Find out the top 10 core skills you need to master as a data infrastructure/visualization specialist and what hard skills you need to know to succeed in this job.

A data infrastructure/visualization specialist is responsible for presenting large amounts of information in ways that can be easily understood by the end user. He or she will make use of the available data visualization tools and software to help communicate the data in a way that the client can comprehend.

Other duties that he or she can also get to handle are; making complex data easily understandable, integrating data to meet the company needs, create effective data delivery for each audience, perform data summarization, develop new strategies and techniques on data visualization, create visualization dashboards for clients and develop interactive data graphic and info graphics for clients.

Core Skills Required to be a Data Infrastructure/Visualization Specialist

Core skills describe a set of non-technical abilities, knowledge, and understanding that form the basis for successful participation in the workplace. Core skills enable employees to efficiently and professionally navigate the world of work and interact with others, as well as adapt and think critically to solve problems.

Core skills are often tagged onto job descriptions to find or attract employees with specific essential core values that enable the company to remain competitive, build relationships, and improve productivity.

A data infrastructure/visualization specialist should master the following 10 core skills to fulfill her job properly.

Public Speaking:

Public Speaking though closely related to presenting differs in that it is the process of performing a speech before a live audience with the purpose of informing, persuading or entertaining.

A Data Infrastructure/Visualization Specialist must be equipped with good public speaking skills to be able to address an audience through presentations or talks to drive the point home and create a reputable record.

Decision Making:

Decision Making is the art of making choices by identifying a decision, gathering information and assessing alternative resolutions before settling on one.

A Data Infrastructure/Visualization Specialist cannot afford to make poor decisions, that's why he ought to develop a systematic approach to decision making that allows him to make every decision with skill, confidence, and wisdom producing a final choice of competence in the workplace.

Performance Management:

Performance Management is a method by which supervisors and employees work together to plan, monitor and review the employee's work objectives and overall contributions to the organization.

A Data Infrastructure/Visualization Specialist should invest in performance management to shift the focus from the annual reports to a more continuous form of accountability by implementing periodic meetings while ensuring a continual push for progress rather than an immediate rush to meet objectives during the review time.

Work Attitude:

Work Attitude is one's feelings towards and beliefs about one's job and their behavior that can tell how it feels to be there.

A Data Infrastructure/Visualization Specialist ought to encourage his workers and provide all the requirements for the workplace to ensure a positive attitude is maintained by the employees that can help them get a promotion, succeed on projects, meet goals and enjoy the job more.

Emotional Intelligence:

Emotional Intelligence is the capability to identify your emotions, understand what they are telling me and realize how the feelings are affecting you and the people around you.

A Data Infrastructure/Visualization Specialist should be wise to handle different personalities that carry different emotions presented in the workplace while ensuring relationships are managed more efficiently by respecting your perception and the employee's as well.

Personal Commitment:

Personal Commitment is an obligation that you have voluntarily agreed to fulfill without being cajoled or threatened and are willing to be held accountable for the results.

A Data Infrastructure/Visualization Specialist ought to understand that though adopting new policies and procedures will be met with resistance, the approach by which safety standards are implemented and enforced influences employee's attitudes and commitment towards the organization.

Long Range Planning:

Long Range Planning is setting long-term goals and objectives for your business or project to ensure its growth and sustainability is reached by all the employees.

A Data Infrastructure/Visualization Specialist needs creativity in defining long-term goals that ought to be proactive, putting together a full employee focused management strategy that analyzes the major initiatives and translates them into functional goals that employees handle.

Project Management:

Project Management is structuring a to-do list for your project or company containing tasks and responsibilities as well as creating a roadmap for the execution of those duties promptly.

A Data Infrastructure/Visualization Specialist must place emphasis on the application of the project management methodologies and principles by the staff in the daily functions and responsibilities to foster efficiently as well as create a competitive advantage in the heavily competitive business space.

Entrepreneurial Thinking:

Entrepreneurial Thinking is a mindset that allows embraces critical questioning, innovation, service and continuous improvement with an attitude of change.

A Data Infrastructure/Visualization Specialist should challenge himself to see the big picture and creatively think outside the box too with the ability to fight all the challenges faced and keep going in the face of calamity and the social skills needed to build great teams in the workplace.

Computer Skills:

Computer Skills are the necessary computer working skills that each employee need to have while seeking to get admitted into the professional world.

A Data Infrastructure/Visualization Specialist ought to be technologically oriented and hire employees with strong computer skills because they fare better in the job market than their tech-challenged counterparts bringing a high level of quality employees in the job seeking category.

Hard Skills Required to be a Data Infrastructure/Visualization Specialist

Hard skills are job-specific skill sets, or expertise, that are teachable and whose presence can be tested through exams. While core skills are more difficult to quantify and less tangible, hard skills are quantifiable and more defined.

Hard skills are usually listed on an applicant's resume to help recruiters know the applicant's qualifications for the applied position. A recruiter, therefore, needs to review the applicant's resume and education to find out if he/she has the knowledge necessary to get the job done.

A data infrastructure/visualization specialist should have a good command of the following hard skills to succeed in her job.

Data Infrastructure/Visualization Specialist: Hard skills list

Analytical
Altova MapForce
Apatar
Business Intelligence software
Business processes
Cobol
Computers
Computer Servers
Corporate systems
Configuration Management
Data Analysis
Data Dependencies
Data Entities
Data Environments
Data Flow Diagrams
Data Mapping
Data Mart
Data Modeling
Data Mining
Data Producers
Data Warehousing
Data Warehouse Architecture
Database
Database Design
Database Management
Design ETL processes
Data Replication Processes
Design SSIS development
Data base user interface and query software
Data base reporting software
DataStage
Dimensional Modeling
Documentation
Documenting Processes
DB2
Enterprise Architecture Vision
ETL process design and development
Financial Services
HR
Informatics
IBM Cognos Business Intelligence
IBM Netezza TwinFin
Mathematics
Metadata Management Software
Microsoft SQL Server
MS Office
MS Excel or Spreadsheet
MS Word or Word Processing
MS Reporting Services (SSIS, SSRS, SSAS)
Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft Access
Oracle Business Intelligence Discoverer
Oracle SQL Loader
Objects Software
Oracle Warehouse Builder
Oracle software
Process Flow
Rapid-I RapidMiner
Relational Database Architecture
Reporting Services
PL/SQL
SAP Business
SAP Sybase IQ
SAS Data Integration Server
SQL code and design
Store Procedure Programming
Structured Query Language SQL
System Analysis
Technical
T-SQL
Talendforge
Teradata Parallel Transporter
Teradata BTEQ
Teradata Tpump
Transact SQL
Writing or Written Communication
Oral/Verbal Communication
Unix/Linux
Visual Studio Team Services
Warehouse Database Structures

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