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How to become a Data Scientist

Becoming a Data Scientist is an in-demand career path. It requires deep expertise in Data Science and a strong network to carry you along. Here are some resources to help you on your journey.

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Why should you become a 
Data Scientist?

Data Scientist

Demand for experts in Data Science is growing rapidly. Companies are looking for people with deep expertise in the field of Data Science to help them build their products and services.

As a result, Data Scientists are in high demand and command high salaries. According to leading sources, the median salary for a Data Scientist is $120,000 and a senior Data Scientist can earn up to $140,000. Even entry-level positions can command great salaries.

No wonder that interest in a career in Data Science is growing rapidly. Explore the resources below to learn more about how to become a Data Scientist.

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Best books to build Data Science understanding.

A well-written and thorough book can be an amazing path to build deeper understanding and also act as a handbook as you discover the internet's vast resources.

These are our and our experts top picks to get started building career-relevant skills.

Introduction to Statistical learning

ISL is a fundamental book and popular amongst undergrad and grad students for its clarity and simplicity with explaining concepts. The math required to understand the book is kept to a minimum, making it unique in its format.

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Statistics for Data Scientists

Statistical methods are a key part of data science, yet very few data scientists have any formal statistics training. Courses and books on basic statistics rarely cover the topic from a data science perspective. This practical guide explains how to apply various statistical methods to data science, tells you how to avoid their misuse, and gives you advice on what's important and what's not.

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Python Data Science Handbook

For many researchers, Python is a first-class tool mainly because of its libraries for storing, manipulating, and gaining insight from data. Several resources exist for individual pieces of this data science stack, but only with the Python Data Science Handbook do you get them all—IPython, NumPy, Pandas, Matplotlib, Scikit-Learn, and other related tools.

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Head First Statistics

Whether you're a student, a professional, or just curious about statistical analysis, Head First's brain-friendly formula helps you get a firm grasp of statistics so you can understand key points and actually use them. Learn to present data visually with charts and plots; discover the difference between taking the average with mean, median, and mode, and why it's important; learn how to calcul…

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Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals

This book demonstrates how to go beyond conventional tools to reach the root of your data, and how to use your data to create an engaging, informative, compelling story. Specifically, you'll learn how to: Understand the importance of context and audience. Determine the appropriate type of graph for your situation.

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Books / Data science

In a way, data science has become humanity’s sixth sense. Yet it’s also probably the sense the average person understands the least. So for anyone hoping to learn more, we asked three experts to recommend their favorite data science books from introductory overviews to more advanced content on deep learning, bias in algorithms and more. The resulting reading list includes data science books co…

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Courses to deepen your Data Science skills.

These days, courses are no longer a sequence of videos. They are usually accompanied by projects and a learning community, keeping you accountable and on the path.

Our experts recommend these courses, from free selections to paid programs.

MIT Open: Linear Algebra

Math is the foundation of Machine Learning and much needed if you need to work on the inner logic of its systems. Senior engineers are encouraged to propose and submit their own papers – and getting your LinAlg back in order is a must for that.
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Machine Learning A-Z™

Kirill Eremenko's course on Udemy is a classic with almost a million (!) students worldwide. A-Z takes you from a bit of coding knowledge to making your own predictions and building ML models pretty swiftly. At prices between $10 - $20 it's also cheaper than many alternatives.
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Lex Fridman's MIT Deep Learning

Lex Fridman is the instructor of an immensely popular and fundamental Deep Learning course at MIT. Together with the other MIT AI courses, this can help polish your skills and get the foundations right.
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Data Science A-Z

Learn Data Science step by step through real Analytics examples. Data Mining, Modeling, Tableau Visualization and more! Successfully perform all steps in a complex Data Science project, read statistical software output for created models and receive professional step-by-step coaching in the spac…
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Get help with your learning journey

Learning through online courses can be challenging. Get 1:1 guidance from an experienced mentor who can help you stay accountable and answer your questions along the way.
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Harvard Online Data Science

To become an expert data scientist you need practice and experience. By completing this course you will get an opportunity to apply and gain knowledge in R data analysis. This final project will test your skills in data visualization, probability, inference and modeling, data wrangling, data organi…
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The Data Science Course: Complete Data Science Bootcamp 2024

Complete Data Science Training: Math, Statistics, Python, Advanced Statistics in Python, Machine and Deep Learning
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Top Data Science Certifications

Mastering the fundamentals of Data Science will help you earn valuable certifications. Our expert mentors can guide you through the certification process and help strengthen your knowledge.

