Data skills is a valuable skill set that transcends industries and sectors globally
Research shows that data science and data analysis are part of the most in-demand, top skills for professionals right now.
“Demand for foundational data analysis and data science skills is high, with PostgreSQL, MATLAB and R Programming skills in the top 10 this year,” says Coursera in its Job Skills of 2024 report. “Competency in these skills enable individuals to effectively manage, store and analyze data—supporting a range of business functions from forecasting sales and protecting sensitive information to targeted advertising.”
While traditional data entry roles (the administrative kind that requires manual inputting and organization of information and providing customer service) become obsolete thanks to artificial intelligence, by the same token, more sophisticated data entry roles are taking their place.
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These roles combine skills such as data entry, data cleaning, data visualization, and data analysis, which are core to the implementation of AI across work processes and software, and are necessary for critical business processes and decision-making.
Perhaps this serves to explain why, in the same report, big data is ranked as one of the fastest growing AI skills, coming fourth in its top five list.
Additionally, “data visualization was a top fastest-growing digital skill last year,” notes the report, and it appears that the trend is steadily growing in 2024, with data visualization appearing as a top, in-demand skill set for several regions globally. Data visualization is the number one data skill in demand in Europe, in the LATAM (Latin American) region, and came out as fourth in demand in the North American region—exceeded only by Power BI, reinforcement learning, and SAS (software).
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And the trend for data visualization as a necessary skill continues in 2024.
However, Coursera notes that “there is a gap between executive interest in data-driven decision-making and the ability of employees to read, analyze, work with, and communicate with data.”
Data visualization is the fastest growing data skill in 2024
If you have decided to upskill yourself recently by undertaking a general data analysis certification course, or opted to take up a specialization within data science such as R, Microsoft Excel, or PostgreSQL, you may find yourself at a competitive edge with employers who are currently on the lookout and hiring for data-focused professionals.
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Although data is a skill that is in high demand everywhere, here are a couple of employers who are hiring for fully remote jobs within this field at the time of writing:
Vaya Health is a North Carolina-based company that manages mental and behavioral healthcare services. They just recently released a job listing for a healthcare data scientist on their website, and also have been known to post data entry-related roles such as a posting for a remote business analyst. This might be a good choice if you’d like to give back to the community while experiencing a lucrative career, and know that you’re making a positive impact on healthcare through your skills.
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Peraton, a U.S. technology and security company operating in markets such as intelligence, cyber, defense, and homeland security, currently has several jobs in data, and has flexible openings across some of its roles. However, it’s data scientist role is fully remote.
GitLab is known to be fully remote right from its inception. As a remote-first company, GitLab provides its own DevSecOps software, and is currently hiring for remote data entry jobs such as customer experience analyst, and a senior benefits analyst.
To find remote data entry jobs, you can run a Google search with variations of the phrase; for example, “data analyst job,” “business analyst jobs,” business intelligence,” and similar titles placed alongside the word “remote” will pull up a variety of different roles.
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It’s always good practice to experiment with all the title variations possible, including specific technical skills in your search, because your dream remote job may not be posted with the job title you’d expect. This enables you to uncover job titles that have low competition because hardly anyone else has discovered them.
Data analysis is necessary for AI implementation and business-critical decision-making
Finally, always bear in mind when searching for remote jobs, that “remote” is only part of your concern. Never sell yourself short and settle for a toxic employer, regardless of their benefits and compensation package. If you spot red flags, it’s better to investigate further or hold off from a job offer than to pursue the data entry job simply because the role is remote.
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