Data engineers, data scientists and data analysts explained

In this video, former TechTarget editor Gabriella Frick discusses the roles of data engineers, data scientists and data analysts and how they work in businesses.

When hiring for data roles, the first step is knowing the difference between them all.

There's a wide variety of data jobs and they often get mixed up and used interchangeably. But, if management conflates roles and hires for the wrong position, businesses can suffer.

In this video, we'll cover the main differences between data engineers, data analysts and data scientists.

Data engineers tend to be generalists and competent in several areas, and usually hold at least a bachelor's degree in a related field, like applied mathematics, computer science or engineering.

The data engineer's goal is to make data easily accessible for use in their organization's big data ecosystem. Their primary job is to prepare data for analytical or operational uses, which involves integrating, consolidating, cleansing and structuring the data.

The data engineer also creates APIs, pipelines and other systems that are necessary for the data scientist's and analyst's jobs.

Data scientists are highly skilled in specific subjects like statistics, certain areas of AI and mathematical modeling. A data scientist role typically requires a master's degree in mathematics, statistics or computer science.

Data scientists primarily focus on answering big-picture questions, dealing with future business prospects and long-term business insights. They use a trained understanding of math and theory to create custom algorithms and predictive models and then apply the right models and evaluation metrics to a problem.

Data scientists also tend to have more direct communication with management than data engineers, providing actionable information and insights.

Data analysts are often confused with data scientists. While many of their responsibilities and skills overlap, data analysts work more closely with the day-to-day business and usually only require a bachelor's degree in a related field.

Data analysts work with algorithms and models that focus on specific business issues or have a customer focus and help translate data into visualizations and metrics.

Data analysts are also responsible for designing and maintaining data systems and databases with statistical tools. While all three positions are usually necessary, knowing the differences between them can benefit organizations -- from hiring, to retention, to general productivity and efficiency of the role.

What are some other differentiating factors between these data roles? Share your thoughts in the comments, and be sure to hit that like button.

Sabrina Polin is a managing editor of video content for the Learning Content team. She plans and develops video content for TechTarget's editorial YouTube channel, Eye on Tech. Previously, Sabrina was a reporter for the Products Content team.