Here’s an irony an analyst can truly appreciate.
While job prospects abound for college students seeking careers in business intelligence or analytics, access to large data sets as part of the education experience, remains the greatest challenge to filling the talent gap.
For instance, according to findings of Teradata Corp’s State of Business Intelligence survey, analytics hiring managers said they had the largest need for new hires to fill positions for IT of systems analysts (35 per cent), program developers (32 per cent), data managers (30 per cent) and business analysts (22 per cent).
On the other hand, professors reported that they are encountering teaching challenges due to lack of: access to large data sets (45 per cent), students with the pre-requisite skills (39 per cent), and qualified or available faculty (35 per cent).
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“What faculty are looking for today is access to real, big data sets.” Said Barbara Wixom, study author and associate professor of commerce at the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce. “They want to show students the impact of the data explosion, demonstrate the linkages between data and business outcomes, and teach exactly how to achieve those outcomes.”
The survey was conducted by Wixom, queried 319 professors from 43 countries and 248 universities; 308 hiring managers form organizations of various sizes involved in different industries; and 614 students majoring in areas that include business, marketing, engineering, finance, computer science and other subjects.
As many as one third of employers said their top hiring challenge was finding candidates with adequate experience. This was followed by insufficient business skills (26 per cent). Insufficient technical skills and general lack of candidates were tied for third place at 22 per cent.
Professors said businesses can assist educational institutions in developing ideal candidates by providing students:
- Large data sets (45 per cent)
- Suitable cases (31 per cent)
- Staying current with the practice (29 per cent)
- Technical support and training (29 per cent)
- Realistic and meaning experience (26 per cent)
- Access to contemporary enterprise software (25 per cent)
