Why You Should Get Excited About Being a Data Scientist
Everybody’s asking “Where are all the jobs?” and employment is one of the top issues for voters this election year. We may not be making as many shoes and toys in the US anymore, but there are already millions of new job opportunities right here at home.
We’ll see what the presidential candidates plan to do to improve employment. But the in the meantime—you absolutely CAN find a good job right now—in tech.
You just have to look in the right place. Intelligence.
Data is Currency in Marketing
Data is big, and getting bigger. Businesses can now track customer behavior using tools like WordStream, HubSpot, and Google Analytics. The capacity to analyze every customer interaction has allowed marketers to shape and personalize the customer experience. And we’re just getting started.
So what does this have to do with Data Science?
Data Science allows you to harvest intel from natural behaviors of people to identify who wants your products and their buying patterns. This has been wildly effective for marketers.
But mountains of data are useless unless you have people who understand it and can interpret what it means. Job opportunities are there for analytical types with critical thinking skills that can draw conclusions from it.
Cyber Security
According to a top executive at an Internet security company, their industry is short 1,000,000 people. A million! He told us recruiting talent is his biggest challenge. These are not all high skill level jobs either. There are plenty of entry-level jobs that pay very well too.
As we can see by recent events, cyber security is a huge issue and it isn’t going away. The industry is actively hiring for these positions. Interested? Find training at your school and get started.
Top Jobs in Data
“Of the 3 top jobs in 2016,” revealed jobs and recruiting experts at Glassdoor, “Data Scientists are number one.” With a whopping $117K median base salary and 1700 openings as of January, it’s looking very good for those who love numbers. See Glassdoor’s top 25 best jobs in America
Data Scientist is also on the top 10 list of high paying jobs at Forbes and Fortune.
Here’s a look at salaries from Glassdoor:
What a Data Scientist Does
Here’s a list of some of the fields in Data Science compiled by the thinkers at Data Science Central.
| Business Analytics | Machine Learning | Data Analysis |
| Data Engineering | Econometrics | Computer Engineering |
| Artificial Intelligence | Quant | Six Sigma |
Where Do Data Scientists Work?
Everywhere. They work at just about any company you can think of. Some of the companies with job openings on Glassdoor at the moment include: Pinterest, Glassdoor, Philips, Microsoft, Yelp, and AAA. But the list is endless. Marketing companies analyze data, as do SEO experts, energy companies, health-related businesses, the financial industry, education, retailers, wholesalers, research companies and social media sites. No matter what the business offering is, Data Scientists are in demand.
What Job Skills Do You Need?
Amassing skills to work in tech can get quite technical, but other skills matter even more. This chart shows the skills that the World Economic Forum predicts will become important in the next 5 years. Note that knowing Javascript isn’t on it. Creativity and emotional intelligence and teamwork are. Skills can be learned.
How to Get the Job
Kirk D. Borne, considered by Open Data Science a Top 10 Data Scientist worldwide, spoke at their Conference in Boston this May.
He’s the Principal Data Scientist with Booz Allen and has not only led the growth of Data Science movement but has trained others along the way. Here’s what he has to say:
“Recruiters seek specific skills (the inputs to your learning), but project managers seek productive workers (the outputs from your learning).”
“Your job application and interview should focus more on what you’ve accomplished and how you did it, and not so much on the list of skills that you have accumulated.”
You can always build on your skills later.
Where are all the jobs?
It’s hard to argue with the numbers. The jobs are here. Hillary Clinton has outlined a detailed plan to increase education and training in tech. You can read it here.