How to become a data scientist
Data scientists are in high demand in this digital age. Read our guide to see if this challenging but impactful role could be for you.
CONTENTS
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Routes to becoming a data scientist
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Skills you’ll need
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Finding work experience
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How to get a job as a data scientist
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What it's like to be a data scientist
While some data scientists start in an entry-level job and progress into a data scientist position, most people in this field have some sort of academic qualification. This might be an undergraduate degree, a degree apprenticeship or a master’s.
Undergraduate degrees
A relevant degree will help you get into this field either directly or via a graduate training scheme. As well as data science, you might consider other related subjects such as maths, statistics, or computer science. Entry requirements vary according to the course but tend to range between 88–170 UCAS points. It’ll usually take between three and four years to complete this type of course depending on whether an integrated foundation year or placement is involved.
You can learn more about what to expect from a data science degree in our subject guide, including what topics you’ll cover and how you’ll be assessed.
Degree apprenticeships
If you prefer learning on the job, a degree apprenticeship could be worth exploring. You’ll spend time as an apprentice in a data science environment and attend university to earn your bachelor’s degree. You’re paid for your work and spend less time at university. These sorts of opportunities give you hands-on experience in data analysis, report generation and providing recommendations to support decision making, amongst other things. An apprenticeship usually takes the same length of time as a traditional undergraduate degree.
You'll need four or five GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) and A levels, or equivalent, for a higher or degree apprenticeship. You can find apprenticeship vacancies via Find an apprenticeship.
Postgraduate degrees
While it’s not essential to obtain an additional postgraduate degree, many data scientists have one. This might give you an edge over other potential employees at the start of your career or enhance promotional opportunities once you have some experience, particularly if you’d like to specialise in something like artificial intelligence.
You'll typically need a relevant degree although subjects like business, economics or psychology may be considered if you can demonstrate mathematical skills and basic programming experience. A postgraduate degree takes a year to do full time or two years part time.
As well as having excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, you’ll also need:
- Confidence around database and analysis programming software
- Attention to detail
- Teamworking
- Time management
- Organisation
- Ability to work under pressure and to compete deadlines
- Communication skills
- Presentation skills
- Ability to simplify complex information to help client understanding
- Resilience and self-motivation
Finding work experience will give you something to talk about at interview as well as give you the confidence that a career in data science is for you.
Try looking for work by:
- Getting an internship, often available with larger employers and usually advertised in the autumn
- Shadowing someone in a relevant role by contacting companies you’d like to work for in the future
- Entering online data science competitions, such as those hosted by Kaggle and Topcoder, thus building your contacts whilst demonstrating your skills
How to get a job as a data scientist
Businesses keen to recruit graduate data scientists usually include those in the retail, finance and ecommerce sector. You may also find jobs in the transport, telecommunication and oil and gas industry as understanding big data will inform their decisions. You can find specific roles on DataScientistJobs as well as CWJobs and technojobs. LinkedIn is also worth exploring for data science vacancies.
What it's like to be a data scientist
As a data scientist you’ll work with organisations to turn raw data into meaningful information to improve their business using software, artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Depending on your role and specialisation, your tasks could include:
- using data to identify, manage and solve business problems
- gathering and managing data from different sources to create models and test hypotheses
- manipulating, analysing and visualising data using statistical software
- producing recommendations and explaining them to different audiences
- building complex mathematical and analytical models using algorithms and machine learning techniques
- identifying and explaining how data science can benefit your organisation
- keep up to date with the latest developments in data science
Once qualified you might want to join a professional organisation like the Chartered Institute for IT (BCS). This can also help build your networks and support continued professional development particularly if you work for a small organisation or are self-employed.
As a graduate your starting salary is usually between £25,000 and £30,000. This could rise to £40,000 once you’ve gained some experience. A senior data scientist could earn between £40,000 and £60,000 with chief or lead data scientists earning as much as £100,000.
Is a role as a data scientist right for you?
If you love data and statistics and want to support businesses to use that information productively, a role as a data scientist could be for you.
- READ MORE
- What do graduates do and earn?
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