What is Data Engineering and Why Make It Your Career?

Raw data is often difficult to understand and overwhelming, so sorting through and managing all that data is a skill that is in high demand. Companies everywhere are constantly looking out for talented, efficient data engineers to join their teams. Here are some reasons why you should consider data engineering as your new career.

What Is Data Engineering?

In order to become a successful data engineer and gain that enticing data engineer salary, you must first understand exactly what data engineering is. Data engineering is the manipulation, identification, storage, transportation, maintenance, and organization of large sets of data. As a data engineer, you would be working to take the mountains of data that come in and put them into more manageable and digestible formats and groupings. Data needs to be housed, sorted, and/or moved around from one place to another. Data engineering is the creation of that housing, those sorting programs, and those ways of transit for large portions of computerized material.

Why Is Data Engineering Important?

Data engineering is a must with the copious amounts of data streaming in and all-around every day. Without data engineering, there would be no cohesion to the data and therefore no real way to discover what it all means. Large sets of data need to be properly contained, moved around, and managed so data scientists can efficiently analyze it. In essence, data engineering transforms the data from a huge, rough pile of digital confusion into a legible, understandable, and polished piece of information.

What Do Data Engineers Do?

Data engineers make data more comprehensible by developing the structures and processes for organizing, classifying, and moving. Different businesses and workplaces may have different specific jobs for their engineers. Many data engineering positions involve creating and using systems to make understandable code from unprocessed data. Some data engineers are tasked with designing and building the actual digital storage units for the data so that it can be more easily sifted through and found when necessary. Other responsibilities include looking at the data and discovering patterns that inform where the data comes from. Some engineers solely focus on creating the methods for moving the data around and transferring it from one database to another. Most data engineer positions require the performance of a combination of a couple or even all of the above duties.

Who Are Data Engineers?

Data engineers need to have superior computer skills. They must know the ins and outs of coding and database design and usage. They have to be competent with different data processing software and be fluent in several programming languages as well. Not only does this career require expert-level proficiency with digital technology, but it also requires individuals who are able to speak well with both fellow computer enthusiasts as well as the not so technologically savvy. Data engineers find success when they have a passion for computers, organization, statistics, and reaching and understanding company goals. Data engineers are people who are able to bridge the gaps and work independently and collaboratively at the same time. They enjoy sitting down at a computer and solving intricate, specialized problems and also coming together with other employees to hash out the bigger whys for understanding certain data in particular ways. In many ways, data engineers get the best of both the digital and non-digital business worlds.

What Would a Career in Data Engineering Do For You?

A career in data engineering gives you access; access to data, computer programs, and technological innovations. Access to people of all different backgrounds in the technology trade. Access to better understanding the minds of consumers all over the world. Access to a very competitive salary range, often even a six-figure income. This career path also has a great degree of job security to it as there is a perpetual and evolving demand for data engineers. As long as data exists in this world there will be a need for data engineers to collect, determine, manipulate, and maneuver it.

If you want to work with computers in a meaningful, indispensable, and lucrative position then consider switching to or starting a career in data engineering today and help to build a better, more informative future.