The Ultimate Plan to Become a Data Scientist in 2016

Kunal Jain 31 Jan, 2017 • < 1 min read

Introduction

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).

ultimate path to become a data scientist in 2016

 

Click Here –> Link to Resources

 

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Kunal Jain 31 Jan 2017

Kunal is a post graduate from IIT Bombay in Aerospace Engineering. He has spent more than 10 years in field of Data Science. His work experience ranges from mature markets like UK to a developing market like India. During this period he has lead teams of various sizes and has worked on various tools like SAS, SPSS, Qlikview, R, Python and Matlab.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Responses From Readers

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Arun
Arun 08 Jan, 2016

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?

Sudhindra
Sudhindra 08 Jan, 2016

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?

Niranjan Patil
Niranjan Patil 08 Jan, 2016

Excellent article. Thanks Kunal. Could you please suggest some books for Statistics,Puzzles and Probability.

Rathinavel
Rathinavel 08 Jan, 2016

Awesome work! very detail, keep up your good work Ji

Shankar
Shankar 08 Jan, 2016

Hi Kunal, This is what I am looking for .... thanks so much. I am in ... will let you know how it went on Dec 2016! Regards, Shankar

Shilpa Garg
Shilpa Garg 08 Jan, 2016

This is really informative. Can you share a plan for Data Engineer (Big Data) also?

Parag Mehta
Parag Mehta 08 Jan, 2016

Thanks Kunal, awesome information. Also can you publish similar details for learning Hadoop and all connecting technologies? Thanks again for the help.

Supriya Panda
Supriya Panda 08 Jan, 2016

What are the courses needs to be taken a fresher B.Tech Students

Murthy
Murthy 08 Jan, 2016

Very good plan. I have a few months jumpstart given that I already call myself a data scientist. and I'm more than familiar with R and Tableau (atleast). The next steps would be to get good fundamentals on machine learning, really understand the algorithms with application focus and get more active with data science competitions and puzzles and everything.

Dhirendra
Dhirendra 08 Jan, 2016

Thanks Kunal! It is indeed very helpful.

Karthik
Karthik 08 Jan, 2016

Hi Kunal, This is really wonderful, the way you have highlighted the course one should take to become a Data Scientist. Re. the Analyst meet-ups and forums, can you suggest a few of them (of course, apart from AV :) ) ?

Ulhas Shetty
Ulhas Shetty 08 Jan, 2016

Hi Kunal, Thanks for the wonderful article. It is really helpful for beginners like me jumpstart the data science journey. I had this one question or sort of a concern about the first initial step of this devised programme. So when you mentioned about attending Data Science meetups, you mean to the conferences that happen in a particular city or are there online forums that have these meetups? Any suggestions on where can we get information of these meetings or such forums. Thanks! And really appreciate your help. Regards, Ulhas.

raamesh
raamesh 08 Jan, 2016

Is it mandatory that one should be maths/ stats or engineering graduate to become a data scientists. i have done my graduation in biology and MBA in finance and marketing. Can i go for this course. After completion of the course will i face any difficulty in getting a job as my graduation is not from maths/ stats/ computer. till class 12th i have studied maths.

Abdul
Abdul 08 Jan, 2016

I think by the time one gets to December he would have forgotten all that he learnt till June. Shoudn't the learning be in small chunks which one can practice thoroughly before moving onto the next tool/concept? Here its almost like learning a new thing every month. Data scientists don't get created by jumping from one tool/concept to another so quickly. Just my 2 cents

Sherri
Sherri 08 Jan, 2016

Thanks, Kunal ... I always enjoy your articles, and this one is exceptional. I am in my last semester of a Master's Data Mining program and have completed a number of Udacity/Udemy/Coursera courses using Python, Tableau & Qlikview. Sometimes I feel like I am jumping all over the place, but your article has given me faith that I am on the right track. I'll start focusing on some additional Machine Learning and practice on the data sets/competitions on Kaggle. Thanks again ... you made my day!

