The information age has been upon us for most of the new millennium. But as technology becomes more complex, the data that it mines and uses becomes more plentiful. Emergent technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are becoming increasingly popular. These technologies collect, use, and report tons of data that help improve our daily lives, whether through voice-activated commands on our smartphones or the way customers buy products online.
The subfield of data science is booming. If you are looking for a way to break into this booming industry, there has never been a better time. Breaking into a data science career used to require earning a degree in computer science, data science, or more general Information Technology through a four-year university program, or a two-year program at your local community or technical college. But these days, there is a quicker and more cost-effective route to learn the necessary data science skills that one needs to start a new career in the tech industry. Coding bootcamps are surging all around the United States and even the world. These short term, intensive hands-on coding programs will teach you everything that once took two to four years, in less than a year.
Coding bootcamps are excellent for busy parents to learn the data science skills they need to begin a new and exciting tech career. Many of the schools that host coding bootcamps also offer a wide selection of class schedule options, including full-time and in-person classes, part-time, online and even self-paced. If you are already working a full-time job, and taking care of a busy household, you can still complete a bootcamp during the hours that work for you.
Moreover, if you are on a tight budget, schools such as Hack Reactor, offer deferred tuition payments as well as income-sharing agreements. These allow the student to apply, enroll, and finish their bootcamps without making an upfront payment. Instead, students agree to repay their tuition costs after they secure a job in the tech industry.
Let’s discuss what jobs you can expect in the data science field, and what you can expect from those jobs.
Data Scientist
Data science is one of the fastest-growing subsets of the tech industry, and it has been reported that expected job growth in this discipline will be around 16 percent by 2028.
Data Scientists use domain-specific languages like SQL, R, Python, and Scala to build data collection methods. They use database framework software like Hadoop, Tableau, and MongoDB to store and organize the data they collect. With these tools, Data Scientists develop solutions to collect, track, and organize data to solve complex business problems. The business solutions that you work on can vary greatly, from the time your HR department takes to respond to internal personnel issues, to the productivity of the sales teams. This data can also be collected from customers with methods like surveys that measure client satisfaction, what products are searched for, and when they are searched for on the online marketplace.
Data Engineering
As a Data Engineer, you will be part of the specific subset of Data Scientists who are responsible for creating the methods used to analyze the data that is collected, at scale. On a day-to-day basis, you can expect to do the necessary programming to build query and pipeline systems that help streamline the data reporting processes to break it down into trackable, visual segments.
As an experienced Data Engineer, you can expect to earn over $108,000, according to the salary reporting information available on ZipRecruiter.
Data Analysis
After you complete your Data Science bootcamp, you will most likely enter into the tech industry as entry-level data science in a role like Data Analyst. As a Data Analyst, you can expect to do the breakdown reporting and visual organization that comes out of the data pipelines built by the Data Engineers at your company.
Data Analyst is one of the highest-paid entry-level positions across the tech industry. Even as an entry-level associate, you can expect a national average salary of over $95,000.
All-in-all, Data Science is a blossoming discipline that is becoming a viable option for people that are looking to bring their data skills up to date. Improving abilities in data engineering and data analysis can have a dramatic impact on a data practitioners’ compensation, ability to make a difference, and upward mobility through their organization and in their career.
