full article from Kunal Jain: How Do I Become a Data Scientist?

Last week, Kunal Jain shared a framework to help you answer the question, “Should I become a data scientist (or business analyst)?“. For the people, who clear the cut-offs, the next obvious question is “How do I become a data scientist?”

Having said that, if I was starting his career today, would he choose the same path? The answer is NO.

Step 1: Graduate from a top tier university in a quantitative discipline

Step 2: Take up a lot of MOOCs on the subject – but do them one at a time

• Python:
  • Introduction to Computer Science and Programming using Python – eDX.org
  • Intro to Data Science – Udacity
  • Workshop videos from Pycon and SciPy – some of them are mentioned here
  • Selectively pick from the vast tutorials available on the net in form of iPython notebooks
• R:
  • The Analytics Edge – eDX.org
  • Pick out a few courses from Data Science specialization to complement Analytics Edge
• Other courses (applicable for both the stacks):
  • Machine Learning from Andrew Ng – Coursera
  • Statistics course on Udacity
  • Introduction to Hadoop and MapReduce on Udacity

Step 3: Take a couple of internships / freelancing jobs

Step 4: Participate in data science competitions

Step 5: Take up the right job which provides awesome experience