Data Science is the combination of statistics, mathematics, programming, problem-solving, capturing data in ingenious ways, the ability to look at things differently, and the activity of cleansing, preparing and aligning the data.
In simple terms, it is the umbrella of techniques used when trying to extract insights and information from data.
The Skills you Require To become a good Data Scientist:
- Education: 88% have a Master’s Degree and 46% have PhDs
- In-depth knowledge of SAS and/or R: For Data Science, R is generally preferred.
- Python coding: Python is the most common coding language that is used in data science along with Java, Perl, C/C++.
- Hadoop platform: Although not always a requirement, knowing the Hadoop platform is still preferred for the field. Having a bit of experience in Hive or Pig is also a huge selling point.
- SQL database/coding: Though NoSQL and Hadoop have become a major part of the Data Science background, it is still preferred if you can write and execute complex queries in SQL.
- Working with unstructured data: It is most important that a Data Scientist is able to work with unstructured data be it on social media, video feeds, or audio.