Data has always been at the forefront of improvements and breakthroughs in technology. It helps make the user experience more seamless. Organizations worldwide have started to embrace data science to gather and leverage data and make better decisions. If you’re new to job market, here’s what you should know about data science and how to become a Data Scientist.

What is Data Science & Who is a Data Scientist?

If you are new to data science, here’s a straightforward explanation of what the subject entails:

Data science deals with the study of gathering, storing, exploring, analyzing, and visualizing huge volumes of data using a majority of advanced tools and techniques. Analyzing past and current data helps extract meaningful insights.

On the other hand, a data scientist is an individual who looks at the tons of differing data types of data sources for their business. Moreover, their job description includes:

• Collecting
• Storing
• And processing data

Other than that, they must also know how to disperse and maintain this data in practical ways where they can derive meaningful outcomes from it.

Their primary job is to acquire insights to help companies perform useful processes using this information and support their businesses. As a data scientist, you must see the bigger picture that these disparate data types create.

If you are transitioning to data science field or seeking a job in this department, you must be skilled in programming (Python, R, etc.), machine learning, mathematics, and statistics to extract insights from the data sets.

Evolution of Data Science & Data Scientist Requirements

Since 2012, data science has been a hot topic in the education and business industry. The Harvard Business Review predicted that Data Science would be the next best thing and the most promising career choice in the 21st century.

With this knowledge, many universities started rolling out Data Science degrees and courses, and hundreds of individuals started upskilling their expertise to make their transition to data science smoother.

Again, it is a data scientist’s responsibility to analyze the previous data records, using them to predict future user behavior and producing and presenting insights to the management to help them make wiser decisions.

Their job revolves around designing statistical and economic models while working with cutting-edge machine learning tools to encapsulate data in one place and visualize it.

Required Education

If you want to become a data scientist, you need a qualification equivalent to Bachelors in Data Science or a closely computer-tech field. This will allow you to become a first-level data scientist. However, most careers related to data science have made it mandatory to acquire masters in DS.

A data science degree will add more structure to your CV and resume. In contrast, if you have acquired a bachelor’s degree in another field, you may be required to develop more skills and internships specifically related to landing your first job as a data scientist. For this, you would need to enroll in short online courses or boot camps.

Skills Required

Furthermore, the skills you should acquire before your first job in data science are:

• Machine Learning advanced techniques
• Risk analysis
• Programming (SQL, Python, R, etc.)
• Big Data platforms
• Cloud tools
• Data Warehousing and Structuring
• Data Visualization and Reporting
• Statistical Analysis & Mathematics
• Effective Communication
• Data Mining, Cleaning, and Munging

Salary Details of a Data Scientist

According to Indeed, the average base high paying salary of a data scientist is $139,000 per year in the United States. This figure was concluded based on 3700 salaries reported. For entry-level data scientists with less than a year’s experience, the median salary still stands at $117,000.

Talent Gap and Opportunities Today

According to the Stitch Benchmark report, there were only 11,400 data scientists available worldwide in 2014. Although now this number has increased so much, it’s still a lot less than what the industry requires.

Data scientists are in high demand as companies like Amazon, Meta, and Google, magnify user experience, grow profits, and accomplish strategic objectives using data. Data exists in multiple formats and forms.

Professionals will always be required to align and make sense of this data. Comparing the 2012-2022 timeline, data science jobs have increased by 650% more. According to Glassdoor, more than 1700 jobs were posted for Data Science in 2016.

In 2018 and 2020, the job postings were 4500 and 6500, respectively. Moreover, LinkedIn ranked Data Science as the most promising job in 2019 because of the 60% surge in job openings in the US.

Even during the pandemic, the demand for data scientists didn’t simmer down. In fact, 42% of data science organizations suffered no loss or adverse effects, and almost 8% of these organizations grew during COVID-19.

The talent gap in the DS (data science) industry is so vast that currently, the world requires more than 1.5 million highly-skilled data scientists. So, there is no better time to switch careers and learn about Data Science than now.

The DS industry is still a relatively new industry that requires more and more skilled professionals with each passing day.

The Future Solutions and Opportunities

Data Science is a field full of untapped possibilities and opportunities. However, the daily demand is increasing, and according to a report published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of data science jobs will increase to almost 26% by 2026.

By 2026, the world will have more than 11 million new data science job openings. Another report (Future of Work Report 2020) by The World Economic Forum states that by 2025 data scientist jobs will be the most in-demand.

Moreover, the future opportunities for Data Science are spread across multiple industries, including:

• IT
• Automobile
• Healthcare
• Power and energy
• Army and weapons
• Banking and finance

So, if you want a career change and land your first Data Science job, you will need a data science mentor. O’Fallon Labs provides multiple mentoring, training, and learning programs.

Let us help you understand your strengths and weaknesses to create an actionable plan to drive you in the right direction. With us, you will land your first Data Science job with the ideal skillset.

Also, check our blog on How to Get Your First Job in Data Analytics.