I have been working as a data scientist for nearly 2 years now. In that time, the industry has changed quite a bit, but it is still one of the most attractive career paths, in my opinion, for people to go down. Don’t get me wrong; there are drawbacks to being a data scientist. However, compared to other professions, it excels in many areas.
For anyone who is reading this and is thinking of a career in data science (or in data/tech in general), I want to list out some of the main and key reasons why you definitely should!
It is no secret that tech and maths-based jobs have a higher earning power. Whether that’s being a software engineer or working somewhere in finance, STEM-based professions are at the higher end of the salary spectrum. The same is true for data science, especially nowadays, with all the investment going into AI and the increasing amounts of volumes of data available. The UK government just gave a £54 million boost to AI research, so this area is becoming more and more lucrative.
Despite it being so ubiquitous, the demand for data scientists is not slowing down. The profession is changing slightly. I see more jobs being tailored to specific data science skill sets, such as forecasting, optimization, recommendation systems, and fraud detection, to name a few. However, for someone breaking into the field, chances are the junior roles will not require such specialisms.
According to LinkedIn’s 2022 most in-demand jobs, data and machine learning jobs rank in the top 20, with machine learning engineers being second! The skills and tools you develop as a data scientist are truly invaluable in today’s data economy.
One standout aspect of data science is the impact you have and the variety of industries you can work in. Heck, I went from insurance to e-commerce in just a year!
According to 365 data science, the best industries to work in range from agriculture to cybersecurity. The scope of areas you can apply your skills is ginormous. This means you will almost definitely find a business area you resonate the most with.
Even inside a single job, you generally have quite a bit of freedom to execute solutions to problems how you see fit, as they are often novel and new. If you love creating new things and solving problems, then data science is truly a career you should explore. Mark Zuckerberg put it best in his recent appearance on the Lex Fridman podcast:
“There’s a virtue in creating things”
If 2023 has taught us anything, it is how quickly AI is moving. The rise of generative language models has transformed the tech industry and has shown us the real power data has. This tool is something data scientists are now adopting in their daily work when a year ago, it was completely out of mind.
This type of learning requires a growth mindset and constantly learning and adapting to change. Breakthroughs and advancements in machine learning mean you can’t be an expert in any area as it changes so quickly! But it does teach you to be willing to learn anything and realize everything is figureoutable.
Therefore, if you are someone who enjoys life-long learning, then data science is somewhere you will definitely achieve that desire!
As a data scientist, you learn machine learning, Python, software engineering, cloud technologies, etc. These skills are only getting more important as we are transitioning further into the digital age. Therefore you are futureproofing your career.
Another key point that I think is often overlooked is the mathematics data scientists possess. Over time, technologies and tools come and go, but the one timeless thing is maths. The ability to solve and frame problems mathematically will never go away, as that is how nature fundamentally works. Being a data scientist, your job is literally to translate natural problems into computer-solvable ones.
Linked here is an interesting talk discussing the timelessness of maths.
So there we have five reasons why you should consider a career in data science. From the high compensation to the versatility in work, it is truly ‘the’ industry to be in nowadays, and I am excited to continue my journey!
I will leave you with a great quote from Charles Babbage, arguably the father of computing, that sums up the power of data:
“Errors using inadequate data are much less than those using no data at all”
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