'You have a one in three chance of being recruited for big data role' SAS tells students

100 roles up for grabs at the likes of PwC, the BBC and HMRC, for 300 who attended today's careers fair

Students attending a SAS Careers Fair today have a one in three chance of being hired by customers including HMRC, British Airways, Nationwide, PwC and the BBC.

About 300 students from 15 different universities attended the event held at Brunel University, and more than 100 graduate vacancies for data analysts are available within those companies.

SAS's marketing director Peter Robertshaw told Computing that there were "100 real jobs on offer" and that the customers at the fair were likely to recruit from the 300 students who attended.

However, when Computing asked British Airways whether it was logging names of students that impressed, the company said it "was only giving out information" that could help to encourage students to carry on their studies in SAS academies across the UK.

Robertshaw explained that SAS was interested in hiring its academy students as well.

"We've got 100 people who focus on analytics within SAS in the UK and we need to bring in fresh people as well; we are recruiting for our intern programmes in the summer, for example," he said.

SAS has claimed that the demand for big data specialists is expected to rise by 243 per cent over the next five years, with about 69,000 roles needed to be filled in organisations by 2017. But 60 per cent of employers state that they are struggling to find the level of analytical skills required.

SAS has tried to tackle this by launching academies into universities in the UK, whereby universities integrate certain SAS modules into courses such as big data and social media, operational research and computer science.

The company says that graduates from these courses can expect to command a starting salary of up to £32,000 - a £6,500 head start on the average graduate starting salary of £25,500.

Robertshaw added that there has been a shift in the type of skills that organisations are looking for in big data roles.

"Of course firms need IT, statistical and analytical skills but there is also a creativity and communication dimension that is necessary for presenting and visualising data," he said.

He suggested that existing employees could be trained on the analytical skills but that the main skill set that was missing is a "hybrid" type of person, who can get the most out of big data.

"Someone like me who makes a decision out of three lines on a spreadsheet isn't enough. We need to assimilate billions of transactions, and have someone who understands how to condense it and make it simple to understand," he said.