The advent of information and communication technology has simply transformed world dynamics. It bridges the gap between the buyer and seller, diminishes the geographical boundaries, and builds a hybrid identity. Now, we are able to reach any part of the world within seconds with just one click. Those who are interested to start a career in data science must be happy to learn this.
Individuals are able to anticipate the spread of a deadly virus from the pattern in which it is spreading. Careful monitoring of aerial traveling happens now. This digital world has not paved the way for the growth of industries. It has also increased the number of competitors in every working domain. This is just one side of the coin.
On the other side, the traditional consumer has become quite smart. This happens in terms of purchasing the best product out of all the service providers. The entry into the digital world has provided innumerable access to products as well as the reviews of previous buyers.
As a result, they have gotten more critical in their temperament and the service providers have to exceed the expectations of their customers to build a long-lasting relationship with their digital consumers. All the aforementioned scenarios are converging towards an interdisciplinary field of knowledge, termed Data Science. This is catching the attention of youngsters for pursuing their career in data science.
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Introduction to Data Science
Data Science has emerged as a new domain in addition to empirical, theoretical, and computational sciences. This applies statistics, mathematics, and algorithms to identify patterns within volumes of digital data available online and in our surroundings. Data Science works on the principle of cause and effect. It identifies the most probable outcome of an emerging pattern being observed within different data sets. The outcome of big data analysis is to predetermine the most probable outcome of an action before actually performing it in a real-time scenario. In other words, you are able to save time, space, and money.
Application of Data Science
Data Science is being applied in almost every field of life-related to health, medicine, business, traveling. The weather patterns are analyzed and compared with the pre-existing ones. This helps to anticipate the onset of a cyclone in different coastal areas. The spread of infection is controlled with the analysis of the available data of patients with common symptoms. The most ideal route for traveling is determined by analyzing the already existing data of earlier voyages.
The success of a product is determined by analyzing the percentage of sales and the feedback received from digital consumers. Thus, Data Science has widespread applications and you can find plenty of opportunities if you are aware of the following:
10 Major Things You Need to Master Before Starting a Career in Data Science
In this article, we will briefly introduce the concept followed by the 10 major things that you need to know and master before you think of starting a career as a data scientist in Pakistan.
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Appropriate Mentoring
Every successful person has a teacher, a guide, and a mentor who has carved out the exact path to follow based on their own experience and knowledge learned from their errors. These alumni and mentors wish to safeguard the future of their posterity which is why they are eager to guide the young prodigy at each step. Although Data Science is a new field, it would be an exaggeration to say that it does not have any mentors or guides. If there is a person to facilitate you in understanding the pros and cons of every step that you wish to take in the near future, there is nothing better than this guide.
Learn Data Science via Online Course
There are multiple MOOCs and BOOCs available on E-Learning platforms such as Coursera, Udemy, EdX, and many more. Just explore any one of these great resources and enroll in a course by the renowned university of the world. Complete all the modules by going through the video lectures, slides and attempting the assignments to develop a comprehensive understanding of this domain. The course will also guide you through the path that is best for you.
Selecting the Best Role
After going through the online course, you would be in a position to differentiate between a data scientist, a data engineer, data visualization expert, and a machine learning expert. Furthermore, you can clearly point out the major differences in their roles and responsibilities and relate these with your own strengths and weaknesses. This would help you determine the best role that you can perform as a data scientist.
Learn a Tool and a Language
Coding languages carry most of the operations. Therefore, it is essential to master coding languages. It does not mean that you have to learn all the languages and tools to perform operations. Keep in mind all the tools are based on concepts. If you find it to master any of the available languages, then you can simply go for GUI based tools to kick start your career as a data scientist.
Learn From Peers
Joining a peer group be it physical or online will provide a very nice launching pad for you to understand the foundation of a particular field which in this case is data science. All the members of a peer group would like to share their experiences and learn some tips from others. Thus, make sure to become part of a forum where you can find like-minded people sharing your passion.
Follow the Top Trending Blogs
Blog posts are rich with the latest information and updates that can keep you well aware of everything that you need to know regarding data science and the interrelated disciplines. Make sure to subscribe and follow the top trending blogs and web pages that would teach you some new skills every time they publish a new blog.
Master Effective Communication Skills
Your creative ideas would all go in vain if you are unable to express yourself before your administration and colleagues. Therefore, being proficient is as important as learning any coding language to get the job of your interest.
Understand Unstructured Data
You shall be dealing with unstructured data in the form of blogs, videos, tweets, and much more to identify a pattern for anticipating outcomes. Therefore, start analyzing these different forms of unstructured data to understand the manner in which they lead to particular results.
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Master Data Visualization
It would be wise to convert the raw data into a tabulated form, a graph, a table, or a pie chart. You can clearly differentiate between the varying percentage of different variables. As persuing a career in data science, you can learn the use of tableau, ggplot and matplottlib. This will help you convert complex data into a graph.
Learn the Basics of Machine Learning
Research reveals that data scientists should have sound knowledge and grasp over
- Adversarial learning
- Reinforcement learning
- Survival analysis,
- Recommendation engines
- Computer vision
- NLP
- Supervised machine learning and
- Unsupervised machine
These skills will help them perform a lot better than other scientists. Therefore, the basic awareness of machine learning and AI is essential for you to start off on a great journey as a data scientist.