Although Glassdoor has ranked data science positions among the top 10 jobs in America each year since 2015, the field is still unfortunately dominated by men. Companies are often unable even to attract talented women, for whom entering this sphere can initially be more difficult. Here are four things to be aware of if you choose this path.
1. Focus on real opportunities
Rather than engaging in a variety of open general online courses or competitions, focus on opportunities to engage in specific projects and tasks in the data area that interests you and will develop your existing knowledge.
Alicia Frame, Lead Product Manager and Data Scientist at Neo4j, says that after completing her doctorate, she worked as a bioinformatics scientist for a large chemical company and volunteered to build dashboards and toolkits for predictive modelling. As a result of this, she gradually reached her current position.
2. Don't be afraid of horizontal career moves
Maybe you have a degree in economics, mathematics or biology, and you feel you are not qualified enough to meet today's requirements for data scientists. Don't worry about it. There are many places seeking different combinations of knowledge and skills, and many of them are willing to develop you further.
"Originally, I went to university to become a biologist, but I wasn't very good at it. I've always been good at writing code that analysed my data and built mathematical models that described the formulas I expected. About halfway through my doctorate, I realised I could continue the work I loved full time,” says Alicia Frame.
3. Always be prepared
Remember to create a portfolio of projects that will showcase your experience. Be prepared to be able to explain a question or problem and how you solved it (in simple language and technically), what the business value was and what your specific contributions were. Always take a laptop to meetings.
4. Sharpen your soft skills: they will take you further than you think
Due to the nature of the data science industry, many people forget that it is important to work on "soft skills", such as active listening. Networking and building relationships with other people is another key element to a successful career. Try to get to know everyone you work with and their individual skills. Thanks to this, you will always have an overview of who to contact when you need to solve a specific problem. Taking care of relationships creates trust and respect, which is often lacking at the workplace and beyond.
There is no single perfect way to be a data scientist. The good news is that there is no better time than the present to enter this field.
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