Preface
In the last few years, the demand for a Data Scientist job has increased tremendously among professionals. The unique skill set and expertise required for this role make it a sought-after job in the current industry. The use of various disciplines such as Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, and Computer Science has caused people to debate whether Data Science jobs fall in the IT category or not. This article will help you find the answer to this debate and understand the what is data scientist job, data scientist work, is data scientist a good job, data scientist responsibilities, is data scientist a good job, and the scope for a Data Scientist role in the near future. You’ll also learn about the necessary Data Scientist skillset you must develop to pursue a career in this field.
Introduction
Data science is a broad field. It uses scientific processes, methods, systems, and algorithms to generate valuable insights from structured and unstructured data. A professional in the data scientist job focuses on using their knowledge of programming, mathematics, statistics, and business to find answers for various challenges their organization faces. They aim to identify the scope of improvements in their organization’s processes by gathering data and generating insights. Data scientist work in various industries, including technology, FMCG, healthcare, research, etc.
There’s a huge demand for Data Scientists in various industries due to the unique expertise required for this role. Companies actively lookout for skilled candidates for a Data Scientist role to fill this demand. Candidates need to develop the necessary data scientist skillset to advance their careers in this field.
Analytixlabs is a renowned Data Science Institute that has been offering Data Science and AI courses since 2011. They provide their students with immersive and practical learning experiences and have trained over 15,000 candidates to 2020.
What Are the Different Job Profiles of the Data Science Industry?
The Data Science industry has a plethora of data science opportunities and there are many jobs after data science course. It’s a broad sector and so requires professionals with various expertise to ensure everything functions properly. The most prominent Data Science jobs are as follows:
Data Analyst
Data analysts work with large quantities of data and handle the pre-processing and processing tasks of the same. They are responsible for optimizing the data so it would generate valuable and actionable insights with minimal error.
Data Architect
Data architects create the necessary blueprints for their organizations to integrate, centralize and protect their databases. They are responsible for providing the data engineers of the organization with the optimal systems and tools. Data architects must be adept in data modeling, data warehousing, and related concepts.
Data Engineer
A Data Engineer builds and tests big data ecosystems for their organization so that the Data Scientists can make use of the data and run the required algorithms. Modern Data Engineering is responsible for the performance of the existing Big Data systems and must keep them updated with newer or upgraded versions. They use NoSQL, C++, Matlab, Hive, and several other big data technologies to perform their duties.
Data Scientist
A data scientist helps a business understand its problems and offers solutions by using data processing and analysis. They perform various tasks, including data cleaning, research, data wrangling, and data visualization to generate insights their business can use to improve their operations or overcome a particular challenge.
Is Data Scientist an IT Job
Many people get confused about the nature of a data scientist’s job. As it’s an interdisciplinary role, people get confused about whether data scientist jobs would fall under the category of IT jobs or not.
What defines an IT job?
IT is an abbreviation for Information Technology. Most IT jobs are a sort of technical support job, i.e., they help other departments of their organization in using particular technologies. Some of the most popular IT jobs are Programmer Analyst, Computer Consultant, Chief Information Officer (CIO), Systems Administrator, etc. Their primary duty is to help the staff of their organization in using and utilizing a particular technology. Many staff members don’t know how to use every technology that their organization uses. This is where an IT professional comes into play. They help the staff members in understanding, using, and fixing the relevant technologies.
For example, a network administrator would be responsible for maintaining and using all the network servers present in a particular department of an organization.
Data Scientist is an IT enabled job
Based on the definition we discussed above, can we call a data scientist job an ITES job, i.e., an IT-enabled job. Like most IT jobs focus on helping their organization using a particular technology, Data Scientists focus on helping their organization use Data. They are experts in handling large amounts of data and are responsible for deriving business value.
Just as a database administrator helps different staff members use and manage the organization’s database systems, a Data Scientist helps the organization manage its data and develop smarter solutions. They help the leaders of their company in making better-informed decisions by leveraging insights from the available data.
Data scientists must be proficient in many aspects of information technology, including programming and computer science, to perform their duties properly. Without a good familiarity with the basics of IT, they wouldn’t be able to work effectively.
This is a prominent reason why most companies that offer a Data Scientist job for freshers would mention it in their IT section.
You may also like to read: Data Science vs. Computer Science; Skills & Career Opportunities
Which Is an Important Language to Learn to Start a Data Scientist Career?
