Top 5 Skills Every Data Scientist Should Know in 2017

Important Skills for Data Scientist- 2017 is the year of the data scientist. Today, many companies are realising the importance of data and the subsequent expertise that big data analysts bring to the table. If you have just completed your studies and are confused about which career you want to take up, then you might definitely want to explore a career in Big Data Analytics. If you are good at analysing data and can effectively communicate results, then this is the right career for you. However, many Big Data Analysts or Data Scientists end up working on charts and graphs in Excel or work with Google Analytics and another routine type of analyses.

 

Skills for Data Scientist

Top 5 Skills for Every Data Scientist:

In order to get past the routine jobs and explore your potential as a master data scientist in 2017, here are top 5 skills for Data Scientist to develop:

  1. Quantitative Skills: Quantitative is first most skill in the list of required Skills for Data Scientist. The first and foremost skill required to become an excellent big data scientist in 2017 are a quantitative skill. If you are someone who loves math, problems and figuring out the solutions to problems then you have chosen the right career. A master data scientist possesses great qualifications in Mathematics/Statistics and expertise in handling quantitative data. However, if you are someone who runs at the very mention of the word “Math” then this career is not for you and you might want to explore other options.
  2. Analytical Skills: This is one of the important skills for Data Scientist. The analytics industry is dynamic and evolving at a fast pace. Knowledge of more than one Graphical User Interface (GUI) tool like Hadoop, Hive, Pig, R, SAS, etc. is absolutely essential to excel in this field. Most of these tools are freely available online. Today, many certificate programs are available which offer training for these tools. Some of these are online programs where you can easily obtain these skills from the comfort of your home. However, you will need to keep updating your knowledge as new tools emerge. Knowledge of data mining will also be beneficial.
  3. Excellent knowledge of the business: Along with excellent knowledge of data analysis, good leadership and management skills paired with an excellent understanding of the business will definitely give you an edge over other data scientists. The ability to use the results of the analysis to grow a business is definitely valued by companies. The ability to align business goals with results of data analysis will help you to stay ahead. Companies are more likely to hire professionals with good business acumen and excellent data analytical skills.
  4. Visualisation Skills: In order to be an effective and excellent data scientist in 2017, you need to be able to literally play with data and filter out unwanted information or background noise in order to obtain clean data that can be used to maximize results. A lot of times, you may have to work with unstructured data and will have to learn how to structure it in a systematic way in order to make the data work for you. In other words, this calls for excellent intuitive and visualization skills. If you are someone who is comfortable with mapping information and categorising and structuring data, then you are all set to become a master data scientist in 2017.
  5. Communication Skills: Excellent oral and written communication skills are required in any profession but more so in big data analytics. You may have spent hours analysing and sorting data, but these efforts are of no use if you cannot effectively present the results to your target audience. Just as data analysis requires picking out important and relevant facts and figures, presentation of these results requires sorting out important and relevant information that is valuable for a business. Another important point that you need to keep in mind is that your bosses or senior management may not be well versed with jargons. Hence, be careful to not bombard them with technical information and try and present the results in a simple yet effective manner.

After reading about the top 5 skills required for becoming an effective data scientist in 2017, do you feel that you possess most of these? Do you feel that you have it in you to become a data scientist and excel in the field of big data analytics? Then, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and take the necessary steps to become a master scientist in 2017.

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