When I was younger, I loved puzzles and spent hours trying to put together the jigsaw puzzle in my family’s living room.
I always enjoyed the feeling of satisfaction when I finally completed it.
Puzzles are an excellent analogy for data science: many pieces come together to create a big picture.
In this blog post, I want to share my journey into data science and discuss why I’m so interested in data science.
Hopefully, sharing my experiences helps someone new or questioning if joining data science is right for them.
Why I Became A Data Scientist
When I was younger, I loved spending hours in front of the computer.
My parents were always amazed at how quickly I learned how to use it and navigate the internet.
Growing up, one of my favorite games was playing the Lego Themed Soccer Mania on my parent’s computer.
While playing games was fun, what nobody understood is that I was actually fascinated by the computer itself.
I loved learning about the computer’s inner workings and how I could make it do what I wanted.
While you would think this love of computers would lead me to study computer science in college, it didn’t.
I had no idea that Computer Science was a thing.
I studied Industrial Engineering.
True Story: I went to the guidance counselor in my junior year of college to ask about switching to Computer Science.
I was told it would cost me at least three more years in undergrad.
The guidance counselor told me that if I was interested in computer science, I should go to grad school after I finished up with industrial engineering.
So I did.
Except I didn’t do Computer Science, I studied Analytics (Data Science And Artificial Intelligence) At Georgia Tech.
In the later parts of my undergrad journey, there were some high-level statistics classes that I had to take.
These classes made me fall in love with statistics and applied math.
Throughout my life, I had always wanted to “argue” and “prove” things right or wrong by numbers, and with statistics, I finally felt like I had that power.
So when I had the choice of Computer Science and Data Science in grad school, I chose the one with both statistics and computer science.
I’m still fascinated by computers. But now, it’s more about how they can be used to analyze data and find patterns.
I love staying in touch with the field and finding new ways to use machine learning and statistics to gain insights from data.
It’s funny; something that started as just a love for computers and math turned into a career.
A career filled with curiosity and passion – a passion that I hope you can feel through each one of these posts.
Why Data Science Is Important
Data science is important because it helps us to make better decisions.
We can identify patterns and trends we would otherwise miss by analyzing data leveraging computers.
This allows us to make data-driven informed decisions about everything from which products to stock on store shelves to how to allocate our tight marketing budget.
Also, data science can help us to avoid making bad decisions.
This is because data science can help us to identify risks and potential problems before they happen.
If we are considering launching a new product, data science can help us assess the potential risks and ensure that we are prepared for them.
Lastly, data science is important because it helps us to track our progress.
By monitoring our performance with data, we can ensure that we are making the best possible decisions and always moving forward.
“What gets measured gets improved”
Why Pursue a Career in Data Science?
Data scientists are the creative minds behind some of today’s most cutting-edge technology. They bridge the gap between science and art, using complex algorithms to extract knowledge from data in various forms – whether it’s unstructured or structured!
It’s a relatively new field, but it’s already significantly impacting the world around us.
Here are three good reasons to pursue a career in data science:
1. There’s a very high demand for skilled data scientists.
As more and more businesses rely on data to make decisions, the demand for data scientists has skyrocketed.
We’ve already begun seeing a shortage of analytical professionals.
According to LinkedIn, over 170,000 data science positions are open, and these numbers grow every month.
Data science is an excellent option if you’re looking for a stable and in-demand career.
2. Data scientists are well-compensated.
Because of the high demand for data, scientists tend to be very well-compensated compared to other professionals.
According to Glassdoor, the average base salary for a data scientist is over $124,174 per year.
And if you have experience with big data tools and technologies like Hadoop and Spark, you can expect to earn even more.
3. Data science is exciting and impactful work.
Data science is not only in-demand and well-paid, but it’s exciting and impactful work.
As a data scientist, you’ll get to work with large amounts of data and use your skills to solve real-world problems.
No two days will be the same, and you’ll constantly learn new things at the edge of technology.
Data science is worth considering if you’re looking for a challenging, interesting, and rewarding career.
Why Is Data Science Interesting?
Data science is interesting because it allows you to use data to answer questions that you wouldn’t be able to answer using traditional methods. (Unless you have A LOT of time)
For example, you can use data science to determine how likely people are to click on an ad or what route is the best way to get from point A to point B.
You can also use data science to make predictions, such as what the weather will be like tomorrow or how the stock market will perform next year.
Data science can improve existing systems by making a website load faster or increasing the accuracy of medical diagnoses.
Data science is interesting because it is a relatively new field that is continuously evolving.
As more and more data becomes available, new ways of using that data are constantly being developed.
This means that data science is constantly changing, and there are always new things to learn.
Just look at how many Arxiv articles came out this year on machine learning algorithms and data science!
Because data science relies heavily on computers and statistics, it is an interdisciplinary field that draws from many different areas of knowledge.
As a result, data scientists need to be able to understand and use a wide variety of tools and techniques.
Finally, data science is fascinating because it has the potential to impact almost every aspect of our lives.
From how we shop and consume media to how we make medical decisions, data science is increasingly becoming a part of our everyday lives.
Final Thoughts, Why Are You Interested In Data Science?
I pursued data science because it was a field that would constantly challenge me and allow me to learn new things.
It’s also a career where I can impact people’s lives.
If you want to impact the world and are looking for a challenging career, data science is something you should consider.
Do you have any questions about getting started in data science?
Feel free to reach out to me – I would be more than happy to help!
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