Tech skills are in high demand at the moment and are sure to continue being in demand in the future. Of the different types of tech skills, one of the areas where skilled workers are most in demand is data science. Data scientists use their skills to analyze and present data in ways that are beneficial to the organization. They can earn high salaries, especially in more senior positions, and enjoy career progression too.
If you’re interested in a career in data science, you first need to know how to get that career started. You need the right skills and knowledge to find data science jobs and start building your career. So how can you begin?
What Is Data Science?
Firstly, make sure you have a good understanding of data science and what a career in data science could mean for you. Essentially, data science involves asking questions and using data to find the answers to those questions. As a data scientist, you will spend your time working with different types of data and finding ways to analyze, visualize and present that data.
People working in data science need a range of skills. You typically need to be good at mathematics and statistics, algebra, and calculus. You also need programming skills, and you need to know how to visualize the data that you’re working with. You may be working with databases, machine learning, natural language processing, and more.
Why Start a Career in Data Science?
A career in data science has some excellent benefits. So why exactly should you consider a career in the field? One of the reasons people are attracted to data science is the great salaries. Tech skills, including those in data science, are in high demand, which means that the salaries are high too. The average data scientist’s salary in the United States is between $97,000 and $98,000. More senior roles will come with higher salaries and other factors, such as location, also make a difference.
Of course, the salary isn’t the only attractive thing about a career in data science. You can also benefit from good career progression, a varied workload, the option to work full-time or work as a contractor, and more. If you’re interested in a tech career, data science could be the right field for you.
What Are the Requirements for a Career in Data Science?
To start a career in data science, you first need to have the right skills and experience. Many people will start off their career in data science by earning a degree. A lot of employers will ask for you to have a bachelor’s degree in a related subject, such as Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Data Science, Economics, or Business.
However, not all data science roles will require a degree and you can get into the industry without one. If you’re starting off without a degree, you still need to gain relevant skills. In fact, even if you do have a degree, there may be several areas where you need to pick up new skills. You’ll need to study key programming skills, including learning Python and other languages. You will also need to learn about data analysis and visualization.
You can learn core data science skills in a number of ways. There are plenty of courses accessible online, including both free and paid courses. You can teach yourself or you can seek out some more formal training if you’re looking for additional support on your journey.
But how do you prove your skills? When you complete a course, you might get a certificate to show what you’ve learned. But it’s also important to build a portfolio of your work to demonstrate what you can do. GitHub is a popular place to publish your work so that you can build a portfolio, and it also has a great community of programmers and coders.
What Are Some Data Science Career Options?
If you’re thinking about a career in data science, you need to explore what options are available to you. There are various areas to consider and job titles that you might be interested in. A data team has a number of roles, including data scientist, data analyst, data engineer, and machine learning engineer. If you’re interested in data science, you might consider all of these areas to find the right place to start in your career.
As well as considering different roles that are available to you, you can look at different industries and sectors. Data scientists are needed not just in technology companies, but also in healthcare, transportation, supply chain management, finance, and other industries. Many industries run on data and need people with the right skills who can use data to help organizations make better decisions.
Data Science Salaries
One of the best things about a career in data science is the great salaries that you can access. Average salaries are high, approaching $100,000, although you will obviously find that entry-level salaries are not that high. However, you can still start off on a good salary. At the beginning of your career, you could expect to earn from $61,000, with an average of $85,000. Mid-career, average salaries increase to $110,000, with salaries starting at around $80,000 and stretching to almost $150,000. And in your later career, you could potentially earn almost $200,000, although the average salary is $134,000.
How to Progress Through Your Data Science Career
Finding the first entry-level job is your initial step in a data science career, but where do you go next? At first, you will be looking for junior roles, but you have the option to aim for mid-level data science roles, senior roles, and perhaps data science management roles.
Launch Your Data Science Career Today
If you want to start a career in data science, first assess your current position. You can then work out what steps you need to take to get into data science and find your dream job.
