This week’s career memes take a closer – and cheeky – look at data scientists, deemed as ‘2015’s hottest profession’ in a recent report.
Mashable reports the popularity of data scientists is the result of a trickle-down effect: tech giants such as Google and Amazon have data science groups, but the use of the discipline is making its way into non-tech companies that are looking to discover information to fuel new revenue streams and streamline business.
What they do: Data scientists explore and examine data from multiple sources, sift through and analyse data for patterns and insights to solve business challenges and develop business strategy, determine what data means, and recommends ways to apply that data, according to IBM.
What they don’t do: Work with test tubes and Bunsen burners.
Educational requirements: Solid background in maths, statistics, computer science and applications.
Required skills: Excellent analytical, communication, data mining and problem-solving skills, knowledge of statistical programming languages, such as R or Python, and a database querying language such as SQL, would be beneficial.
Salary: A data scientist can expect to earn an average annual salary of US$95,586, according to PayScale.com.
