If you’re thinking about starting a career in data science, you might be wondering what to expect from an entry-level data science job. The good news is data scientists have never been more in-demand and that’s a trend that’s only expected to increase.
Regardless of where you look, job resources around the world say data science is one of the most in-demand jobs for employers of the last year. That’s only supposed to grow as more and more companies collect data and look for someone to help them understand it.
But which entry-level data science job should you expect? We’ll take a look below and perhaps by the end, you’ll be ready to enroll in a data science bootcamp.
Why You Should Learn Data Science
By virtually every account, data science job opportunities are at an all-time high and will only continue to grow. As reported by ZDNet, in 2021 DevSkiller declared data science the fastest-growing tech skill companies are looking for ahead of Python and PHP.
On top of that, Glassdoor’s Job Market Report the two jobs seeing the highest growth in average salary across the United States data analyst and data scientist. Glassdoor also lists data scientists as the No. 3 best job in the country with average job satisfaction of 4.1 out of 5 and over 10,000 current open job listings.
What’s Behind the Demand for Data Science Jobs?
Companies, particularly tech companies, are collecting more data than ever before while trying to become as analytical as possible. Without data scientists, companies have a mountain of data with no way to present, analyze, or even find the data to make it useful to marketers, sales, design, or any other department.
That’s where data science comes in. With so many companies playing catch up and an outsized demand compared to data scientists’ supply, many estimates believe data science jobs will be more in demand than web developers by the end of the decade. The median salary for a data scientist already eclipses many coding salaries.
Convinced yet? Let’s take a look at the basics of data science.
What is Data Science?
As mentioned above, companies are pulling in more data than ever and need some way to visualize this data and make business decisions using that data. There are a variety of methods for data scientists to do this.
How do data scientists do this? The five essential aspects of data science are:
- Data capture: Capturing the data is the initial step data scientists take when starting from scratch. It includes acquiring the data available to them, extracting it to the easy-to-use-medium, data entry, and signal reception
- Data maintenance: Maintaining the data is the next step in data science. A common term you’ll hear in data science is a data warehouse or lake. This effectively means a place for all the acquired data to live. Other aspects involved in maintaining data are data cleansing, staging, processing, and creating a data architecture to keep the data companies need to be organized and upfront.
- Data processing: From there, data scientists work with stakeholders to figure out what data needs to be captured and how it needs to be processed and viewed. That includes data mining, classification, modeling, and summarization.
- Data analysis: Data analysis includes a variety of different aspects, including confirming data, predictive analysis, regression, text mining, and qualitative analysis. A lot of this can fall under the term machine learning.
- Data communication: Finally, data scientists are tasked with communicating what they’ve learned to key stakeholders. Usually, this involves presenting what was found in a visual medium like Tableau or Looker and helping coworkers make decisions based on business intelligence
Entry-Level Data Science Jobs
Like any career avenue, you’re not going to start as a data scientist doing exactly what you want every day. Having said that, there are a few roles you’ll likely start in that help entry-level data scientists learn the ropes of data collection and visualization for companies. They include:
Machine Learning Analyst
In this role, you would conduct statistical analysis, maintain artificial intelligence (AI) systems, and manage machine learning processes. Machine learning analysts will spend much of their time cross-checking AI to ensure the machine learning aspects are working correctly and providing accurate data.
Business Analyst
Unlike most data science roles, a business analyst will likely work on a company’s financial team. Entry-level business analysts work with more experienced analysts in planning, budgeting, and evaluating business models.
Data Engineer
One of the most common entry-level data science jobs is a d data engineer. They’re responsible for developing, maintaining, and managing data feeds and pipelines. They spend their days fixing bugs and flaws in data systems to ensure that accurate information is extracted for business purposes.
Every entry-level data science role has some crossover and will allow you to grow your career in whichever way you’d like. If you start as a business analyst you can always move into a different path. If your passion for data science turns out to be machine learning or AI, you’ll always have the option to move through the different roles as your data science career advances.
Entry Level Data Science Tasks
In your entry-level data science job, there are several tasks you should expect to handle every week. These include:
- Cleaning and processing data
- Discover relevant data sources
- Identify trends in data
- Build algorithms and predictive models
- Create visualizations to make presentations
Entry-Level Data Science Salary
Another aspect that makes data science such an exciting career path is the salary. After all, that is ultimately what people are working for as much as the tech world likes to pretend otherwise. According to Glassdoor, the average entry-level data science job in the United States pays $88,000 a year. The average base pay is reported to be $75,000.
Those are both extremely high entry-level salaries compared to almost any other career path. That means salaries grow much higher as you gain more experience. Once data scientists shed the entry-level label, the average pay in the U.S. is $121,000 while senior data scientists average $161,000 per year.
Learn Data Science at Coding Dojo
Interested? You’re in the right place. Coding Dojo’s data science bootcamp is the perfect option for someone looking to start a new career after just a 16-week course.
Machine learning through Python is one of the most in-demand job skills on the market right now. By the end of our 16 week part-time course, you’ll come away with all the tools you need to begin your data science career.
Students spend around 20-30 hours a week working through the fundamentals of data science while also getting to work on real-world projects. This means that once you’ve graduated, you’ll walk away with a portfolio with tried-and-true results that you can confidently take into any interview.
Plus, Coding Dojo offers lifetime career support to help you find the ideal entry-level data science job. You’ll have your mentor who will work with you to set career goals and provide you with interview and class support throughout the program and beyond.
So, what’re you waiting for? Apply for the Coding Dojo data science bootcamp today.