Ramdas
Ramdas 08 Jan, 2016

Excellent article, very well laid out plan.

Blaine Bateman
Blaine Bateman 08 Jan, 2016

Hi Kunal--thank you for putting a good structure around this, and identifying intermediate goals and jumping-off points.

Bilwa Prasad
Bilwa Prasad 09 Jan, 2016

Hi Kunal, Thank you for providing the path... i just wanted to know when you say attend meetups. Can you share some of them.

Shivendra
Shivendra 12 Jan, 2016

Hey Kunal, This is definitely a very good 'journey path' for very the first of the beginners. I would also like to add the Coursera certificate that has just been move to their new platform. They teach from start to end whatever R has to offer. Its a very good course for professionals or even for those very new to data science and statistics.

Akshay Kher
Akshay Kher 12 Jan, 2016

Hi Kunal, A really good article :) Regards, Akshay Kher

Pranati
Pranati 18 Jan, 2016

It is an awesome article Kunal!!! And I've started working towards it.. But i have a little scare here on my part, as being a complete fresher in this part (having around 8 years of experience in programming). Can connecting to people can get one jobs because everyone expects atleast some experience in this field and will not take risk with an absolute fresher. Kindly advice :)

Hari D R
Hari D R 18 Jan, 2016

Hey Kunal, I am very interesting in data science... I always enjoy your articles.... I want to do Major project in analytic's please give me some Ideas...

Praveen
Praveen 21 Jan, 2016

Hey Kunal, Brilliant Article. One quick question though. I just got an admission offer from ISB for the Certificate Program in Business Analytics. Where does this fit in to this journey of becoming a Data Scientist?

Fahad
Fahad 24 Jan, 2016

Hi, many thanks for arranging these resources on one page. I have some simple questions. I have seen some job posts for junior data scientist, they all demand a Msc in Stats, so what do you suggest about a person with Msc in Computer Science, can e still go in this field with confidence or it will be difficult for him to get a job. Second question is, if a person (like me, a computer science graduate) completes the above learning path, then how much else he will have to learn to get an entry level job. The stats courses mentioned above are enough to do this job or he will struggle with that. Thanks,

Harneet
Harneet 24 Feb, 2016

Hi Kunal, I am trying to learn Python, but there are multiple variants of software and I am unable to find some good reading material. Can you please suggest some good reading material - On the lines of SAS by example by Ron Cody. Regards, Harneet.

Joe
Joe 01 Mar, 2016

Thank You very much for creating a road map like this. You have taken the time to also include the basic statistics and probability courses which is very helpful.

aman
aman 22 Aug, 2016

sir i just passed out mphil statistics and i want to be a data scientist now please suggest me that what should i do?

sukurocking
sukurocking 26 Nov, 2016

Hi Kunal, Kudos to you for creating such a wonderful article, demonstrating "The Ultimate Plan". There is one small doubt creeping in my mind. Is there a need of a data scientist certification from various institutes like Jigsaw or Simplilearn? I mean, if one follows this "ultimate plan" diligently, won't he get placed as a data scientist?

Himanshu Bansal
Himanshu Bansal 11 May, 2017

Dear Kunal Sir My name is Himanshu and i am a Btech Graduate with 2 years of experience in my field. I want to persue my carrier in Data Science. Please guide me how to become a Data scientist and which are the best colleges for the admission. Looking forward for your response. Thanking You Regards Himanshu Bansal

Peter
Peter 26 Aug, 2017

I think plan is useless. If it's so easy to become a data scientist, everyone can be data scientist and the value of data scientist will be impaired. For example, you mention machine learning course by Andrew. Can everyone finish it? If we can easily finish it without other's help, that course may be too easy. In reality, even I have my master degree in Top US school(not computer science), I find it's really hard for me to understand everything. However, now I took Udacity data analyst nanodegree and Udemy courses. It's much easier and I have confidence because I can ask someone questions, I have almost everything, and I can receive certificate.

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