數據科學家緊俏，數學背景并非必須
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????親愛的安妮：我恐怕要被一家大型投行裁員了（公司最近宣布要進行重組），我不想再去找另一個華爾街的工作，而是想進入其它領域。傳統經驗告訴我們，如果要轉行的話，盡量去那些增長空間大的行業。我近來讀到一些報道，說大數據的使用在企業界呈現激增之勢。我在想，進入那個領域有什么要求嗎？ ????我有一些關于計量經濟建模的工作經驗，而且我在工作中也學習了一些基本的編程技術，不過我既不是統計學家，也不是數學家或是軟件專家。我還有機會嗎？那些尋找大數據人才的雇主需要我們具備哪些技能？——“我不是愛因斯坦” ????“不是愛因斯坦”：有一點你說得很對，所謂的大數據——又叫做數據分析或預測分析，是一個增長非常迅速的領域，而且催生出了很多的工作機會。根據就業市場分析公司Wanted Analytics的統計，目前網絡上招聘數據分析師的廣告一共有31000多條，比2011年4月猛增了46%，如果從2009年4月算起，上漲了246%。這些招聘廣告里給出的年薪從73450美元到89750美元不等。（可能要比你在華爾街掙得少很多，不過你可能已經知道，華爾街幾乎到處都可能要減薪，對吧？） ????很明顯，對大數據人才的需求將繼續迅猛增長。據一家名叫New Vantage Partners的咨詢公司最近對“財富美國500強”企業的調查顯示，85%的500強企業要么已經推出了大數據項目，要么正打算這么做，而且在未來幾年里，他們花在數據分析上的投資將平均上漲36%。無怪乎《哈佛商業評論》（Harvard Business Review）在去年十月的一篇文章中，將數據分析稱做“21世紀最熱門的職業。” ????行業龍頭費埃哲公司（FICO）的首席分析官安德魯?詹寧思指出：“目前對數據學家的需求顯然超過了供給，這種現象已經出現了幾年了。”費埃哲公司的總部位于美國的圣何塞，主要負責為政府機構和銀行、保險、醫療、零售等行業的客戶運作大數據項目。該公司目前約有250名數據學家。詹寧斯還表示：“我們一直想招聘更多的數據學家。” ????要想找到這樣一份工作，必須滿足什么條件呢？這個問題看似簡單，實則復雜。大數據領域的發展非常迅速，而且要求一些不同尋常的技能組合，各個公司的招聘標準也是五花八門。比如有些雇主可能要求你掌握某種特定的編程語言，但有些公司就根本沒有這種要求。 ????費埃哲公司自己就是一個例子。如果你應聘這家公司的話，你的計量建模和基礎編程能力將會為你加分不少。詹寧斯表示：“我們通常會招聘有某些量化分析背景的人，從純粹的數學和工程學背景，到統計學和計量建模背景都可以。如果你能夠寫編碼，把數據集鏈接到一塊兒，對于應聘也是有幫助的。”詹寧斯自己就是學計量經濟學出身。 |
????Dear Annie: I am expecting to be laid off by a major investment bank (as part of a restructuring the company recently announced) and, instead of trying to find another Wall Street job, I'd like to go into some other business. The conventional wisdom about changing careers is, go where there is lots of growth, and I keep reading about the explosion in companies' use of Big Data, so I'm wondering: What would it take to get a foot in the door in that field? ????I have some on-the-job experience with econometric modeling, and I've picked up some basic programming skills along the way, but I'm neither a statistician, a mathematician, nor a software expert. Do I have a shot anyway? What skills are Big Data employers looking for? -- No Einstein ????Dear N.E.: You're certainly right that Big Data -- also called data analytics or predictive analytics -- is growing fast and generating loads of new jobs. Online help-wanted ads for data analysis mavens have shot up 46% since April 2011, and 246% since April 2009, to over 31,000 openings now, according to job-market trackers Wanted Analytics. Salaries mentioned in those job ads range from $73,450 to $89,750. (That's probably a lot less than you've been making on Wall Street -- but then, you already know that almost anywhere you go from there is likely to involve a pay cut, right?) ????The phenomenal growth in demand for Big Data talent is apparently set to continue. A recent survey of Fortune 500 companies, by consultants New Vantage Partners, found that 85% have either launched Big Data projects or are planning to do so, and that their spending on data analysis will jump by an average of 36% over the next several years. No wonder, then, thatHarvard Business Review, in an article last October, called data analytics "the sexiest job of the 21st century." ????"Demand for data scientists is definitely outstripping supply," notes Andrew Jennings. "It has been for a few years now." Jennings is chief analytics officer at FICO, one of the giants in the industry. Based in San Jose, FICO tackles Big Data projects for clients in banking, insurance, health care, retail, and government agencies worldwide. The firm now employs about 250 data scientists and, says Jennings, "we're looking for more all the time." ????So what does it take to get one of those jobs? That's a more complicated question than it might seem. The field has grown so quickly and seems to call for such unusual combinations of skills, that specific hiring criteria are all over the map. For instance, some employers require you to know a particular set of programming languages, while others couldn't care less. ????FICO (FICO) is a case in point. On the one hand, if you apply there, your experience with econometric modeling and basic programming could come in handy. "We usually hire people with some quant background, from pure math and engineering to statistics to econometric models," says Jennings, whose own background is in econometrics. "It also helps to be able to write enough code to link data sets together." |
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