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A lot of company officials use accountants' and auditors' reports to judge the financial health of their companies, and they create earnings and sales projections based on those numbers. Many of the figures are pulled out from extensive computer databases that call for a high level of expertise to operate. Enter the data retrieval specialist. This job involves working with the auditing or finance department of a company to pick information from databases and electronic archives. Though the common perception of a database is a highly ordered system that offers information with the stroke of a computer key, a lot of database systems are merely a free- form collection of information from which pulling up financial data is like pulling teeth.

Data retrieval experts spend hours and occasionally days searching for a certain piece of information—be it sales figures for a particular day around five years ago or storewide layaway plan balances. Usually, retrieval specialists write software programs intended specifically to extract the data.   

The pay depends on the size of the company, the part of the country where in you're working, and your experience. The average yearly salary for a data retrieval specialist with a few years of experience is $55,000 to $61,000.

Your prospects include companies that have become much more reliant on their computer systems through the years, and this field has expanded consequently. A lot of companies are realizing that to use their systems with efficiency, they need experts who understand its inner workings. That made this a fast-growing job category.

The standard college background for this job is a bachelor's degree in computer science or information systems. Some people begin in auditing or finance and move into this field. Irrespective of a person's major, computer programming skills are really important. You also must know database programming languages and be knowledgeable about database systems.

It would help if you are the type of person who can't take no for an answer. As you search across files for information, you'll run into blocks and dead ends. Loads of determination and self-motivation are needed to thrive in this job.

© 2012 Tip Writer