How To Enjoy A Successful Career In The Lucrative Profession Of Data Science


With the onslaught of the digital age, every company, business, and brand operating on the face of the earth generates massive volumes of data every month and every year. Within these large volumes of data lie incredibly valuable insights that can help these businesses – 

  • learn about their customers, 
  • refine their services, 
  • personalize their products to suit customer demands, 
  • offer their customers completely customized shopping experiences, 
  • learn about new markets to target, 
  • get to know where they’re going wrong and do better, etc. 

Brands and businesses that invest the time, money, and resources that it takes to obtain these insights reap plenty of rewards in the form of –

  • increased sales and revenue, 
  • happier and more satisfied customers, 
  • expanding customer-base, 
  • establishing themselves as market leaders. 

However, all the investment in the world will not help a brand in acquiring these insights unless it has the right talent in the form of skilled data science professionals to help it dig through its vast troves of historic data and extract this invaluable intelligence. Data science professionals with the right talent, skill sets, and ingenuity required to extract these insights are hard to come by, which is why they are highly sought after and paid huge salaries. IFERP’s forthcoming Data Science webinar will offer a deeper insight into this aspect of the profession. 

Significant Statistics Proving The Rise, Lucrativeness, Significance & Demand For Data Scientists & Associated Professions

The tremendous demand for data scientists, the lucrative nature of this profession, and the value that data scientists bring to the companies that employ them, are all evident from the following statistics – 

  • When it comes to the utilization of data science technologies in R&D activities within large enterprises as much as 71% have done so, proving that data science is a must for businesses that want to innovate, develop new product lines, offer better services, increase their revenues & sales, etc. 
  • About a third of all large enterprise-level companies based in Italy have data scientists working across all departments to help improve efficiency and productivity across all fronts. This stat applies to the country of Italy alone, which doesn’t have many large-scale enterprises when compared to massive economies such as the United States, China, India, etc, where these numbers are bound to be far greater. 
  • In a report released by LinkedIn, it was found that the demand for data scientists witnessed a growth of 650% since 2012. This shows the number of companies that are waking up to the data science revolution. More businesses and brands worldwide are keen on capitalizing on the tremendous untapped potential of their historic data. 
  • As part of the same LinkedIn report, it was found that Data Science and associated such as Machine Learning, Big Data Engineering, Data Analytics, are among the top professions in the tech industry, overtaking Software Development, Software Testing, etc. 
  • In a Glassdoor report, the Data Scientist profession was ranked third in the list of ‘Best Jobs in America in 2020’. It is worth noting that although ranked third, the ‘Average Median Salary’ for the Data Scientist profession was more than that of the first and second-ranked professions which were Front End Developer & Java Developer respectively. 
  • According to a study released by McKinsey, it was determined that Big Data would prove to be the backbone of major economic growth and productivity in the coming years. Retailers that adopted Big Data programs/strategies into their operations and made Big Data-backed marketing decisions would increase their margin of operations by as much as 60%. 
  • When it comes to salaries, Data Engineers are attracting an average salary of $117,000 annually; Data Scientists attract an average salary of $105,000, and those with Machine Learning capabilities, average salaries of $114,000. One has to bear in mind that these numbers are largely because the profession is in its nascent stages. As the years go by, those with experience will be drawing substantial sums of money each year for their expertise. Additionally, as the years go by, more brands that require expertise to help them make the most of their data are bound to crop up, implying greater demand for expertise, in turn leading to higher average salaries for data scientists and associated professions. 
  • Only 59% of all Data Scientists & Analysts are involved in the Information Technology, Insurance, and Finance sectors. This means that Data Scientists and those from affiliated professions are required not just in the tech and IT services industry but across the board, including Retail, Sports, Manufacturing, Healthcare, etc.  
  • IBM, in its ‘The Quant Crunch, How Demand For Data Science Skills Is Disrupting The Job Market’ study, reports that there will be 700,000 unfilled vacancies for Data Scientists, Data Analysts, Data Engineers, and other affiliated roles, this year. In the United States, alone, this number of openings for professionals in this field will increase from 364,000 to a whopping 2 million.
  • With all the talk about Data Science, Data Analytics, Big Data, and Machine Learning, students and young professionals at the early stages of their careers who want to make the shift to Data Science are apprehensive to do so because they are under the impression that the field might be oversaturated owing to the abundance of existing talent. An interesting statistic that demonstrates the sheer lack of expertise is from the same IBM study cited earlier, which says that job openings for Data Science and related professions remain unfilled for an average period of 45 days, which is about five days longer than for any other profession in the market. 

