A data scientist can be defined as somebody who has the right skills and qualifications for understanding the analytical data, business requirements, knowledge in programming languages, statistics, mathematics and has excellent verbal skills.
A good example of data being used would be on Google. When you search for information on Google, which happens to be a search engine, they do their best to provide accurate information that users want.
The same can be said about Facebook and Amazon, who make constant use of data analytics to come up with significant results. You would be surprised to know that, with the help of data, they correctly predict whether you will purchase the product or not.
Based on that, they transfer it to a warehouse near your locality before you make the purchase. Facebook uses similar data and knows exactly what you are looking into. Hence, they provide related information for you to browse through.
Skills required to become a Data Scientist
A data science field is a fantastic option in the current marketplace. To become a data scientist, you need to sleep and eat coding, patterns and figures should excite you, and have a keen interest in algorithms.
As you can see, it is not everybody’s cup of tea. A data scientist needs to be able to clean and extract data, use statistics to analyze and come up with numbers, use tools to present data, design models to predict data, and so on.
The skills required would be having adequate knowledge in Python, statistics, algorithms like logistical regression, linear regression, and usage of tools like Tableau, and Rapid Miner. Apart from that, the individual must also have a thorough understanding of concepts like data mining, data cleaning, and data visualization.
How is Data Science Helping the Future?
Did you know that data science has a huge impact on the purchasing powers of an individual? Not to mention, through data science, individuals can take better care of their health through trackers.
It can also stop the spread of diseases and offer accurate information for the treatment of diseases. Thanks to data science, during the outbreak of the Ebola virus, scientists were able to predict the most affected areas of the disease.
Even in the food industry, data science is used to help farmers to come up with plans through crucial data and assist them in cutting down on the wastage of food. NGOs benefit by raising their fundraising campaigns and improving on their requirements.
What is the Average Pay Scale of a Data Scientist?
Just in case, you were wondering if the effort and time spent in the field of data science are worth it, then don’t be surprised when you know that data scientists have really attractive salary packages. In the United States of America, the average pay for a data scientist in the year 2013 was $120, 000.
It is around $150, 000 as of now. We are talking about the beginner levels and not even the managerial roles. If you manage to get a promotion, then get ready to take home more than $250, 000 annually.
Usually, the skills and abilities of the individual are taken into consideration before they are offered such roles. It also varies depending on the requirements and necessities of the companies you are posted.
Some of the in-demand Data Science Job Roles!
Some of the leading data science job roles are as follows:
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Business Intelligence (BI) Developer
With the average salary of $80,000, the BI developer stands tall among them all. The primary task of the BI is to develop and come up with strategies to help firms find the data that they are looking for, as quickly as possible.
The quicker they can find crucial data, the efficient their business decisions are. Hence, large firms and organizations like DollarShave Club and Discover are constantly on the lookout for qualified BI developers to help them make important decisions, within a given period.
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Data Architect
Coming with an average salary of more than $130,000, the data architect ensures that the data is designed such that they can be used on several platforms. The individual needs to be extremely tech-savvy and skilled to qualify as a data architect.
Some of the organizations and firms that employ a data architect include AAA Club Alliance, IBM, eBay, and T-Mobile.
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Applications Architect
The application architect has an average pay scale of $135, 000. The job role is to identify the individual and take a rundown on their behavior. Once that is accomplished, they will also need to find out how these individuals communicate and interact with each other, within the same firm or business.
Few of the businesses that employ applications architect are Dow Jones, UPS, Humana, and Oracle.
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Infrastructure Architect
The infrastructure architect receives a decent pay of $125,000, and his/her job responsibilities include seeing that the business systems are running efficiently. They must also be able to offer support and develop new technology as and when required.
The job role is similar to that of a Cloud Infrastructure Architect. Responsibility ensures the cloud computing strategy of a business. The firms that employ such include Dell, Abbott Labs, Hewlett-Packard, and Ford Motor Company.
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Enterprise Architect
The enterprise architect earns the highest among them all and for a good reason. The pay scale reaches more than $160, 000. The job comes with immense pressure and quick decision-making abilities.
The individual has to work closely with the management, stakeholders, and come up with solutions for SME or subject matter experts and the firms IT assets and processes. Some of the firms that employ individuals include Lockheed Martin, Cisco, Boeing, and Microsoft.
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Data Scientist
A data scientist has to organize data after going through it. The individual has to come up with a refined data. The average salary for a data scientist is close to $140, 000. Once they analyze the data, they have to come up with better business insights that can help the organization grow.
When compared to a data analyst, the data scientist role is more complicated as it involves a lot of technicalities. Few organizations that require a data scientist are Capital One, Facebook, Twitter, and Airbnb.
Why are Data scientists in Constant Demand?
The plain reason that data scientists are required in almost all the sectors makes them highly in demand for at least another decade. Though research says that the trend of hiring data scientists may reduce drastically in 10 years, the dearth of individuals who can provide clear and concise data-oriented solutions are always going to be there.
Millions of government agencies and private firms require data scientists. They depend on the crucial data to take better and bigger decisions for the betterment of the country as well as clients.
Do you need a Data Science Degree to be a Data Scientist?
There is a misunderstanding by many students as well as working professionals, who feel that a data science degree can land them a job as a data scientist. There is no truth and logic in it. For example, in Quora, data scientists are from different educational backgrounds including natural sciences, social sciences, and other science backgrounds.
You could hold Bachelors’s, Master’s, or even a Ph.D. degree. However, what ultimately matters is your skills and capabilities for the job role you plan to contribute to the data science field.
However, you would be recommended to pursue a Masters in the data science program. That is because you get a clear picture of the basic concepts of data science, management, strategic thinking, and implementation of real-world situations.
Apart from that, you will learn about solving data querying problems, solving issues plaguing the government, science, and different industries. Once you complete the course, you have an understanding of the problems as well as the solutions.
The courses can be taken full-time as well as part-time depending on your time and work schedule. Taking an online data scientist course would not affect your current job commitments.
Finally
It is safe to say that a data scientist is the in thing today. As a data scientist, you are armoring yourself with one of the best job roles, work environment, and a challenging, yet job-satisfying field.
After all the Harvard Business Review called it the “Sexiest job of the 21st century.” If you want to make a decent contribution to society as a whole, and want to develop your career in a short period, then the data scientist job role would perfectly fit you.
