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The #1 Job of 2016: Data Scientist

Crunching numbers can create some serious cashflow

Do you like working with numbers? If so, consider the #1 ranked job of 2016: data scientist. Data science is the method of analyzing massive amounts of data to generate new insights for research, businesses, and industries. With the explosion of data that new technology has made available, there is a massive demand for people who can analyze it.

Do you like working with numbers? Then you should think about a career in data science because “Big Data” is all the rage.

“Data Scientist” remains the hottest career in the country, landing at No. 1 on Glassdoor’s list of “Top 50 Jobs in America” for the past two years.

With a median salary of $110,000, you can count on getting a return on the investment in your post-secondary education in data science in no time. And the demand for data scientists will continue to be strong. By 2018, only an estimated 300,000 trained workers will be available to fill around 500,000 data jobs.

While the name may be a little broad, “data science” can be described as a job which analyzes the large amounts of data being processed by supercomputers and extracting vital information to help businesses, employers and researchers make smarter decisions.

For example, Google is using big data to analyze trends in healthcare and the job search market. Facebook, where everyone can list their favorite foods down to their current emotional state, can be seen as a giant warehouse of information valuable for marketers and product developers looking to spot the next big trend.

While collecting and organizing data is nothing new, the gigantic amount of data that is flowing through our internet and computer servers is a byproduct of rapid technological advancement. Therefore, more people are wanted now than ever to do this work.

To illustrate this point further, almost all data cataloged in human history took place between 2011-2013, estimated to be 90 percent. Compare that to the 10 percent of data collection by humans since the invention of writing, that’s an exponential increase which will only get bigger as the data stream is expected to double over the next two years according to estimates from IBM.

Big data isn’t just for the tech companies. Every industry, from retail to energy production, relies on accurate accounting and more of them are beginning to understand what kind of power data analysis can bring. According to Dataconomy, the healthcare industry could save $400 billion if it adopted more big data research.

As data analysis technology scales outward, you can get ahead of the curve and re-skill yourself to land this lucrative job. While many companies are looking for advanced degree-holders to perform this job, getting an online Master’s degree from great regionally and nationally-accredited colleges isn’t as daunting as you think. Check out this list of the top 25 programs for data science to see if it’s the right choice for you.

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Dana Beth Ardi

Executive Committee

Dana Beth Ardi, PhD, Executive Committee, is a thought leader and expert in the fields of executive search, talent management, organizational design, assessment, leadership and coaching. As an innovator in the human capital movement, Ardi creates enhanced value in companies by matching the most sought after talent with the best opportunities. Ardi coaches boards and investors on the art and science of building high caliber management teams. She provides them with the necessary skills to seek out and attract top-level management, to design the ideal organizational architectures and to deploy people against strategy. Ardi unearths the way a business works and the most effective way for people to work in them.

Ardi is an experienced business executive and senior consultant who leverages business organizational transformation through talent strategies. She uses her knowledge and experience to develop talent strategies to enhance revenue and profit contributions. She has a deep expertise in change management and organizational effectiveness and has designed and built high performance cultures. Ardi has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, IPO’s and turnarounds.

Ardi is an expert on the multi-generational workforce. She understands the four intersecting generations of workers coming together in contemporary companies, each with their own mindsets, leadership and communications styles, values and motivations. Ardi is sought after to assist companies manage and thrive by bringing the generations together. Her book, Fall of the Alphas: How Beta Leaders Win Through Connection, Collaboration and Influence, will be published by St. Martin’s Press. The book reflects Ardi’s deep expertise in understanding organizations and our changing society. It focuses on building a winning culture, how companies must grow and evolve, and how talent influences and shapes communities of work. This is what she has coined “Corporate Anthropology.” It is a playbook on how modern companies must meet challenges – culturally, globally, digitally, across genders and generations.

Ardi is currently the Managing Director and Founder of Corporate Anthropology Advisors, LLC, a consulting company that provides human capital advisory and innovative solutions to companies building value through people. Corporate Anthropology works with organizations, their cultures, the way they grow and develop, and the people who are responsible for forming their communities of work.

Prior to her position at Corporate Anthropology Advisors, Ardi served as a Partner/Managing Director at the private equity firms CCMP Capital and JPMorgan Partners. She was a partner at Flatiron Partners, a venture capital firm working with early state companies where she pioneered the human capital role within an investment portfolio.

Ardi holds a BS from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as a Masters degree and PhD from Boston College. She started her career as professor at the Graduate Center at Fordham University in New York.