With so many specializations and skills to learn these days, it can be difficult to decide which is actually going to give you an edge in your job search. But employers are expecting more out of their potential hires, therefore, to go without any type of specialization or skill that sets you apart may be remiss. As you look for potential specialization opportunities, one to keep in mind is business analytics.

What are Business Analytics?

Business analytics are essentially mathematical algorithms and programs run by business analysts to help companies make the best decision possible. They are quickly becoming more widely adopted by many companies for their ability to help identify where resources should be allocated. This methodology ultimately is saving businesses thousands, if not millions, in advertising, resource/supply chain management, and personnel distribution tasks.

In fact, the use of business analytics is growing so rapidly that nearly 75 percent of companies will be using it in some form or another by 2020. Many companies are hoping to utilize the technology to give themselves the extra edge over their competitors that will boost them to the top of the market. For instance by finding the most efficient supply chain or identifying the perfect advertising niche, these companies can streamline their processes and provide the right product to the right people more quickly.

What Career Paths Look for this Skill?

The idea of specializing in the use of computer technology can be a difficult pill to swallow for many young business professionals that are looking to build a strong customer base and market influence. For many, it just feels like you would be outside of the action, or not directly contributing to your goals. However, this is certainly not the case. For example, many companies utilize local searches to gain customer support and to identify new building locations, both of which require the use of business analytics.  

Another example is the many marketers that are incorporating social analytics into their marketing strategies. Social analytics can actually help to make marketing professionals more successful by helping them locate the perfect niche to be marketing towards in a wide, wide world of social media profiles. Analytics also helps them to determine which strategies are working and which need to be canned easily, which saves a great deal of time, effort, and money.  

How Can Business Analytics Help You?

Within your job search, and eventually your career, business analytics will be a massive boost. As previously mentioned, the vast majority of companies are planning to incorporate business analytics into their day to day activities. This means that having this skill set will give you an edge of other potential employees and perhaps put you in a leadership role right away. There is a real chance that since you will be familiar with the new technology you will be training many current employees to use the tools.

Furthermore, business analysts tend to have a bit more of an income than the standard employee. In the United States, the average business analyst makes about $91,512 annually. This number has growing substantially over the past decade as well. Skills like this one that are highly valued in a growing percentage of the workforce tend to see steady increases in annual salaries.

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Deciding to specialize in business analytics can open a number of doors for your business career. Primarily, it will give you the ability to contribute to the streamlining of many businesses by making different aspects of resource allocation and processing more efficient. Choosing a specialty such as this also offers you an edge over many potential and even current employees. With all of these great benefits, business analytics are definitely something to consider!