Filling the Skills Gap for Data and Analytics

Today we're launching a new recruitment site, 1potato, dedicated to opportunities for data and analytics professionals. Many readers and users of MrWeb / DRNO have been asking for something like it for years, and with the big data / data science boom, the time should be ripe.

Millions of new jobs are forecast worldwide over the next few years for those with skills in the booming sector. Since Gartner's prediction in late 2012 ('By 2015, 4.4 million IT jobs globally will be created to support big data... '), practically every report in the mainstream and specialist press has continued the theme, and the shortage of skilled people is already acute.

As MrWeb does for MR, the new site at www.1potato.com will serve as a jobs aggregator, pulling in opportunities from both employers and recruitment consultants around the globe and indexing them individually to help candidates find suitable jobs with a minimum of wasted time.

The skills covered are defined by five types of potato - chips, roast, mash, new and jacket. For example, mash is for those with a focus on analysing unstructured data, and jacket for the less technical business types managing and marketing data agencies. Salaries range from Small Potatoes to Serious Wedge, and CVs are stored in the Potatabase.

MrWeb MD Nick Thomas (pictured [above]) says the cost of ads is very low at present and will rise but remain well below job site norms, in line with the huge number of positions the site aims to list. He adds: 'Growth in the area has obviously accelerated very rapidly since about 2012 with the meteoric rise of big data, but at present there's not a lot resembling this service, here, in the US or elsewhere'.

MrWeb's audience is worldwide but with concentrations in the UK, US and Asia, and 1potato will target the same regions. For the moment, its c.700 listings are focused on the UK, but in the next few months the numbers will grow rapidly and the coverage will spread. Candidates can sign up for free, and register for emails of relevant job ads each evening or each week.

Web site: www.1potato.com .