Senior Data Scientist SDS™

Hosted by dasca.org

SDS™ is the world’s most powerful credential for professionally accomplished data science professionals who aspire to stamp their data leadership potential and showcase their knowledge at the forefront of data science innovation.

Prices start at $850.

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Data Science Certification Coaching

Hosted by mentorcruise.com

Consider reaching out to a coach specialized in Data Science certifications. They can help you prepare for your exam, and provide you with the necessary resources to succeed. MentorCruise is the best place to find a coach for your Data Science certification. Here are a few top picks:
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Principal Data Scientist (PDS™)

Hosted by dasca.org

As a seasoned leader transforming businesses through data analytics and intelligence, the PDS™ certification recognizes your strategic influence and ability to drive innovation. Elevate your professional stature with a credential designed for high-level technology executives and thought leaders.…

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IBM Data Science Professional Certificate

Hosted by ibm.com

The badge earner is ready for a career in data science with demonstrated ability to solve for real-world problems. They can apply Data Science methodology - work with Jupyter notebooks - create Python apps - access relational databases using SQL & Python - use Python libraries to generate da…

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Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Scientist Associate

Hosted by learn.microsoft.com

As a candidate for this certification, you should have subject matter expertise in applying data science and machine learning to implement and run machine learning workloads on Azure.

Your responsibilities for this role include:

Designing and creating a suitable working environme…

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SAS® Certified Data Scientist

Hosted by sas.com

SAS Certified Data Scientists have demonstrated the ability to manipulate and gain insights from data with a variety of SAS and open-source tools, make business recommendations with complex machine learning models, and deploy models at scale using the flexible, robust SAS environment. Competency…

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Data Science Workshop

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Consider joining a workshop specialized in Data Science. Workshops are a great way to learn new skills, and get hands-on experience. MentorCruise is the best place to find a workshop for your Data Science certification. Here are a few top picks:
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Open Certified Data Scientist (Open CDS)

Hosted by opengroup.org

The Open Group Open Certified Data Scientist (Open CDS) certification is the industry's most comprehensive certification available for Data Scientists and the organizations that employ them. Open CDS is an independent global certification for qualifying the skills, knowledge, and experience…

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Get the guidance you need to become a Data Scientist

There is no better source of accountability and motivation than having a personal mentor. What used to be impossible to find is now just two clicks away! All mentors are vetted & hands-on!

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Rahul Sagrolikar 🇬🇧

Lead Data Scientist at Amazon
5.0 (3)

With an extensive 13-year career in the world of data analytics and data science, I am an accomplished Lead Data Scientist currently spearheading initiatives at Amazon. My career is marked by a deep and persistent dedication to leveraging data to derive actionable insights and build data-driven solutions. After obtaining a …
Engineering & Data Data Science Data Analytics Data Engineering Machine Learning Deep Learning Natural Language Processing
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Leoson Hoay 🇺🇸

Data Scientist at Learning Collider
5.0 (42)

Hello there! I am a Senior Data Scientist at Learning Collider, previously Tech Lead at the University of Chicago Urban Labs. I am passionate about leveraging technology to solve human problems, and have many years of experience in managing hiring processes for data teams. I believe strongly in interdisciplinary collaboration …
Engineering & Data Data Science LLM AI Machine Learning Technology Management Data Scientist
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Tanvi Gupta 🇺🇸

Lead Data Scientist at United Health Group Inc (OPTUM LABS) || EX-ORACLE
5.0 (3)

