Becoming A Data Scientist

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While Data Science makes use of Artificial Intelligence in its operations, it doesn't completely represent AI. Data science is an umbrella term that encompasses all of the disciplines and techniques used to make sense out of huge volumes of data.
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We’ve discussed most distinct roles and Job Functions in Data Science and Machine Learning on this topic.
Simply put, Data Science covers AI, which in turn includes machine learning. Machine learning on the other hand is the link that connects Data Science and AI.

We’ve talked about Becoming a Machine Learning Engineer before.
In this topic, we aim to dig deep into Data science as one of the most buzzed about fields right now. It Represents one of the fastest-growing and most profitable career paths.

According to Glassdoor’s annual ranking, Data Scientist was rated as the top job in the United States, being number one for 5 years in a row since 2016.
In 2020, it was ranked third, being neck and neck with the top two positions – front-end engineer and Java developer.
In 2021, Glassdoor’s 50 best jobs dominated by Data Scientist in 2nd place. With Median Base Salary: $113,736. In fact, the average data scientist salary reported on Glassdoor beat tha salary of frontend engineers and Java Developers.

This goes to show you that data scientist continues to be an amazing career opportunity and supply is catching up to demand.

First things first, let’s set our expectations straight from the start. We aim in this article to answer the most common questions and define several key aspects you need to take into account if you want to become a Data Scientist!

– What is the most sought-after educational background to become a Data Scientist?
What are the most important skills needed?
What is the experience required by employers?
What is the salary you can expect if you manage to become a data scientist?
If any of the above questions are on your mind, stay tuned.

Alright, let’s reverse-engineer the data scientist and find out!

1- First off, Education:

At a glance, we can speculate that in the future, data scientists will be able to penetrating the field with only a Bachelor’s degree, reducing the need for a second-cycle academic degree ( Master’s or a PhD ).

” Truth be told, it’s mostly about your skills! “

In Fact, just about a third of the data scientists in the cohort hold a Doctorate degree.
In the other hand, if the ambitious data scientist is able to invest time and effort, a Master’s degree seems to be the golden standard for academic qualifications.

But, of course, you can become a data scientist even if you do not graduate from a school. Truth be told, it’s mostly about your skills.

Actually, having a PhD or master’s is not essential. Especially if you can land an internship or come from an IT background.
What’s interesting, is that the gateways to data science are very many.
Data Analysts, Academic Researchers and Consultants, for example, all have pretty respectable chances of becoming data scientists.

What are the majors that you can study to become a data scientist? And do you still have to go to an Ivy league college or…?
Actually, not at all.

You may have noticed that data science gateways are just too many, there’s a certain type of professionals who should definitely stay on board!
From Computer Science and engineering , through mathematics and statistics, economics and social sciences, natural sciences and of course, data science and analysis. There were even people from a Law background!

So, Data Science is definitely not a private playing field graduates.
In fact, e-learning is also a great resource for gaining knowledge in data science and land a job in it. Almost half of our data scientists have one thing in common, is online courses. Half of them have gained at least 1 certificate from an e-learning course, with 3 certificates in average.

2- The Required Skillset :

Online programs out there can definitely help you master the various skills that you need in your journey.
One of the key factors to keep in mind when eyeing a career in Data Science, is your programming and data handling skills, which, after all is the bread and butter of the data scientist. Essentially, the field deals primarily with data, no joke.

But, who is the data scientist?
A data scientist is the one who performs predictive analytics using advanced statistical techniques to gain meaningful insight from the data.
He will also dabble in develop, implement and deploy machine learning algorithms on data, often including deep learning, neural networks, and the likes.

This requires a data scientist to have a mathematical style of thinking, combined with a lot of programming skills.
But what are the top programming languages for data science?

In order to figure that out, we’ve studied several hundred data scientist profiles on LinkedIn.
And we found, Python is definitely leading the pack as the primary coding language. R comes in second. SQL and MATLAB also prove to be widely considered handy. And Java is a distant fifth.

Python is definitely leading the pack as the primary coding language and R comes in second. “

Continuing with the most sought-after skills,  the most frequently mentioned ones are:
Algorithms, Computer Science, Machine Learning Statistics, Data Analysis, Data Visualization, Predictive Modelling, Statistical Modelling and Statistical Analysis System.
Dig deep into popular Machine Learning Techniques, we have:
Deep learning and Neural Networks, TensorFlow, Keras, Scikit-learn, CNN, RNN, Computer Vision, NLP, Predictive Modelling.

Tech industry is the titan hiring the most data scientists.”

Ok. Great. At this point, you’re probably wondering:
“In which industry should you expect to spend your glorious days as a data scientist?”
Tech/IT industry is the titan hiring the most data scientists.
Nowadays, there is a lot more diversity. In particular, the industrial sector is rapidly catching up.
Followed by the financial sector. In that respect, the UK leading the pack. No surprises here – London is Europe’s financial capital and plenty of trading firms reside there.

3- Working Experience!

Okay! Now let’s pay attention to the years of experience a typical data scientist has.

The majority of data scientist have (3–5) years of relevant experience. A lower percentage have experience between 2 and 3 years. Less than that had more than 5 years. While there seem to be fewer percentage have worked for 1 to 2 years.

Well, But which countries allows for the fastest career progression in relation to experience?
According to our data, India and the UK are the two countries where a data scientist with little or no experience can thrive. The US prefers professionals with 3 to 5 years of relevant experience. So it’s the least accommodating for new data science enthusiasts.

4- The Salary:

Very well. How about compensation? What is the salary you can expect as a data scientist?

Many people are enthusiastic about this career path because it is one of the highest-paying jobs in the entire market.
The average data scientist salary is $100,560/ yr , according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
And as shown on Glassdoor is $114,569 / yr.
The range Glassdoor provides start from around $83k and could reach $154k.

Which companies pay the highest salaries as shown in Glassdoor?
Cisco and AirBnB pay the highest, while the lowest is reported at Booz Allen Hamilton.

So, what’s the key take-home message here?

One of the main messages learned from our study, is that if you have the necessary skills, you can be a data scientist. It is all about your acquired skills and experience. In addition to your own effort.
The profile of a data scientist appears to be taking shape:
A unique programming language toolbox is needed, a learning-on-the-go mentality are the field’s currencies. Supported with proof of practical abilities, preferably with a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree.

We certainly hope that this article would be helpful to you and doesn’t make you doubt about data scientist profession. We hope we have made a reassuring hand.

If you still have some questions or doubts, leave them in the comments section below.

Wish you best of luck!

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