Here is How to Be the Best Data Scientist

• By Satya Prakash
• 06-02-2020
• Data Science

We are all headed towards a world that will be dominated by technology with data being the global currency. For all those who are not ready to accept this reality, they just remind us of the ones who did not bank high on the spread and impact of the internet on the daily lives of people in the early 1990s. The world has evolved and with every passing year there has been a massive transformation in the way technologies are making inroads in our daily lives.

This can be easily gauged by the fact that nearly 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are generated in the world every day. Whoa! Yes, the figure shows daily generation and is thus not the end and the best part of it is that it is growing and growing really fast. These tech-disruptions led to the creation of many new jobs that were completely unthinkable before. One such role that gained prominence was of the “Data Scientists”. This was specially designed for the ones who had that knack for data and also were born with an analytical mindset. Looking at these trends and the job creation, Harvard Business Review has termed the data scientist career as “the sexiest job of 21st century” in 2012.

Now if you are the one who loves to dodge numbers and feel skewed towards the software business, here is a career that may just up the whole game for you. Yes! We are talking about data scientists!

Who are Data Scientists?
You must have got a fair idea about what we are talking about by now. Still, to put it in simpler terms, we can say a data scientist is a person, who makes use of his mathematical skills in his flair for arriving at patterns from huge raw data sets while trying to play with the software and finally end up making more sense of the whole. They are said to have this special taste for problem-location and solving. What was traditionally labeled as statisticians broadly, got transformed into this role with the development of technology? The best part is that being a data scientist forms the most promising career choice in the next decade.

It should now give you a compelling reason to find out what it takes to be a great data scientist. We have brought you the most commonly used skill-sets that will help you with this.

Most Important Skills to be a Great Data Scientist

Learn Python
When data science is concerned, the role of Python cannot be ignored. Yes! R is also catching pace but it has found more peace with the academicians while Python has found itself well-aligned with the businesses. Again, here the choice factors depending on your interest. But, if you are looking at a job, Python is your language. Here again, you do not need complete expertise on the package but doing some data structures, functions, imports, etc. will solve your purpose. And, for those of you who think they can go in for both, we advise, don’t at least not for the beginning.

Learn to Play with Data
Data is going to be your life-partner henceforth and you need to nurture the relationship well so that you can sustain. You will also have to know the pandas library due to its flagship Dataframe, which is a big hit with the columnar data and will immensely help in boosting your efficiency. Pandas, however, has an increasing number of functions and ways to approach a single problem. This can at times become taxing. However, learning the same is still recommended.

Statistical Fundamentals
Like mentioned above, the role has evolved from statistics and does carry a heavy load of the same. So, when you are looking at data science as a career option, you should have a clear understanding of various statistical concepts and their applications. Imagine you will be in a role where many other stakeholders will depend on you for making significant decisions about designs. You will also be involved in the evaluation of different experiments where knowledge of the theory of probability, random variables, Byes Theorem, etc. will be needed.

Machine Learning
When you look at the future, it makes sense to equip yourself with the technologies that will define it. Machine learning, Automation, Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence, etc. are some of the technologies that are slated to become a household name in the industry. This will come in handy especially when you will be involved in a large organization and you have to deal with massive amounts of data daily. You will need to have a great knowledge of the techniques like an ensemble, k-nearest, timberlands, etc. many of which can also be executed via R and Python.

Communications
This is a break from the above technical line but is vital, hence it is placed in the top skills that you must have if you want to go ahead on this track. You have to do a lot of understanding of concepts and then also putting them in black and white so that the rest of the people on the deck are able to make some sense out of it. You will also be required to sell your story that you drew from the data mine to your management and your seniors in the most effective manner else all your labor will be lost. Chances are that you also need to explain the basics behind the whole show to your marketing team so they know what they have to aim at exactly. All this will only come if you are able to word yourself nicely and simply. Hence, impeccable communication skills are a must.

Data Visualization
This is another vital part of the job role as you will be constantly infused with numbers that you will be required to portray in a more stimulating manner. You should not only thus be familiar with the principles of data visualization but also should consider mastering tools like Data wrapper, Kabana, Tableau, Google charts, etc.

Summary
Data Scientists and app developer are the visionaries of the future as they are able to see and perceive the future in a much better manner as they not only talk in numbers but also help to draw inferences from them for a better future. So, to be an effective data scientist intent is important but what really matters is how far you are able to embrace the change and upskill yourself to prepare yourself for a great future. The field is evolving with the changes that are happening around and you have to equip yourself to cut above the competition. You should not forget the fact that with growing significance the benchmark is also raised. So, it is essential that you keep yourself abreast of the modern technologies as in the future the rate of introduction and obsoletion of technologies will not differ much. Good Luck!