Did you know that the data engineer role will become a crucial part of the industry in 2024? In India, data engineering is estimated to rise by a CAGR of 38%. Besides, in the coming half-decade, the market size in data engineering will grow from $25.3 billion to $108.7 billion between 2024 and 2029. Is it not intriguing? 

High demand in top tech companies leads to increased job competition. This has narrowed down the hiring process, where hiring professionals choose the top among the best candidates and filter out the rest based on the required skills. This has increased pressure among candidates to prepare well and raised the role of certifications in developing crucial skills. 

Here, we provide in-depth insights into the best certifications for data engineers and what they offer to make you stand out in the competitive job landscape. Read on to understand the correct direction in which you must put your efforts!

Benefits of Data Engineering Certifications

We all know that professional certifications in data engineering validate a candidate’s crucial skills and knowledge better than just a degree. The certifications show that the candidate is professionally qualified and not just someone seeking to build a career in data engineering. Certifications give candidates an advantage over others to stand out in the interview and land a good job with a lucrative salary package. Certifications not only provide insights into work experience but also help hiring teams recognize your ability to manage workflow in projects via portfolios. 

Let us know how getting certificates from authorized institutes can benefit candidates in their career advancements. 

Lucrative Salaries and Earn Promotions: Data engineering certifications aid candidates in getting higher incomes and better career opportunities. This is because certificates portray their dedication with their strong hold on the field. This also increases the chances of getting promoted in the organizations in shorter terms.

Boost Skills and Knowledge: Certification courses help candidates explore the latest trends, tools, and technologies used in data engineering. This increases their understanding and helps them better implement their skills in the projects in different challenging scenarios. The knowledge gained via hands-on experience in certification courses can help candidates develop more effective solutions, leading to high performance in the project. 

Increased Marketability: Getting certifications in data engineering can lead you to competitive advantages by being more marketable to potential employers. This is widely helpful in highly competitive jobs where hiring teams seek for top among the best-skilled professionals. Here, you can present the time and effort you have invested in your professional abilities and the valuable skills required by the industries. 

Professional Networking Opportunities: We all know that building networks can be a valuable tool for career development. Getting a certification course enables candidates to have opportunities to interact with industry experts, data engineers working in top-tech organizations, and potential employers via live sessions, guest lectures, webinars, and more. This helps candidates to stay informed about recent job openings and industry trends and get fruitful opportunities. 

Types of Data Engineering Certifications

The best data engineering certifications are classified into two types.

1. Vendor-Specific Data Engineering Certifications

These certifications help candidates gain enhanced knowledge and skills with respect to specific vendors, including Google, AWS, Azure, Cloud Platforms, and other cloud platforms. However, the particular certification type primarily focuses on data engineering certifications in Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Azure, and Amazon Web Services (AWS).

2. Industry-Recognized Data Engineering Certifications

On the other hand, a professional organization awards candidates for industry-specific data engineering. These may include Simplilearn, Databricks, and more. These certifications validate the candidate's understanding and ensure that it complies with or surpasses a standard level or portrays expertise. This certification type section primarily focuses on industry-recognized engineering certifications only.

Career as a Data Engineer

Data engineering refers to the practice of designing and developing systems for data exploration, collection, storage, management, analysis, and processing at a certain scale. Data engineers are responsible for creating robust data pipelines. Also, they ensure data is secure and accurate, which can be further used to get valuable insights and make data-driven, informed decisions for businesses. 

Data engineering is a broad career field applicable in various industries, including e-commerce, healthcare, finance, entertainment, social media, and transportation. The increase in big data has led to a rise in demand for data engineers and, thus, increased opportunities. High companies offer high-paying jobs in different sectors. This has inspired today’s generation to start careers as data engineers and avail benefits in terms of cost, promotions, and career progression.

Best Data Engineering Certifications of 2024

Let us explore the best certifications for data engineers.

1. IBM Data Engineering Professional Certificate

The certification program is specially designed for data engineering beginners. It helps the candidate develop career-ready skills that demonstrate their capabilities to perform key tasks in multiple roles that require relational databases, SQL, NoSQL, Python, RDBMS, and more. 

In addition, familiarity with Spark and Hadoop and developing data warehouses using business intelligence tools will also be trained, along with creating a portfolio from labs and projects. The certification programs play a vital role in implementing skills in multiple data repositories and pipelines to develop data platforms. 

