Data Scientist is one of the hottest jobs of this decade. The demand for data scientists is much higher than available candidates (Source). So, there is a lot of incentive for people to look up to data science as a career option, and that is not going to change in near future.
However, if you do one search on Google, you will see your dream vanishing. There are too many resources, advice and paths suggested by various people, which makes it impossible for a beginner to take right decisions.
If you are facing a similar problem, let’s accomplish this in 2016. If you aspire to become a data scientist, this annual plan would make things much easier and faster for you. I’ve mentioned only the best resources you should follow. This plan is designed to make you a data scientist by December 2016 (conservative pace). If you can devote more time, great. You’d could achieve this feat much faster or with more depth by looking at additional resources (orange bullet).
Kunal Jain is the Founder and CEO of Analytics Vidhya, one of the world's leading communities of Al professionals. With over 17 years of experience in the field, Kunal has been instrumental in shaping the global Al landscape. His expertise spans diverse markets, from developed economies like the UK to emerging ones like India, where he has successfully led and delivered complex data-driven solutions. As a recognized thought leader, Kunal has empowered countless individuals to realize their Al ambitions through his visionary approach to Al education and community building. Before founding Analytics Vidhya, Kunal earned both his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees from IIT Bombay and held key roles at Capital One and Aviva Life Insurance across multiple geographies. His passion lies at the intersection of analytics, Al, and fostering a thriving community of data science professionals.
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This sets a clear path for people who would like to become data scientists. But do data scientists also need an adavnced degree in Computer science / statistics?
Thanks Kunal for charting out a plan to become a Data Scientist by end of 2016. The Skill sets you have mentioned to become a Data Science are as below: R, Python,Machine Learning, Qlikview Tableau, D3.J, Adobe Insight (Omniture) and Matlab, etc Are SAS and SPSS skills have any scope to be a part of Data Scientist? Please advise. Regards, Rakesh
Hi Arun, You don't need an advanced degree in Computer Science / statistics necessary. Infact any degree in a quant background is good - I did aerospace engineering. I have seen people from Economics background do well in industry. Hope this helps. Kunal
Not necessarily. And you can also download materials to learn SAS skills for free - http://www.sas.com/en_us/learn/analytics-u.html
Awesome and training plan for the year 2016 especially who are looking for getting into Data Sciences role. What about a training plan for people in the functional role?
Sudhindra, Thanks for the suggestion. We do have something in pipeline one similar lines. However, the breadth of functional roles make it difficult to chart out a plan like this. Regards, Kunal
Thanks will await for the excitement!
Excellent article. Thanks Kunal. Could you please suggest some books for Statistics,Puzzles and Probability.
Hi Niranjan, Thanks for your appreciation. We plan to publish an article on stats and probability. For now, you can check out this thread: http://discuss.analyticsvidhya.com/t/which-is-the-best-statistics-and-analytics-book/275 Also, you can check out articles on puzzles through our search. Regards, Kunal