The Role Of Certifications And Technical Skills In Your Data Engineering Resume

There has been a huge surge in the demand for data engineers, especially after the pandemic. The course of this has been bumpy but fruitful. If you are looking forward to landing into your ideal job, earning an azure data engineering certification would definitely be of great value. Data engineering brush up your resume to match the industry standards and showcase concrete evidence that you own the critical skills required by the hiring professional organisation.  Similarly, there are technical skills you must really know if you are  thinking of building an outshining career in the data engineering industry. 

With a plethora of data engineering certifications, choosing the best one for your job profile can be a gruelling task. Databricks or Azure? AWS or Cloudera? Whether you are a newbie or an experienced professional, making the right choice can earn you fortunes. 

In this article, we’ll help you build a clear roadmap about the importance of data engineering certifications, types of basic certifications and their benefits and the importance of having technical skills as a data engineer.

What is a data engineer certification ?

A data engineering certification is a skill enhancing procedure that emphasises on a narrow, much earnestly focused niche within the discipline of data engineering. In simple words, scores of topics are covered within your college degree, but certifications focus just on a few but in a much more detailed manner covering every nook and cranny of it.
For example: You can do a certification on Agile Project Management or Amazon Web Services.

Understanding the importance of data engineering resume

The importance of your data engineering professional certificate is simple to boost up your data engineering career. It is the only concrete evidence which will prove that you have burned the midnight oil studying and focussing on a particular language or skill, and now that you entirely connect with the eligibility criteria which your professional environment seeks. The prerequisites of your data engineering certificates could be either to pass an exam or execute a project for earning the certification. Accomplishing all the requirements of the certifications translates your job profile as prolific to your hiring manager.

Certifications can also help you switch your job habitat and make way for new career paths. For example, suppose you are a Database Solutions Architect and want to pursue your career in cybersecurity. The best approach is to earn cybersecurity certifications and then apply for the role you are seeking. Your certifications prove to be a treat for your hiring manager. It really helps certain software engineering job profiles require certain certifications as a prerequisite. Learning software testing or other skills would also be of great benefit to you. So always be vigilant about the types of certifications your employer demands. On the sunny side, data engineering skills are mostly transferable allowing you to apply to a plenty of different fields. 

Importance of different types of Data Engineering Certifications

Data engineering certifications have two broad categories for your liking

1. Industry Recognized Data Engineering Certifications 
2. Vendor Specific Data Engineering Certifications

The importance of choosing any of the two is that it really decides the field and the type of role you can apply for.  Let us understand this in detail.

1. Industry Recognized Data Engineering Certifications

In Industry Recognized Data Engineering Certifications a professional organisation simply issues credentials to you, for example, Databricks, Cloudera etc. This is done to substantiate that you have successfully complied with the standards of the industry or proven your level of expertise. These certifications include Hortonworks, Databricks and Cloudera. 

2. Vendor Specific Data Engineering Certifications 

You can undertake Vendor Specific Data Engineering Certifications to boost your knowledge and hone your skills for a specific vendor,hence the name. The vendors can be Google Cloud Platforms, Azure, AWS and other cloud service platforms. 

Like certifications can really make you stand out from the crowd, there are some essential skills which you must add in your data engineering roadmap for a better career growth. Understanding these is of fundamental importance. 

Why do I need certain skills as a data engineer?

In the modern engineering landscape, skills hold the utmost importance for efficiently building, designing and managing large data pipelines. You are considered to be more fruitful in extracting valuable insights and provide data driven solutions, if you have a certain skill set. Skills are necessary to translate raw information into actionable data intelligence. As a data engineer, you must know about building data infrastructure, velocity, containers, big data frameworks and much more. It is crucial that you must know certain exposure tools like Python, Cloudera, Scala, Hadoop etc.  

From machine learning to data transforming, a certain skill set will always give you the upper edge over other data engineers. These skills not only enhance your hiring percentage but also add maturity to your data engineering career. 

What skills are of utmost importance to have a clear data engineering roadmap?

If you’re a fresher in the industry or a working professional, the best way to leverage new opportunities within the data engineering field is to have certain skills. Data engineering skills such as warehousing, architecture etc. can help earn a rewarding career. Choosing a skill carefully will decide which data engineering group you will fall into. We have mentioned a list of essential data engineering skills which you must know to have a thriving profile-

1. SQL

It is one of the most fundamental skill sets which you must have as a data engineer. Without SQL, managing RDBMS(Relational Database Management Systems) will be impossible. In order to have this skill, you must run through a sizable number of queries. SQL learning does not pertain to simply learning a query. But must be smart enough to learn how optimised queries are issued.

2. Data Architecture

As a data engineer, if you are willing to curate complex database systems for professional organisations, data architecture will be of utmost importance. This skill is related to those operations which are essential to handle data at rest, databases, data in motion, applications and the relationship between data dependent processes and applications.

3. Data Warehousing

You must be advanced in understanding and working with a data warehouse, making it an essential skill. Data warehousing allows the data engineers to accumulate unstructured data which have been sourced from different areas. This data is then compared and analysed to enhance the working efficiency of professional operations.

4. Coding

You must know how to link databases and have the ability to work with different types of applications like mobile, desktop, web and IOT. For this you must hone your programming skills. Therefore, it is important to learn an enterprise language like C# or Java. C# allows you to engineer data in a Microsoft based stack while Java will make you eligible for open source tech stack. Amongst the coding languages, the cardinal ones are Python and R, Python being the easiest one . Having Python knowledge will become useful in a number of data related operations.

5. Operating Systems

The most basic, yet the most essential-operating systems. You must have a good knowledge about operating systems like Linux, Windows, UNIX, Solaris etc.

6. Machine Learning

As a data engineer, if you are thinking of venturing into the field of data science, Machine Learning is a skill which you must know. By owning this skill you can have a deep knowledge about using data for statistical analysis and data modelling. It will prove highly beneficial during your engineering career.

7. Apache Hadoop Based Analytics

Apache Hadoop is a library of open source frameworks that enables you to process big data and computation across a series of computers. Apache is extremely useful in security, data processing, analytics, governance, accessibility and storage of data. By acquiring this skill, you can improve your skills eminently.

Remember, if you wish to become a proficient data engineer you must have the ability to integrate collaboration and problem skills as well. Keeping up to date with the latest industry trends and technology will ensure success for you in this field. If you have the passion for handling data and enjoy the data engineering process, this field will be very rewarding for you.