Career Overlap Transition record
RecordMove

IoT developer to data engineer

An IoT developer already meets 20% of what the data engineer role asks for. The move turns on 18 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional
From IoT developer
20 % overlap
Distant match
To data engineer
5 You already bring
18 Still to learn
28 Skills in the target role2
Learning distance A rebuild

79.2/ 100

1 How much of what a data engineer is expected to do is already part of an IoT developer’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the data engineer role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.

Why

Why this move works

A data engineer role treats 5 of its required skills as things an IoT developer already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

  • computer science
  • digital data processing
  • establish data processes
  • perform dimensionality reduction
  • use data processing techniques

What stands in the way is 18 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 5 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A data engineer role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an IoT developer background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held perform dimensionality reduction working with computers
  • already held establish data processes working with computers
  • already held use data processing techniques working with computers
  • already held computer science information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held digital data processing working with computers

All 5 carried skills, including the 5 the data engineer role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 23 missing skills fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.

Skill to pick up Tier
01 information and communication technologies (icts) 7 required, 2 supplementary
  • still to learn data warehouse required
  • still to learn cloud technologies required
  • still to learn data models required
  • still to learn data storage required
  • still to learn database management systems required
  • still to learn unstructured data required
  • still to learn data analytics required
  • optional, not held SAS Data Management optional
  • optional, not held Teradata Database optional
02 working with computers 5 required
  • still to learn develop data processing applications required
  • still to learn implement data warehousing techniques required
  • still to learn manage quantitative data required
  • still to learn store digital data and systems required
  • still to learn use databases required
03 information skills 4 required, 2 supplementary
  • still to learn manage data required
  • still to learn create data sets required
  • still to learn manage research data required
  • still to learn process data required
  • optional, not held analyse pipeline database information optional
  • optional, not held create data models optional
04 communication, collaboration and creativity 2 required
  • still to learn design database in the cloud required
  • still to learn manage ICT data architecture required
05 natural sciences, mathematics and statistics 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held statistics optional
Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries a data engineer role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 5 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held computer science knowledge
  • already held digital data processing skill
  • already held establish data processes skill
  • already held perform dimensionality reduction skill
  • already held use data processing techniques skill
5 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to pick up Tier
  • optional, not held SAS Data Management optional
  • optional, not held Teradata Database optional
  • optional, not held analyse pipeline database information optional
  • optional, not held create data models optional
  • optional, not held statistics optional
17 held skills the data engineer role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role ICT architectural frameworks knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ICT software specifications knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ICT system programming knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Internet of Things knowledge
  • not needed by the target role algorithms knowledge
  • not needed by the target role analyse big data skill
  • not needed by the target role computer technology knowledge
  • not needed by the target role design information system skill
  • not needed by the target role develop ICT workflow skill
  • not needed by the target role hardware testing methods knowledge
  • not needed by the target role machine learning knowledge
  • not needed by the target role mechatronics knowledge
  • not needed by the target role mobile device software frameworks knowledge
  • not needed by the target role perform online data analysis skill
  • not needed by the target role principles of artificial intelligence knowledge
  • not needed by the target role task algorithmisation knowledge
  • not needed by the target role utilise machine learning skill
10 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to pick up Tier
  • still to learn data warehouse required
  • still to learn cloud technologies required
  • still to learn data models required
  • still to learn data storage required
  • still to learn database management systems required
  • still to learn unstructured data required
  • still to learn data analytics required
  • optional, not held SAS Data Management optional
  • optional, not held Teradata Database optional
  • optional, not held statistics optional
FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can an IoT developer become a data engineer?

Yes, and it is a career change move. An IoT developer already covers 20% of what a data engineer is expected to do: 5 skills carry over, 5 of which the data engineer role treats as required.

What skills does an IoT developer need to become a data engineer?

18 required skills are missing, plus 5 optional ones. They fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by information and communication technologies (icts). The single most important is data warehouse.

How hard is the move from IoT developer to data engineer?

Its learning distance is 79.2 out of 100, which is the career change band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.

Note

How this record was compiled

Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.