Knowledge Dissemination The Biggest Challenge Towards Data Science Adoption

Although the incentive for incorporating data science into all aspects of day-to-day business functioning remains to be substantial, a lot of companies still face the challenge of hiring the right data science talent to help them reap the rewards of doing so. In a study conducted back in 2018, it was found that about 44% of companies found that the dissemination of knowledge about data science technologies such as Big Data and the like, was the biggest challenge to them adopting data science. The right data science talent is guaranteed to help any company keen on incorporating data science into their functions, bridge the divide between the lack of awareness of the sheer power and potential of data science, and the right talent to spread this awareness. IFERP will be organizing one of the biggest upcoming educational webinars that will come even close to doing justice to this topic. 

Join IFERP’s ‘Learning Path To Data Science’ Webinar

After getting to know what’s in store for Data Scientists, Data Analysts, Machine Learning & Data Engineers in the years to come, the best way for anyone looking to enjoy a fruitful career in any one of these professions or related ones, would be to prepare themselves well. IFERP’s upcoming webinar 2020 titled ‘Learning Path To Data Science’ which is scheduled to take place on the 26th of September, is the right event for such people to kickstart their Data Science careers and get off to a flying start. 

Between 5 PM to 6.30 PM during the day of the event, participants will be privileged with information on what the ideal learning curve for their data science careers should be. In attendance at this event, will be world-renowned –

  • Data Science Specialists, 
  • Data Science Engineers, 
  • Data Science Educators, 
  • Big Data Experts, 
  • Researchers Involved In The Study Of Data Science Technologies and others. 

They will shed light on topics such as – 

  • How To Pick The Right Stream Of Data Science As Per One’s Interests, Proficiency & Capabilities 

According to this statistic, those with Hadoop skills enjoy the highest employability rates. Pig however seems to be the easiest skill to develop. With regards to the skill that most postings for data science jobs on LinkedIn seem to require, as much as 76.13% require expertise in the Python programming language. One will, therefore, have to keep these two factors – ease and employability in mind when deciding which stream of Data Science they wish to pursue and pursue a career in.

  • How To Identify The Right Data Science Course or Learning Program & Complete It Successfully 

After making a decision on which stream to pursue, the time comes for one to gain knowledge and gain knowledge about technologies and languages commonly used by professionals within this field. With the sheer number of data science courses and learning programs out there, it is absolutely critical to choose the best program in order to gain the most knowledge. Making the right choice will lie completely in making the distinction between phony, predatory online course platforms, and legitimate ones. 

  • How To Gain Practical Expertise & Exposure By Working On Real-Time Projects

Being able to prove practical experience and exposure is probably one of the biggest factors determining employability. Those with such exposure also tend to gain draw higher salaries as it is easier to get them working on real-time projects. Some of the ways in which one can gain such exposure include – 

  • interning at a data science company, 
  • joining a course that offers practical exposure, 
  • taking on a professional data science project of a small-time firm for free, 
  • serving as an apprentice of a professional & well-established Data Science professional
  • How To Work On Network With Other Established Data Science Professionals  

Networking in the profession of Data Science is perhaps the best way for those in the field to make big strides in their careers. This is because doing so opens the door to – 

  • numerous chances to elevate one’s professional stature, 
  • opportunities to elevate one’s reputation within the community of Data Science professionals, 
  • chances to collaborate with top Data Science professionals on some of the biggest projects in the globe. 
  • opportunities to interact with researchers and industry experts and find out about the latest Data Science methodologies, techniques, strategies, etc. 

Registrations for this highly anticipated event have been pouring in from across the globe. In order to make full use of this opportunity, complete your webinar registration right now, before its too late, and all remaining slots are filled.