2. Post Graduate Program in Data Engineering 

The program, in collaboration with Purdue University, is specially designed to develop advanced data skills through a big data engineering course. During this 8-month program, candidates get professional exposure that helps them master crucial data engineering skills. 

Here, exclusive master classes and Ask Me Anything sessions for clarification on doubt will be delivered by IBM. Live sessions will cover the latest AI trends, including prompt engineering, generative AI, explainable AI, and more. In addition, Capstone from 3 domains, along with over 14 projects with industry datasets, will be given where various skills will be covered, including data visualization, real-time data processing, data pipeline, big data analytics, Apache Hadoop, encryption techniques, and much more.

The candidate will receive a joint Purdue Simplilearn certificate and alumni association membership. Moreover, industry-recognized IBM certificates for IBM classes will be awarded.

3. Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Engineer Associate

Microsoft designed the certification for candidates who want to build their careers as Azure data engineers. The certification course aids in learning to explore, build, and maintain secure and compliant data processing pipelines using various tools and techniques. 

Data engineers can use Azure data services and fireworks to store and produce clean and enhanced datasets for evaluation, which are further used for multiple business requirements. These requirements may include big data, lakehouse architecture, and modern data warehouses (MOWs).

4. AWS Certified Data Engineer: Associate Certification

The certificate validates the candidate’s skills and knowledge in core data-related Amazon Web Services (AWS), orchestrating data pipelines, data ingestion, and transformation while designing data models, incorporating programming concepts, managing data life cycles, and ensuring data quality. The course is popular for building creditability and confidence in candidates by validating their cloud expertise with industry-recognized credentials.

5. Big Data Hadoop and Spark Developer

The course is specially designed with Apache Spark and Apache Hadoop to help you prepare for the Cloudera CCA Spark and Hadoop development exam (CCA175). Candidates can master concepts like big data tools, the Hadoop framework, and big data methodologies. The certifications help you in data engineering and also help you succeed as a big data developer. 

This course helps you learn numerous crucial skills, including functional programming, real-time data processing, parallel processing, Spark SQL, Spark RDD optimization technique, spark applications, and more. Grt 8X higher live interactive live-class sessions by industry experts where the course is completely aligned to the Cloudera CCA175 certification exam. 

In addition, 4 real-life industry projects using Hadoop and Big Data Stack will be trained along with Yran, Apache Spark, Pig, Hive, HBase, MapReduce, and more. You also get the opportunity to have lifetime access to self-paced content in the particular certification course. 

Are These Certifications Hard to Get?

Getting the best data engineering certifications is quite challenging. This is because the content complexity of a particular certification course is determined by multiple factors, including requirements, background understanding of the field, prerequisite skills, exam format, and preparation strategies. Certain courses have determined prerequisites for taking the certification courses. This helps candidates opt for the right certification course with respect to cost, job demand, and career goals. 

If candidates are interested in a specific certification course and fulfill their eligibility requirements, they can easily begin with sessions. However, if candidates are not eligible for certification for their desired goals, they can primarily focus on learning the foundations and building essential skills to get admitted to the courses. This is important as certification courses offer comprehensive knowledge of advanced knowledge of tools, concepts, and technologies that can only be understood once the foundation is strong.

On the other hand, different certification types deliver different eligibility criteria. They also offer strategies to prepare themselves before joining the courses. Once admitted to the certification courses, the industry experts offer live sessions in which complex information is provided in interactive sessions. This leads to a better and enhanced understanding of the latest trends, tools, and technologies, along with multiple opportunities and challenges in the data engineering field. 

Hence, it is important to choose the best data engineering certifications among industries that lead to career growth and advancement of candidates in a shorter period of time.

Eligibility Criteria of Data Engineer Certifications 

Eligibility criteria vary for different types of data engineering certifications. Let's quickly recap the eligibility factors for vendor-specific and industry-recognized certifications.

