Need some education & career advices - Data Analytics / Big Data

Hi Everyone,

This is my first post though I have been reading the forum for a long time. I'm from Canada and currently working in retail eCommerce. I have a hybrid profile, technical(IT) and business at the same time with excellent aptitudes in computer programming(started at age 14, now 28). My educational background is limited to a Bachelor in Business Administration.

In my current role I have been doing some Digital Analytics(Web Analytics) but without being too serious about it. Tracking visitors, pages, sales, behaviours, demographics, clicks etc. was something I really enjoyed, and could see how powerful it could be using that data for all our marketing campaigns. Now I came to the point where I would like to move my career to the broad field of Data Analytics.

I don't have the energy, neither the time and the money to spend on doing a master degree. I would like to take the certification route(online university certificates), either undergraduate or graduate.

I came across a very interesting program at UT Austin in Data Analytics / Big data. What seemed interesting is it is offered in partnership with X-T-O-L(experiential Teaching). They use a story-centered curriculum approach. They put students in a realistic professional context where students have to deliver the same work as they would have to do in their future job role(i.e Data Analyst). There is no boring lectures and no exams to pass.

Program details : goo.gl/R0z1kt
Demo course of how the platform delivers the program: goo.gl/w1MzoI (impressive)

I've already engaged a dialogue with the person that conceived the program and asked all the questions that I had through my mind. And what I liked most of this program is it doesn't require any math/CS background as they teach all the fundamentals from scratch. Though what I dislike is the cost of the program which is 9800 USD! :O Even at that price I'm at the point where I'm ready to pull the trigger. But before doing so I would like to get feedbacks from the so many online education experts in this forum, and if possible from people that are very familiar with the field(Big Data, Data Mining, Predictive Analytics, Data Science etc.)

Another program which is way more cost effective at around 3 500 USD is the Data Mining certificate from UCSD : goo.gl/W58fYG

Please note that I'm not doing all this to get the so-called Data Scientist role with a $100K salary. I would like to gain an entry level position in the field and move-up with experience.

Please share any insight/feedback you might have! I would really be grateful.

 

Do you need a certification or a degree? If not, then you should not spend time and money on such as program. There are plenty of FREE online courses on Data Science; therefore, you should not spend $9,800.00 at UT Austin; especially, you say you don't have money.

https://www.coursera.org/courses?query=Data

So far I do not see any valuable IT Certification in Data Science or Data Analytics.

 

I work in the Analytics field as a Sales Engineer for a very large software company. I started in the space just before the dotcom craziness when it was known as DSS and have rode the wave to BI, Analytics, and now Big Data. It's a fun and challenging field.

I agree with Tekman that $9,800 is quite a bit of money. UT is a great school but a professional certificate from them is not the best use of funds.

However I disagree with Tekman about there being valuable certifications in Data Science.

I am very big on Cloudera. My company works very closely with Cloudera. Cloudera's Hadoop distribution is solid and actually fun to use via Hive and the Cloudera Manager. Cloudera offers training and certification that goes beyond just testing. The Cloudera Certified Professional: Data Scientist (CCPS) program is well regarded in the field since you must pass a validating project. The course "Introduction to Data Science" is fair in price at $2495. These links will give you plenty of info:

CCP: Data Scientist
Data Science Training

EMC also offers a Data Science cert. It is not as established as Cloudera's but is an option:

https://education.emc.com/guest/certification/framework/stf/data_science.aspx


Finally from a budget perspective you might want to look at Johns Hopkins University's offering with Coursera. At $470 you won't blow the bank and will get strong skills. A reasonable approach might be to take the JHU program, pass it, and then go to Cloudera. That way you'll be brimming with confidence and won't feel so worried about getting your money's worth.

https://www.coursera.org/specialization/jhudatascience/1

Good Luck, 'eh (don't be a hoser).

 

TheEternalLearner,

Start here before you spend a single loonie on any training:

Introduction to Hadoop and MapReduce

 

@Novadar
@TEKMAN

Thank you god for having people like you on earth

You must be right, I decided to go with the John Hopkins Data Science Specialization track on Coursera. First course is starting tomorrow(good timing!).