Tanvi is a Senior Data Scientist working with United Health Group Inc and worked with Oracle India Private, Ltd. She contributed to the Research &Development of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) that enables customers to build and run a wide range of applications. She has also contributed to Infiniti Research, the …
Engineering & Data Data Science Machine Learning Deep Learning Python PyTorch Business Analysis
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Benjamin Bell 🇺🇸

Data Scientist at Breakthrough Data Science
5.0 (14)

I know what it’s like to try to break into data science. In September 2014, I drove to San Francisco from my home in New Haven, CT to attend a data science bootcamp with dreams of landing a job in the field. Two data science positions later I began teaching …
Engineering & Data Data Science Machine Learning Natural Language Processing Statistics Python Data Analysis
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Saurabh Goel 🇮🇪

Principal Data Scientist | 4x AWS | Predictive Analysis | Machine Learning | MSc AI | DatSci 2019 Finalist at UHC
4.8 (5)

As a data scientist with an enriching experience of 14 years, I am skilled in leading analytic practices and methods, designing and leading iterative development and learning cycles, and ultimately producing new and creative analytic solutions that become part of the enterprise. Specializing in Python, SQL, Tableau, SAS & R …
Engineering & Data Data Science\ Machine Learning Data Science Predictive Analytics Advanced Analytics Deep Learning
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Lily Zhao 🇺🇸

Senior Data Scientist at Airbnb
5.0 (19)

I am a data scientist lead with 9 years experience in tech industry (Airbnb 4.5 years, Facebook, Meta 3 years and Top VC (OpenAI, Sequoia etc.) backed startups 2 years+ and counting). I have been designing and conducting interviews (200+) and career mentorship programs at big & small tech companies.
Engineering & Data Data Science Product Analytics Interview Startup SQL Career
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The Data Science must-reads you shouldn't miss.

Key articles and posts of industry experts can help you get a better picture of what you are getting into.

In our opinion, these are some must-reads you really shouldn't miss.

Karpathy on "Software 2.0"

Andrej Karpathy is the Director of AI at Tesla. Before that, though, he authored this blog post in 2017 talking about Deep Learning as "Software 2.0" of some sort. A must-read if you ever want to have another way of thinking about ML.

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Simple Reinforcement Learning with Tensorflow

This 8-part series by Arthur Juliani (Deep RL researcher at Unity) is an amazing entry point to the new and mysterious advancements of Reinforcement Learning, perfectly suited for folks coming from other topics in Machine Learning.

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Opportunities and projects in the Data Science space.

In the end, advancing your career is all about getting the right opportunities at the right time and a good portion of luck.

These are some interesting things going on in the Data Science space and you probably don't want to miss them.

Specialize with Kaggle

It wouldn't be the first time I've seen someone get hired over good Kaggle results! Kaggle competitions are data science and ML projects that are graded through a public leaderboard. A good place on the leaderboard shows that you know your craft and can apply your knowledge to real-life problems!

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Get into open-source

The world thrives on open-source software and this is no exception. Core contributors to core libraries and fast-growing tech like React, scikit-learn, Bitcoin and TensorFlow prove their abilities by going into the inner workings of a framework to improve it. For many companies, that's a desirable skill!

These projects are always looking for fresh faces. Grab an issue from the issue board or review a PR to get started!

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Tips from the Data Science blog

Learn more about Data Science with our expert advice.

Regex 101 For Data Scientists

Understanding the basics of regular expressions is essential for any data scientist. In this blog post, we'll cover the fundamentals of regex and how to use them in data science applications.

Physicist Turned Data Scientist I: A Path from Academia to Industry

This is my personal story on transitioning from academia as a Physicist to industry as a Data Scientist. If you are on the same boat and want to know the process and every step in the way, this note is for you. I hope you enjoy and find it useful for your career growth.

How to become a self-taught Data Scientist

Data Science is one of the most trending career paths right now, but it’s also one of the most competitive ones to get into. With hundreds of master students and PhDs entering the workforce every year, career changers and starters may get discouraged.

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