Reskilling for Survival in an Increasingly Information-Biased World
Jinfo Blog

By Sue Hill

Abstract

Info pro expert Sue Hill of Sue Hill Recruitment explains how it's essential that her organisation keep on top of big data development trends in order to best advise client companies and job seekers. She explains what info pros should do to position themselves at the centre of the big data opportunity.

Item

The team at Sue Hill Recruitment are now being asking on a regular basis by candidates what they should do about gaining skills in and knowledge of big data.  People in our increasingly diverse world of information want to know what it means for them.

We always advise with anything new on the horizon to learn to look outside what you know, identify opportunities for cross-fertilisation, and position yourself as the expert. You can always be sure others in the organisation have been reading items or seeing references to whatever is hot and will want to know more about it to look knowledgeable to their own peer group – be that the CEO or a lawyer.

Doubtless those core info pro skills of liaising between techie and non-techie and being able to understand the need for correct information access, retrieval and management will be vital. So it's the small matter of being able to package that skill set and sell it to potential employers, marketing and promoting self.

Our main concern is that if we don’t act fast, the IT function will pick up big data and run with it as their focus and concern. Regardless of how big the data and how small we need to make it to be useful, it should be about using the content in a meaningful way. That is our domain as info pros. We need to find a way to make our existing skills and knowledge fit into and work with the big data framework.

Sue commented on series producer Victor Camlek's article on opportunities for information professionals in big data.

Editor's Note: Big Data in Action

This article is part of the FreePint Topic Series: Big Data in Action, which includes articles, reports, webinars and resources published between April and June 2013. Learn more about the series here.

« Blog