The Hottest Jobs of the Future
Medical advances, drug discovery, intelligent algorithms that increasingly predict our likes and probable choices – these factors are changing the ways we live. Data scientists and clinical research professionals are hence in high-demand as they are leading the charge in analyzing data to solve the world’s big issues, decipher health crises and improve drug efficacy faster than ever before.
One look at the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Statistics and its employment projections for the next decade points to some practical reasons why data science, data analytics, clinical research and drug safety will continue to increase in demand and require practitioners well versed in these job descriptions. “Health care industries and their associated occupations are expected to account for a large share of new jobs projected through 2026, as the aging population continues to drive demand for health care services,” according to the Bureau. Here is a graph from the Department of Labor outlining the fastest growing occupations, including data science:
Data Science and Data Analytics
Organizing data has become a full-time job today as data is unwieldy and companies need to manage it. And our world’s data is growing exponentially and companies require specialized expertise in understanding and exploiting this to corporate advantage. This applies to not just billion dollar corporations, but smaller enterprises also have the need for data science expertise.
It is not surprising then, that Glassdoor rates data scientist as the number one job in the US for the past year, with tech jobs in general making up 14 of Glassdoor’s 50 best. Even IBM predicts demand for data scientists is about to explode and will increase 28% By 2020.
Data Scientist
A data scientist analyzes data to identify patterns and solutions that offer the greatest opportunities to an organization by cleaning and validating data. According to KDnuggets 88 percent of data scientists have at least a master’s degree and 46 percent have PhDs. The average data scientist earns close to $120,000 per year. This graph from Domo.com shows the upward trend in the data science market.
Clinical Research and Drug Safety
With a growing population of people that live longer than ever before, there is a drive to discover, create and market pharmaceuticals to help people manage the prevalence of acute and chronic diseases that come along with aging. Thus, clinical research and drug safety and their increasing popularity come into sharper focus. The blog Visualize offers this insightful infographic about how drugs are developed.
It’s no secret that there is a shortage of clinical research associates. In fact, this shortage has been described as being at turning point. The large increase in the number of registered clinical trials, together with the industry-wide shortage of qualified clinical professionals, is driving increases in both staff turnover and compensation. Between 2005 and October 12, 2017, the number of registered trials increased from 24,921 to 256,544. Ways to bring more candidates into the clinicial research workforce in an efficient and effective way is a top priority for the industry. The ongoing technological advances and an aging population make certain that the need for specialists will increase and that data scientists and research clinicians will lead the way in providing answers to our world’s most urgent needs.
Interested in learning more about data science and clinical research and the career options? Reach out to Sollers College’s career counsellor today for a free consultation on your career options.
