Professionals who can work with data are in high demand and many industries are seeking employees with skills in IT, engineering, and quality assurance. If you are enthusiastic about data handling and wish to explore fresh career options, you can become a data warehousing specialist / analyst in this growing field. 

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a data warehousing specialist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $34.3 an hour? That's $71,354 a year!

If that doesn’t excite you, maybe this will - between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 9% and produce 10,500 job opportunities across the U.S. 

So, read along to know the exact tasks and job roles of a data warehousing specialist and how to become one!

Role of a Data Warehousing Specialist

From the digital devices we rely on to the massive computer networks managed by multinational corporations, there is a staggering amount of data created every day. While data doesn’t take up any physical space, the hardware on which it’s stored does. Data warehousing specialists are often tasked with addressing the growing challenge of managing where our data ends up and making data management processes more efficient.

What exactly is a Data Warehouse?

Like the data being handled, a data warehouse is not necessarily a physical object or place. Instead, it describes a system that facilitates the flow of data through an organization. Data in a warehousing system is sourced from inputs into accounting software or sales terminals at retail stores. A warehousing system must take this data and organize it according to the organization’s needs. Therefore, a data warehousing specialist is often responsible for designing and implementing a warehousing system like this on a large scale. This may be done for a single corporation or as part of a contract involving different clients and vendors.

Job Duties of a Data Warehouse Analyst

In general, data warehousing analysts are responsible for:

1. Developing processes and procedures for data management across an organization, or within the scope of a project
2. Creating software applications or designing computer programs that accomplish tasks necessary for data storage and management
3. Analyzing current data warehousing processes for improvement to make procedures more efficient, or realize a different end target

Today, Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence are closely tied to organizational decision-making. Companies – big and small – are enabling knowledge workers (Senior Executives, Analysts, and Data Owners) to make fast, tactical, and outcome-centric decisions based on analytics of large-scale data. 

Educational Requirement to Build a Career in Data Warehousing

If you're interested in becoming a data warehousing specialist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. To build a career in data warehousing, we recommend you earn a bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Data Science, Statistics, or any related field. 

Even though most data warehousing specialists have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED. Prior working experience equivalent to a bachelor’s degree is also acceptable. 

However, some data warehousing specialists also opt for higher studies such as a master's degree.

You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a data warehousing specialist/data warehousing analyst. In fact, many data warehousing specialist jobs require experience in a role such as a team leader. Meanwhile, many data warehousing specialists also have previous career experience in roles such as programmer analyst or forklift operator.

A good understanding of dimensional modeling and other data warehousing techniques,  knowledge of setting up cross-functional and relational databases, server integration, and ETL tools are also sought in candidates.

The rapid growth of data warehousing has opened up myriad career opportunities for those who specialize in Data Warehousing and  Business Intelligence technologies. There has been an upsurge in job roles that encompass these technologies, globally.

If a career as a data warehouse analyst interests you, you might also consider becoming a database developer or a principal software engineer.