 

Keep us posted and there is another section for IT related topics. That would be the "natural" home for your updates.

IT and Computer-Related Degrees

Good luck.

 

I think I will mention Udacity

The Nanodegree

https://www.udacity.com/nanodegree

Nanodegree Summary

This nanodegree program is the most efficient curriculum to prepare you for a job as a Data Analyst. You will learn to:

Wrangle, extract, transform, and load data from various databases, formats, and data sources
Use exploratory data analysis techniques to identify meaningful relationships, patterns, or trends from complex data sets
Classify unlabeled data or predict into the future with applied statistics and machine learning algorithms
Communicate data analysis and findings well through effective data visualizations
You will work with your peers and advisors on projects approved by leading employers as the critical indicators of job-readiness. We designed these projects with expert Data Analysts, Data Scientists, and hiring managers.

https://www.udacity.com/course/nd002

 

Certificate in Data Mining from Central Connecticut State University

CTDLC.org - Degree Programs

 

If after the John Hopkins Data Science Specialization track via Coursera and if you also decide to consider university options:

Data Science Certificate | Harvard Extension

Analytics | Northwestern College Adult & Graduate Studies - Northwestern College Adult & Graduate Studies

Data Mining and Applications Graduate Certificate | Stanford Center for Professional Development

CAS in Data Science - iSchool - The School of Information Studies - Syracuse University

Data Analytics Graduate Certificate, University of Cincinnati

Online Certificate in Data Analysis - CSU Online Plus

Online Business Analytics Certificate | Lucas Graduate School of Business | San Jose State University

Graduate Certificate in Business Analytics - Walton College Graduate School of Business at the University of Arkansas

Predictive Analytics Certificate Program

Online Graduate Data Mining Certificate Program | Watson Graduate School of Management

Online Applied Business Data Analytics Undergrad Certificate

College of Management | Graduate Programs | Graduate Certificates | Business Analytics (online) - University of Massachusetts Boston

Graduate Certificate in Data Mining

Marist College offers both an online and classroom-based advanced certificate in Business Analytics.

Graduate Certificate in Business Intelligence / Analytics | GSCIS

 

Data Science/Big Data is pretty exciting. I've only begun to dabble in R and Python but I'm having an absolute blast.

My company hired a data guy last year and, to echo the sentiment of others here, certificates (not certifications) and degrees are good, but they aren't necessary to land a job. The guy we hired didn't have a degree in anything (it took quite a few approvals to hire him into a job which required a B.S.).

One thing that made this guy stand out was his score on Kaggle. I don't know enough about Kaggle scores to know what constitutes a "good" score or if one needs an "amazing" score to really impress employers. But, his hiring manager felt that the kaggle score made up for the lack of a degree.

I took two courses in the coursera series but I had to take a break because my R skills just didn't keep pace with the course and I need some remedial R work. It was a good program. But this is a technical skill area. And because there is so much demand (and so few people who actually have the skill) it's still possible to get a job without the right (or sometimes, any) degree on your resume. My HR guy advice would be that you should develop your skill to get the job. Then, when you get the job, throw a cert or even a Masters on top (possibly through an employer who will pay for such things) and build from there.

There are also ways to build that resume without your degree actually saying "analytics" or "business intelligence." If statistical analysis is where you want to be, I would recommend looking at the Grad Cert/Masters in Statistics through either Penn State or Columbia (after, of course, you build up that skill and get a job in the field). If you had a Masters in Stat, programming skill and experience working in analytics, you would be a force to be reckoned with.

My last piece of thoroughly unqualified advice would be that if you cannot find a job despite your best efforts, I would consider looking into one of the machine learning/analytics/big data PhD programs rather than a cert or a Masters. I'm talking residential programs at places like U of Toronto or Carnegie Mellon. As with any new field, people are going to start stacking their resumes with everything with the word "analytics." My concern with all of these new certificates is that they might desensitize recruiters and hiring manager (just like what happened with the MBA).