Preparing to Become Data Scientists

Last updated on January 20, 2019

Digital data is growing at a rapid pace. It has been predicted that by the end of this decade, it is expected to reach up to 45 trillion gigabytes. So, how do we make use of this data? This is where data science is brought into the picture.

According to Harvard Business Review, data scientist is the sexiest job of the 21st century. No wonder that there has been an incredible rise in the demand for data scientists today. And this demand is expected to grow much wider in the future. Today, many IT, as well as non-IT professionals, aspire to hop on to a data science career path.

So how is it possible for professionals who are doing well in careers to shift to data science?

It is not an easy move to switch careers, especially when you already have a stable job in your hands. Before moving to another field, you need to give it a deep thought. It is only beneficial to change careers when you know you will move to a lucrative career.

Before making a move like this, you might have a lot of questions in mind. Such as what is it that you need to be a data scientist? How tough is it to make a career in Big Data or Analytics?  Will you be able to receive opportunities in data science in the long run?

This article will answer queries like these that people have before moving to a career in data science.

The demand along with the supply of data science professionals

Data science, data visualization as well as machine learning skills are the technologies that are most in demand by recruiters these days.

Inferior data analysis can cost $13 million to a company every year, according to Gartner. So most of the organizations today, no matter big or small, are in a hurry to find data analytics who possess the required skills. Therefore, a great phase for able data scientists is going on in the present.

As per a study carried out by MGI along with McKinsey’s Business Technology Office, there is going to be a deficit of 140,000 to 190,000 professionals with deep analytical skills in the USA by the end of 2018. Furthermore, during the same time frame, there will also be a shortage of 1.5 million analysts and managers with the expertise of analyzing Big Data.

So we have established the fact that there is a high demand for data science professionals and also that there is an inadequacy in the supply of such professionals. Now how can we take advantage of this situation?

Upskilling or else Re-skilling to accommodate this demand

Data scientist skills are highly valuable in an IT workplace. It doesn’t only lead organizations towards success but also improves the marketability of the employees.

Let us take a look at what professionals can do to upskill in corporate surroundings.

• Develop job-specific skills
• Determine one set of skill at a time
• Gain knowledge as a team
• Pursue online programs

Job roles related to data science

The roles and responsibilities in data science are not confined to data scientists. We have provided you a list of some eminent data science job titles:

• Data Engineer
• Data Architect
• Data Administrator
• Data Analyst
• Data Scientist
• Business Analyst
• Data/Analytics Manager
• Business Intelligence Manager

Required Skills

Some of the skills that you can acquire for a career in data science include math, statistics, R/SAS, Python, C/C++ Java, Data cleaning, Data mining, SQL databases and so on.

Data science jobs are not restricted to just IT industry. The great thing about data science is that it is being applied to multiple industries including healthcare, finance, marketing, retail and more. So, you can apply for a data science job in various fields now.