It's been six years already since the Harvard Business Review declared business analytics the "sexiest job of the 21st century", and the glamour of the job hasn't shown any signs of waning.
Most organizations, from Fortune 100 companies to nonprofits and government organizations, have become heavily reliant on big data. Even the smallest businesses today have access to a broad range of information about things like user experience, web traffic or client satisfaction, and from tweaking your business model to adapting your marketing strategy, this data must be leveraged in a number of ways.
New opportunities for graduates with business analytics skills
To prepare for the future, many business schools are developing new master's programs in business analytics designed to keep up with the changing economy. These degrees can open doors for graduates, particularly in light of the widening talent gap created by the new challenges presented by big data. According to a report by Marketing Week entitled ‘The Future Marketing Organisation’, 24 percent of marketers rank data skills as their biggest perceived skills gap.
But whether you end up working in business analytics or not, these degrees can give you the skills and credentials you will need for a number of senior managerial roles in a company, like fact-based decision making, quantitative analysis or predictive analysis - skills which we know will be vital for many jobs of the future.
Indeed, by 2020, 35 percent of the skills that are important in today's economy will have changed. Some jobs will have completely disappeared, while new ones will be created, and the way we work will not be the same. In fact, according to a report by the World Economic Forum, complex problem-solving, critical thinking, judgment and decision making will become three of the top skills we need.
High-paying jobs with a business analytics degree
The obvious choice for a graduate with a degree in business analytics would be to work as a data scientist or a management analyst.
You would typically be collecting and interpreting big data through quantitative analysis in order to predict, evaluate and inform decisions in a number of business areas, including human resources, customer service, marketing, operations and finance.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 115,200 new management analyst jobs will be created between 2016 and 2026. Management analysts will have an estimated job growth of 14 percent until 2026 and had cushy median salaries of US$82,450 in 2017.
Of course, your skillset would be highly valued in a number of other professions, not just data science or management analysis. After all, companies are always scrambling to hire new recruits with data literacy skills, and rewarding career opportunities can be found in areas such as market research, supply chain management, project management or consultancy.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, these jobs typically come with high job growth and pay. For example, logisticians, a job which involves analyzing and coordinating a company's supply chain from supplier to consumer, made median salaries of US$74,590 in 2017. They have a fast job outlook, with an employment growth of seven percent until 2026.
Another potential career path is working as a market research analyst. This role tends to earn slightly less, with median salaries of US$63,230 in 2017, but is still an area with excellent prospects. It involves studying market conditions to find out what products people want and at what price, and has an employment growth of 23 percent until 2026.
This article was originally published in November 2017. It was updated in September 2018.
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