6 votes

#DataScience Hive mind: I’m writing an article about the career path for job-changers who want to get into data science fields. I’d love your input.

It’s no secret that data science is a good career path. The jobs are in demand, the salaries are compelling, and the work is interesting. So how does someone break in?

In particular, I’m interested in how an experienced IT professional can move into data science. What advice would you give to someone with, say, five years of computing experience, who wants to break into the field? Tell me about the skills required, where you’d tell your friend to go to acquire them, and how to get a job without a specialized degree. What would make you say, “I want to hire this person, even if the individual lacks the relevant schooling”?

3 comments

  1. zmk5
    Link
    I would start with Hastie, Tibshirani, and Friedman's "The Elements of Statistical Learning". This will give you a major foundation in the topic. Most contemporary data science uses Python and, in...
    • Exemplary

    I would start with Hastie, Tibshirani, and Friedman's "The Elements of Statistical Learning". This will give you a major foundation in the topic. Most contemporary data science uses Python and, in particular, Jupyter Notebooks to test and analyze data, so you will need to learn how to use both effectively. A good foundation in numpy, scipy, matplotlib, and scikit-learn is super useful as well.

    If you want to do some more hands-on projects I would suggest Geron's "Hands-On Machine Learning with Scikit-Learn and TensorFlow." The first 7 chapters of that book are pretty useful for learning some useful, applicative regression analysis. A new edition of the book should be out (or out soon?) that deals with modern implementations of TensorFlow because it has undergone tremendous changes recently.

    Hope that helps!

    [1] https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Statistical-Learning-Prediction-Statistics/dp/0387848576
    [2] https://www.amazon.com/Hands-Machine-Learning-Scikit-Learn-TensorFlow/dp/1491962291/ref=sr_1_3?crid=MD835WL62G9T&keywords=hands+on+machine+learning+with+scikit+learn+and+tensorflow&qid=1556847500&s=books&sprefix=hand+on+machine+learning+with+%2Cstripbooks%2C190&sr=1-3-spell

    4 votes
  2. [2]
    bill
    Link
    I don't mean to be dismissive, but there are a ton of resources for this sort of thing on the internet. More than there ever have been. Maybe it would be helpful if you were to go down the path a...

    I don't mean to be dismissive, but there are a ton of resources for this sort of thing on the internet. More than there ever have been. Maybe it would be helpful if you were to go down the path a bit and ask some more specific questions once you had learned a bit?

    I suppose the most general thing I could say is start with a MOOC and go from there.

    1 vote
    1. asteroid
      Link Parent
      I have to start with the general and follow directions from the people who are active in the topic. If you all say, "Most people look at ABC, but I'd advise XYZ" it guides me into looking at XYZ...

      I have to start with the general and follow directions from the people who are active in the topic. If you all say, "Most people look at ABC, but I'd advise XYZ" it guides me into looking at XYZ -- when few others do. Otherwise I fall into the trap of making too many assumptions.