1. Vendor-Specific Data Engineering Certifications

The eligibility criteria for top data engineering certifications may vary with distinct cloud service vendors. They are:

1. AWS Data Engineering Certifications

  • Candidates must have a minimum of 2 years of AWS experience.
  • Candidates must hold 5 years of data analytics experience.
  • Candidates must be AWS Certified Cloud Practitioners. In addition, those who have associate-level certifications like AWS Certified Developer, AWS Certified SysOps Administrator, and/or AWS Certified Solutions Architect are also eligible.
  • Understanding the definition and architecture of AWS Big Data services and their functioning in the lifecycle of data engineering, including data analytics, data storage, data collection, and ingestion.
  • The candidate must be proficient in developing scalable and efficient data processing architecture, tracking data processing systems, and securely managing data.

2. Azure Data Engineering Certifications

Let us explore the eligibility criteria for the two best Azure data engineering certifications, i.e., Azure Data Fundamentals DP-900 Certifications and Azure Data Engineer Associate DP-203 Certifications.

  • Candidates must have a strong foundation or be proficient enough to acquire and sell cloud solutions. (DP-900)
  • Expertise in leveraging data services, solutions, and cloud platforms is recommended. (DP-900)
  • Candidates must have a strong understanding of Microsoft Azure and developments in the IT industry. (DP-900)
  • String hold on SQL, Python, Scala, and other processing languages is required. (DP-203)
  • Candidates must be familiar with parallel processing concepts, data structure, and warehousing. (DP-203)
  • Proficiency in Azure Data Lake Storage, Azure Data Factory, Azure Synapse Analytics, and more are required to pursue the certification course. (DP-203)

3. GCP Professional Data Engineering Certifications

Candidates can begin with GCP data engineer certifications only if they satisfy the following guidelines.

  • They possess over 3 years of prior experience in data engineering, which must include a minimum of 1 year of solutions design and management in Google Cloud.
  • Candidates have the potential to efficiently extract data, transfer, and publish data for data-driven decision-making.
  • Candidates must have strong knowledge of designing, developing, and implementing high-quality data processing systems and machine learning solutions.

2. Industry-Recognized Data Engineering Certifications

Eligibility for industry-recognized best certifications for data engineers. Here are the top data engineer certifications that you must consider.

  1. Simplilearn Post Graduate Program in Data Engineering
  • Candidates must have a graduation degree in data engineering.
  • It is recommended that you have a basic understanding of the Hadoop framework, data management and processing, Spark, Kafka, Big data on AWS, and Azure cloud infrastructure.
Simplilearn's Professional Certificate Program in Data Engineering, aligned with AWS and Azure certifications, will help all master crucial Data Engineering skills. Explore now to know more about the program.

Conclusion

Now that you know how data science job opportunities are expanding in 2024, landing a good job has become challenging. Top tech companies like FAANG+ are particularly interested in hiring top candidates who are among the best. Candidates who qualify for the in-demand skills requirements can secure high-paying jobs. 

Therefore, acquire the crucial skills required in data engineering by taking certification courses from authorized organizations. Based on your priority and eligibility, you can choose vendor-specific or industry-recognized data engineering certification like the Post Graduate Program in Data Engineering. Our industry experts offer live sessions with valuable insights to make you an expert, leading you to stand out in the competitive edge of the data engineering job landscape. 

What are you waiting for? Explore the course and give your dreams a flight!

FAQs

1. Is AWS certification worth it for data engineers?

AWS certification can be a plus point for data engineer candidates, as it provides a means of positioning in most in-demand jobs with lucrative salaries.

2. Which field is best for a data engineer?

Data engineers can build careers in multiple industries, including data science, software engineering, Business-related fields, Healthcare, and even Maths. However, their job roles and salaries differ among industries. Each sector is important and requires data engineers to be a crucial part of it.

3. What makes a data engineering certification truly stand out in 2024?

Expertise in cloud computing has become a benchmark for data engineer career development. In 2024, these skills must be learned via certification courses in data engineering. However, several industries have their own skill requirements. Certification courses help data engineers build and master these skills to get their desired jobs in the competitive era.

4. What is the expected time commitment for completing a leading data engineering certification?

Different data engineering certifications have different time durations for completing the entire course. Typically, the timeline ranges from hours to months. For instance, the Postgraduate Program in Data Engineering is an 8-month course. 

5. Can online data engineering certifications be as valuable as in-person ones?

Yes, online data engineering certifications can be as valuable as in-person ones, especially if they’re from reputable institutions and recognized by industry professionals. The key factors include the curriculum’s relevance and the recognition of the certifying organization.

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