Data scientists must know multiple programming languages to perform their various duties. They gather, analyze, and clean data. Moreover, they also have to organize the data properly, remain easily accessible, and share their insights with other team members. The most important programming languages that a data scientist must know are:
Python
Python is among the most popular programming languages on the globe. It is also one of the most popular languages among data scientists. Many organizations list Python as a must-have whenever they post a data scientist job for freshers. Python is widely popular among data science professionals due to its easy-to-learn syntax and versatile libraries.
You can master Python for Data Science without having any coding experience due to its simplicity. You’d need to use Python libraries in machine learning, natural data processing, and deep learning. Numpy, Scipy, Keras, Scikit-Learn, Pandas, and TensorFlow are the most popular Python libraries that data scientists use.
R
R is another widely popular programming language that data scientists use. The primary applications of R in data science are data analysis, data cleaning, data import and export, and statistical analysis.
Apart from these uses, data scientists use R for statistical analysis and predictive modeling. R has a ton of applications in data science; however, it has an easier learning curve compared to Python.
You may also like to read: The Best Machine Learning Tools: Python vs R vs SAS
What Is the Scope of Jobs for Data Scientists in the Near Future?
The average salary of a Data Scientist in India is INR 8.19 lakh per year. Companies pay handsome salaries for the data scientist role because these professionals are highly skilled experts in various domains. (Source)
Data scientists help companies in uncovering patterns and generating actionable insights in various sectors. From marketing to competitive analysis, data science can help an organization solve existing problems and get ahead of its competitors.
The demand for data scientists isn’t increasing only in India. There’s a global rise in the demand for data scientists because there’s a shortage of talented individuals in this field to keep up with the demand. According to Robert Half, data science jobs take up half of their top-paying IT jobs for 2021 globally. (Source)
Experts believe that by 2020, our digital universe will reach 44 zettabytes, which means there would be 40 times more bytes than there are stars in the observable universe. All of this data we generate every day can find solutions and identify patterns in various aspects. Organizations of different spheres recognize the value present in this data, so the demand for data scientists is increasing steadily. (Source)
They rely on data scientists to use such large amounts of data and find the answers that they are looking for. This also means that the scope for data scientist job openings is very bright in the near future. Now is the perfect time to pursue a career in this field.
You may also like to read: Future Scope of Data Science? Demand, Jobs & Skills
FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. What are the data science opportunities?
According to Analytics Insight, there will be 3 million job openings in data science in 2021. As companies expand their horizons and implement more technologies in their operations, the demand for data scientists will increase accordingly. Organizations of various sectors rely on data scientists to help them identify patterns in large amounts of data to make better-informed decisions. (Source)
Autonomous vehicles, cybersecurity technologies, social media platforms, e-wallets & digital banking, digital marketing are many sectors that depend heavily on data scientists. Moreover, companies all across the globe have started utilizing big data to keep up with the market. It would also contribute to a rise in demand for data science professionals.
Q2. What is the scope of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence?
Data science and artificial intelligence have a very bright scope. They have recently emerged as some of the most in-demand skills due to their versatile applications in various sectors. You can find their application in almost all sectors, including healthcare, insurance, finance, education, and agriculture. Data scientists and AI professionals are constantly developing new ways to help these sectors solve existing business problems.
The global big data market is expected to grow to 103 billion USD by 2027, more than double its expected market size in 2018. It is also projected that the software segment would be the largest big data market segment by 2027. These statistics suggest that the scope of data science and artificial intelligence roles is quite bright, and the demand for these professions will rise steadily. (Source)
You may also like to read: How an Artificial Intelligence Future Will Shape the Human World
Conclusion
A Data Scientist job is most definitely an IT-enabled job. Every IT professional is a domain expert responsible for handling a particular technical aspect of their organization. Data scientists are experts in handling large amounts of data, and they are responsible for helping their organization use the data properly, effectively, and efficiently.
Professionals in the Data Scientist role are well-acquainted with multiple technologies and subjects, including programming, statistics, mathematics, and artificial intelligence. Due to their high level of expertise, the scope of data science jobs will certainly stay bright in the near future.
You may also like to read:
1. How to Become A Data Scientist in 2021- Step By Step Guide
2. Is Data Science Hard Or Easy? How to Start a Career in Data Science
3. Data Science Tutorial for Beginners – Definition, Components and More
