Data Science is an exciting field that offers great pay and plenty of opportunities, but the market hasn’t fully caught up to demand yet. So, what exactly is Data Science? It’s the process of analyzing vast amounts of data to gain important business insights. It’s an interdisciplinary approach that requires combining concepts and techniques from mathematics, computer engineering, artificial intelligence, and statistics.
If you are interested in data and data science, you might be wondering what qualifications are necessary to work in the field of Big Data and Data Science. In this article, you’ll learn all the skills that are needed to become a successful data scientist.
Importance of Data Science Skills to Become a Data Scientist
Now, you are determined to pursue a career in Data Science, but what exactly does a data scientist do? This brings us to the question of what actually are the necessary skills to become a Data Scientist. First, a data scientist is precisely a specialist in a wide range of areas. In addition to having engineering skills, you also need to have an entrepreneurial drive.
Have you ever wondered how trends in fashion emerge every other year? A Data scientist can predict fashion trends by simply analyzing photos and hashtags shared on Instagram. But how do they do it? Perhaps you’re wondering if an AI-driven model could do the same thing. It can, however, be the human element that sets a data scientist apart from an AI-driven model.
I like to consider a data scientist an artist with a curious mind who is driven to transform the world. However, what kind of art does the data scientist create? Profit, or let’s say money. A data scientist should have the ability to connect their work with money or cost incurred. All businesses view this as the most valuable ability for data scientists. But surely a data scientist is more than just a money-making machine. The data scientist understands the business model and the unique challenges that come with it.
What do you call a person who sees the end goal? A data scientist. Before embarking on the journey of a new project in an organization, you as a data scientist should first and foremost ask about the intention and objective of the project and the business as well. After all, it is their duty to employ the data to create solutions and draw insights that are specifically suited to the particular requirements of the business in question.
Technical skills required for a Data Science Career
Now that you have made up your mind to dive deeper into the fascinating world of Data Science, let’s try and explore the most important technical skills required to kick-start your career as a Data Scientist. With the right set of skills, you can surely excel in this dynamic field. I have put together this list of necessary technical skills for you.
- Proficiency in programming: Anything remotely related to a computer is impossible to comprehend without programming. You simply can’t think of becoming a data scientist without a solid programming skill. You will need to have a strong understanding of general-purpose programming languages such as Python, R, Perl, C/C++, SQL, and Java as a fundamental technical ability. Large and unstructured data sets can be easily arranged, manipulated, and analyzed with the help of these computer languages, which form the foundation of data science. Remember the previous example of Instagram fashion trends? A data scientist with proper programming skills can provide insightful information from large sets of data from social media. Out of all the programming languages that I just mentioned, you can be sure of one thing. “The Big Kahuna” of programming languages, aka Python will give you a sure shot in the field of data science, so make sure to polish your Python skills as soon as possible.
- Technical Degrees: You can’t go about pursuing a career in data science without having at least a Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, statistics, mathematics, or more specialized degrees like data science and analysis. In fact, a Master’s or PhD is desirable for many organizations. However, if you feel like the Bachelor’s degree at your college has taught you just enough technical skills, then you are good to go, at least for beginners. Do you know most Data scientists have some previous experience as analysts? If you’re looking for a career upgrade, you can definitely consider this your next step.
- Mastery in Machine Learning: Imagine not knowing about machine learning in 2024. It is more than just a piece of technology. It is a paradigm shift that will continue to reshape businesses and the way we connect with the rest of the world. A strong grasp of machine learning is non-negotiable, especially in 2024. Developing important insights will require an understanding of different algorithms and the ability to apply them to real-world issues. A specialized area of machine learning that is the buzzword right now is Deep Learning. Deep learning is a tool that data scientists use for image recognition, speech recognition, and natural language processing. Developing expertise in deep learning frameworks such as Tensorflow and Pytorch is necessary to construct and optimize intricate neural network models.
- Data Cleaning, Visualization, and Communication: The first step to handling big sets of data is identifying inconsistencies, duplicates, missing data, and outliers. Once you do that, you can go to the next step, which is developing meaningful insights. Now that you have your findings and insights, you should be able to present them effectively right? For those without technical expertise, data visualization tools like Tableau or Power BI can help simplify complex information for them, in a visually appealing and comprehensible way. In addition, having a basic understanding of statistical concepts like mean, median, mode, dispersion, and hypothesis testing can prove to be extremely helpful, especially when handling big sets of unstructured data.
- Big Data: Being knowledgeable about big data technologies like Apache, Hadoop, Spark, and NoSQL databases can help you stand out from the competition given the exponential growth of data. Big data is simply larger, more complex data sets, particularly from recently discovered data sources. The sheer volume of these data sets exceeds the capacity of conventional data processing software. But what do you need to do with these enormous chunks of data? You may use these vast amounts of data to solve unique business issues and challenges that you were previously unable to.
- SQL Databases: Structured Query Language (SQL) is essential for managing and querying relational databases. Data scientists use SQL to retrieve and manipulate structured data efficiently. They create SQL queries in order to perform data joins, extract useful and relevant information, and compile data for analysis.
- Domain Knowledge and Expertise: Possessing knowledge about a particular industry could change everything, especially in 2024. Obtaining knowledge of the field you work in will enable you to come up with appropriate questions and extract useful results. In the field of data science, domain knowledge refers to the broad background of the subject or setting to which data science techniques are being applied is referred to.
