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Starting a career in BI with a computer science background

I have recently received a master's degree in computer science and I'm trying to decide on a career path. I have some basic knowledge of C, C++ and SQL. I am interested in business intelligence (BI), but I'm not sure how to go about pursuing a career in it. Do you have any advice?

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SQL is a foundational technical skill for BI, but you shouldn't worry too much about the programming languages at this point in developing your career in BI. If you are open to travel, I would approach some of the larger consulting organizations and target their BI practices. Starting your career in consulting can build a variety of technical and business skills in the BI area. If travel is not an option, look into larger corporations that deal with a lot of data. For example, consumer products companies typically have a lot of information on their customers that they are looking to leverage. Good luck.

This was first published in November 2008

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