The role of the data scientist continues to expand throughout the business world. They possess a unique set of skills, combining high-end technical smarts with business acumen and creativity. The peculiar skill set and strong competition for their services means salaries for data scientists remain extremely high – well into the six-figure range.
If you are interested in becoming a data scientist, let’s take a closer look at the profile of a typical job role. We’ll examine the requirements for technical and business skills, experience, and education. Maybe data science ends up taking your IT career to another level?
What Does A Data Scientist Do?
The Typical Job Duties of a Data Scientist
While the specific duties of a data scientist depend on the business sector of the employer, most positions share many commonalities. For example, a data scientist working for a FinTech company helps software engineers develop data-driven machine learning models for an automated trading system. One employed at healthcare organization might focus on deep data analysis to build predictive models for early disease diagnosis.
In short, if data analysis and high-end research are involved, there’s likely a data scientist at the core of this effort.
What Are The Required Skills For a Data Science Job?
Expect any data scientist position to come with a robust list of required skills. In addition to expert-level database design and query abilities, most available positions require some programming skills, especially with modern languages like Python, which is widely used for machine learning applications. Strong soft skills are also a requirement; with verbal and written communication ability and leadership ranking high with most organizations looking for candidates.
In addition to technical ability, many companies want data scientists with strong business domain knowledge. This is especially the case with companies in the FinTech or healthcare sector. In addition, an advanced degree in a technical or math discipline is required, with some organizations only looking for candidates with PhDs.
What About Data Science Experience?
Even though the data scientist is a relatively new job role, companies still want experienced professionals. Expect most positions to require at least three to five years of tangible experience as a data scientist. Senior-level positions likely boast longer requirements, potentially including some management experience. Other experience performing data analysis or even development experience building machine learning models might be required, depending on the specific position.
Looking for an IT Job?
If you need help building your career as a data scientist, speak with the expert recruiters at The CERES Group. As one of the top technical staffing agencies in Boston, we know the companies looking for talented professionals like you. Explore these open roles. If you don’t see a position that you are looking for, please feel free to reach out.
