerous technologies have evolved over the past two decades, and a Big Data Engineer needs to know how to extract data using ETL and warehouse tools from multiple sources.

Steps To Become a Big Data Engineer

Now, as you have understood who a Big Data Engineer is, what does a Big Data Engineer do and the skills required to become one. Here are the five steps you need to keep in mind if you are planning to step into the world of Big Data and becoming a Big Data Engineer.

  • A bachelor’s degree in Computer Science
  • Enhancing your programming skills
  • Get an entry-level job and get an experience of at-least 2-3 years
  • Work on projects and get hands-on experience with cloud platforms and Big Data tools
  • Also, consider pursuing a Data Engineering course

Future of Big Data Engineers: Jobs and Salaries

The average salary of a Big Data Engineer is $103K per year, and the salary ranges from $72K to $158K, according to Glassdoor. The salary differs as per the experience and knowledge you bring to the table.

As of now April 2020, the number of jobs posted on several job portals is:

Conclusion

To become a Big Data Engineer, you need to have a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science with an experience of at-least 2-3 years along with hands-on experience on Big Data tools and cloud platforms. You can also pursue a certification course or can go for Masters in Data Engineering.


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About Brian Wallace Freshman   Affiliate Marketing

16 connections, 0 recommendations, 41 honor points.
Joined APSense since, June 26th, 2019, From Bangalore, India.

Created on Aug 13th 2020 02:24. Viewed 259 times.

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