With over 2.5 quintillion bytes of data being produced every day all across the globe, career opportunities in Data Science are skyrocketing. One of the primary reasons behind the escalating demand for skilled professionals in data science is the lack of qualified and talented individuals. According to a McKinsey report,
The United States alone faces a shortage of 140,000 to 190,000 people with analytical expertise and 1.5 million managers and analysts with the skills to understand and make decisions based on the analysis of big data.
Hence, the worldwide hunt for talented and trained professionals in data science is on peeps, so make use of the opportunity and strike while the iron’s hot! If you are tempted to make a career in data science, there are plenty of online data science courses that help you gain mastery over this branch of Computer Science.
Career Opportunities in Data Science
Data science is an amalgamation of disciplines such as mathematics, statistics, data analysis, and machine learning. So, if you are well-versed in these fields, you’re going to have a promising career in data science ahead of you.
1. Data Scientist
The job of a Data Scientist has been declared as “The Sexiest Job of the 21st Century” by none other than Harvard Business Review!
Combining the best of both worlds – Business and IT – data scientists is nothing less than a data wizard. Data scientists possess strong statistical and mathematical skills which they combine with advanced analytical tools to make sense of large datasets. Once they uncover meaningful patterns and trends within the data, data scientists fine tune it with their theoretical knowledge to come up with efficient business solutions that aid companies to make better decisions. No wonder, industry giants like Google, Microsoft, and Apple are always looking for top-notch data scientists.
Area of Expertise: While Mathematics and Statistics are the strongest points of data scientists, they are incredibly adept at working with diverse systems like R, SAS, Python, SQL, MatLab, Hive, Pig, and Spark.
Average Salary: $130,000 – $210,000
2. Data Analyst
Data Analysts are more like junior data scientists who sift through vast amounts of unstructured data and unravel useful insights hidden within the data through visualization techniques. In fact, data munging and data visualization are the two most important job responsibilities of data analysts.
Area of Expertise: Data analysts must have a flair for optimization, designing as well as deploying complex algorithms, and extrapolating data to reveal the potential opportunities and risks. They must also be well versed with programming languages such as R, Python, HTML, SQL, C++, and Javascript.
Average Salary: $40,673 – $82,242
3. Data Engineer
Data Engineers, having a solid background in software engineering, are the ones who juggle and experiment with large-scale processing infrastructures and complex databases. They are the designers and managers of sophisticated Big Data systems and technologies, and it is their responsibility to ensure that a company’s data infrastructure is free from glitches or loopholes.
Area of Expertise: Data engineers are upgraded versions of software engineers who know the nitty-gritty of programming (R, Python, Ruby, C++, Perl, Java, SAS) and systems such as Pig, Hadoop, MapReduce, Hive, MySQL, Cassandra, SQL, and Data streaming. Essentially data engineers develop, test, and maintain data systems so that data scientists and data analysts can work without any hassle.
Average Salary: $48,000 – $126,236
4. Statistician
Statisticians are the wizards of data insights. They deal with both structured and unstructured data. With their sound Statistical and Mathematical background, statisticians are experts in gathering, organizing, analyzing, and interpreting data to discover actionable insights that can help transform businesses for the better.
Area of Expertise: Apart from Maths and statistics, statisticians also need to have a sound knowledge about machine learning, data mining, cloud systems and tools, and DBMS. Statisticians also need to have a grasp over high-end programming languages like R, SAS, Python, SQL, and Perl.
Average Salary: $42,500 – $ 119, 080
5. Database Administrator
Since companies around the world have started exploiting the potential of data, it has become essential to maintain the integrity of scalable databases. Database Administrator handles this responsibility to ensure that all authorized users can access the database. He/she ensures that the entire backup and recovery systems are consolidated, secure, and functioning correctly.
Area of Expertise: Database administrators have extensive knowledge and grasp over database theories, design, and queries. They have a relatively good understanding of computing architectures and are also well-versed with RDBMS, MySQL, and SQL.
Average Salary: $44,382 – $105,554
6. Data Analytics Manager
Data Analytics Manager is someone who spearheads the operation of the entire data science team and checks whether all the systems are appropriately integrated according to their priorities. They invest maximum time in building and implementing tools and strategies that can transform unstructured data into actionable business insights.
Area of Expertise: Data analytics managers combine both technical and managerial skills. They possess strong quantitative skills and are adept at working with SQL, R, and SAS. Apart from this, data analytics managers are well-versed with statistical modeling and analytical techniques.
Average Salary: $36,000 – $105,870
7. Business Analyst
Standing out from the crowd of data science professionals is a Business Analyst. The strongest skill of a business analyst is their ability to manage business processes. Although they are technologically less sound, they have a deep understanding of business operations and strategies. Once data scientists and data analysts uncover meaningful insights from vast data sets, business analysts set out to find ways to transform these insights into actionable business strategies and decisions. In other words, they are a connecting bridge between business experts and the tech wizards.
Area of Expertise: Business Analysts have a degree in business administration. Since it is their duty to link data insights to business strategies, they must have in-depth knowledge of data visualization tools like Tableau, RAW, Visual.ly, to name a few. Apart from this, they should also have the necessary knowledge of programming and database management techniques.
Average Salary: $21,000 – $73,794
With so many new opportunities on the rise, data science is the future of the corporate sector. Although most of the job positions have blurred boundaries regarding skill sets and knowledge, each job has its unique demands. So, as long as you have a reliable computer science background and you possess excellent mastery over data, data science is the ideal career path for you.