Soft Skills Required for a Data Science Career
Given your technical skills, you may be wondering if you can use them to land an entry-level position in data science. The short answer is sure, but you will need certain soft skills if you want to consider progressing higher in your job. These fundamental skills are absolutely necessary for success in the diverse field of data science. As a data scientist, you will absolutely need to embody these skills to unlock the full potential of data science. I have put together this list of necessary and most relevant soft skills for you.
- Decision-making and Problem-solving skills: When you are part of this game, you need to have a deep understanding of how to effectively impact your specific business domain. Sometimes even that isn’t enough. Your job may require you to understand the range of diverse skills that must work together to make a large-scale data science project successful. As a data scientist, you are also going to investigate a range of problems. Your ability to solve problems creatively will enable you to take on challenging data problems and come up with fresh solutions. You should essentially have the ability to assess difficult problems and provide practical solutions.
- Humility: This may come off as a shock but most top recruiters are looking for this one value in potential aspirants. Why? Most of the data scientists that they recruit do extremely well academically. But imagine working in a room full of five other scientists. Sometimes you may come to a conclusion, sometimes you may not. Without humility, you might not be able to fit into this tense and difficult situation.
- Teamwork and ability to collaborate: So now you are a member of an accomplished team in an organization. Data scientists often need to work in a multi-disciplinary environment. You can expect to work with domain experts, engineers, analysts, and stakeholders on common projects and goals. Without collaborative skills, you can’t possibly survive in an environment like so.
- Effective Communication: Each scientist in the room is going to think differently. It is almost given. Effective communication will be key if you want to be able to articulate and express your views and get your points through. Not only this, data scientists also employ different narrative strategies such as reports, presentations, and visualizations to convince assessments and direct data-driven organizational strategy.
- Data intuition: This is possibly one of the most important non-technical skills of a data scientist. Large data sets may not always reveal valuable data insights, but an experienced data scientist has the intuition to know when to probe further for important information. This increases the productivity of data scientists, yet acquiring this ability requires training and experience, hence my reasoning to keep this point in the end. Being a data scientist takes experience, and boot camps are an excellent way to hone that experience.
- Lifelong learning: Right after you hop out of college, you expect to know almost everything right? Most times, recruiters are looking for candidates who show the zeal to learn. After all, data science is a discipline that is always evolving. By the time you read this article, you will probably come across newer trends in Data science. Staying updated with the latest tools, trends, and techniques is essential to remain competitive and hold your position in the job market.
How to Develop Your Data Science Skills
You have reached the end of this article, and I am guessing you are now determined to go further down this road. Here is a list that I have compiled that discusses how you can go about acquiring the skills that I mentioned above and how much time it can possibly take.
- Mastering Python: Python is no doubt absolutely necessary if you have planned to go further down this road. You don’t need to master all the concepts, but at least learn fundamental concepts like variables, numbers, functions, classes, objects, etc. For this, you can go to any YouTube videos which are readily available and free on the platform. Just select one of the beginner playlists and you are good to go.
- Polishing your LinkedIn profile: We all know the importance of a good LinkedIn profile, especially in 2024. Recruiters are always on the hunt for talented newcomers. For starters, you can create a clean and professional LinkedIn profile so that it is easier for recruiters to notice you. Adding tags such as “Open to Work” is also helpful.
- Polishing your Technical Skills: I am hoping you have gone through the list of technical skills that I have prepared for you. With the right set of skills, you can succeed in this fast-paced industry. For this, you can try and get a degree in Data science or related fields. Your college degree will generally cover all the fundamental technical skills required for this field. If you are looking to polish your skills, you can go to individual courses on platforms like YouTube, Udemy, Coursera, Kaggle, etc.
- Polishing your Soft skills: Soft skills are going to help you progress in your career. For polishing your core soft skills you can try following some well-known and prominent data science influencers on LinkedIn. Some of them are Nitin Aggarwal, Steve Nouri, Dhaval Patel, and Daliana Liu. These influencers write about the latest data science trends and tips for succeeding in this competitive field. You can also regularly listen to some of the interviews of the data scientists that they conduct on their podcasts. Then you know what skills to incorporate and what the employers are looking for.
- Inspect Case studies: Take the example of a leading Indian company in milk and dairy production, Amul. Watch a case study on YouTube on how they beat other competitors in the market, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. What you will learn from this case study is basic data analytics and developing a business and entrepreneurial mindset. You can search for similar case studies and get a general idea of data analysis and business insights.
Conclusion:
If you are someone who is intrigued by the world of data science, then you might be interested to know that this field offers endless possibilities for those who possess a unique blend of technical and soft skills, coupled with an insatiable appetite for learning. To make it big in this ever-evolving industry, aspiring data scientists must prioritize mastering programming languages like Python, acquiring expertise in machine learning and big data technologies, and honing their data visualization and communication skills.
But that’s not all! To truly stand out, they also need to cultivate a slew of soft skills, such as decision-making, teamwork, effective communication, and a never-ending desire to learn. With the right combination of hard and soft skills, coupled with an ability to stay up-to-date with industry trends, data scientists can help businesses and society achieve great success. So, what are you waiting for? Get started on your journey to becoming a successful data scientist today!