How Should Students Prepare for a Career in Data Science?

Data science is a growing and promising field that attracts more and more young talents on a year-to-year basis. The world has accumulated enormous amounts of data that needs to be turned into valuable and actionable information for business, politics, education, and economy. We do not even notice how the world has changed over the last decades. It is completely driven by data that defines which venture will be successful.

Only those, who figured out how to handle their accumulated data and learn something useful from its massive, can withstand a harsh competition on the market. Naturally, many young people choose data science career because this profession offers the highest return on investment spent on getting data science education at the university.;

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How to Choose the Right Academic Path?

Even though data science has already gained its popularity, many universities still do not offer programs that are explicitly marked as a data science major. To prepare for a career of a data scientist, students should develop a roadmap that would match their interests and career expectations. Data science professionals can be trained to solve entirely different tasks, come from diverse academic backgrounds, and know absolutely different programming languages.

Also, Read: The Difference Between Computer Science and Data Science

Thus, before claiming that you choose a career in data science, it is better to figure out what exactly you want to do. Making the right decision, you save yourself from future doubts and troubles with homework assignments. Therefore, there will be no need to refer to trusted assignment service, when you get your first complicated task because it was your deliberate choice. To become a data scientist, pick a major that will lead to you a data science path.

It can be anything that implies working with numbers, from statistics and computer science to social sciences. STEM majors are good choices that provide you with the skills necessary to become a data scientist. Each of these fields has opportunities to become a data scientist. The most popular choice of 2015 was Mathematics/Statistics followed by Engineering and Computer Science.

How to Pick the Right Academic Classes?

It would be wrong to focus on your formal education only. In order to become a good professional, you need to obtain data science qualifications. Your diploma hardly serves this purpose because technologies, especially big data and machine learning, are continually evolving.

Data science training includes mastering a lot of new skills. There are hundreds of different classes you need to take to become a real expert in what you will do in the future. Moreover, these courses are sometimes confusing, even if your major is maths or computer science.

The main advice is: do not take too many classes because you may find them useless or absolutely unnecessary. You should analyze your needs and fill educational gaps with useful information only. It is better to be logical in your choice and take new classes gradually.

For example, if your formal statistics education does not provide you with any coding or programming skills, it is a good idea to start mastering them additionally. If you are worried that your statistics skills are not enough to analyze complex data, there is a variety of online courses that provide for additional data science training.

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How to Get Certified?

It would be wrong to assume that certifications are a waste of time. They can help you in landing the right job by certifying the unique skills you may have. In your decision to pass certification, you should be guided by the outcome of having this document. How does it bring you closer to your goal?

Does it make you stand out from the crowd of other job seekers?  Also, certifications develop skills that are hard to find in your desired industry. They make prospective employers look at your career profile once again.

There are several data science certifications that work especially good for data science specialists. They are mostly issued by reputable schools, like Harvard or Columbia University, or by companies like IBM and Microsoft. Such certifications add value to your title, proving your knowledge of Applied AI, Data Analysis, and Data Science. Moreover, they send the right message about your in-depth experience and data engineering solution generation skills. These certifications differ in price, but you can study them online. The test takes place at designated centers.

Data science career is one of the hottest in the market now. It feels like it takes over the popularity of IT professions and defines the new era in higher education. However, everyone who chooses data science as a career path should know that data science is built on continuous learning and requires keeping abreast of the trends and technologies developed in the industry.

Additional courses and certifications will only add up to the data science qualification you have. Thus, if you consider choosing computer science or statistics major with the intention to build a data science career, mind all the pitfalls that come with it. Break into it if you are ready to work hard and study much.

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