Is Data Science or Analytics for me?
This is the first ever post on this blog and I wanted to start off with a daunting question for folks thinking of starting a career in Analytics or Data Science, like I did 6 years ago.
Before we jump on to the main question let me give some context on what is Data Science and Analytics and I will use my experience and understanding to describe it.
Analysts usually work on generating day to day business insights from data. They work less on statistics and more on measurement and operational insights. For instance, which are the top selling categories on an e-commerce website? Who are our top sellers and buyers? How much business did we do in the last 30 days?. Analysts are expected to have a good logical structuring and thinking ability.
Data Scientists on the other hand deal a lot more with building models and are usually expected to have a good grip on Mathematics and Statistics. They are tasked with answering questions like "What buyers are likely to stop shopping in the next 1 month?", "What is the likelihood an item will be sold based on listing features?"
Both Analysts and Data Scientists are expected to learn coding in some or the other platform to access and process data.
P.P.S. - It is not mandatory that you should know coding already to become a good analyst or data scientist. Read my story below for more on this.
My short answer is, it's for people who enjoy logical thinking and problem solving and have a desire to learn more on the same.
Here's my short story on how I started my career in this domain and hopefully that's a motivation for some of you still in doubt.
Before I started my first job (in Analytics) my background was Mechanical engineering and then an MBA. So far I had absolutely '0' experience in Analytics and had never written a line of code in my life. I couldn't even write Macros in Excel. Vlookup was a cool new feature for me back then (I know!)
Nevertheless; I applied for a job in a multinational company for an Analytics role and got selected for the interviews. I made it clear during the interview that I hadn't done coding before.
In the interview they asked me a bunch of real world problems that the company faces and asked me how I would approach to solve them, what information I would need to look at to understand the problem etc. I gave my answers and they were happy with it.
Later that day I got an offer from the company. Not to brag, but I was the only candidate among the 7 being interviewed who had '0' experience working in a company.
It's been 6 years since, and I know how to use multiple platforms to do my analysis and coding is a part of my daily routine. Still lots to learn as I try to get better with statistics and building models.
Finally, I would say don't pursue Data Science or Analytics because people are talking about it. Do it if you like solving problems and remember you can always learn tools and coding as you work.
Feel free to ask your questions in the comments below, I will try my best to answer them.
Before we jump on to the main question let me give some context on what is Data Science and Analytics and I will use my experience and understanding to describe it.
What is Data Science / Analytics and how do they differ?
As the name suggests both of these fields relate to using data for practical business applications. There is a difference though:Analysts usually work on generating day to day business insights from data. They work less on statistics and more on measurement and operational insights. For instance, which are the top selling categories on an e-commerce website? Who are our top sellers and buyers? How much business did we do in the last 30 days?. Analysts are expected to have a good logical structuring and thinking ability.
Data Scientists on the other hand deal a lot more with building models and are usually expected to have a good grip on Mathematics and Statistics. They are tasked with answering questions like "What buyers are likely to stop shopping in the next 1 month?", "What is the likelihood an item will be sold based on listing features?"
Both Analysts and Data Scientists are expected to learn coding in some or the other platform to access and process data.
P.P.S. - It is not mandatory that you should know coding already to become a good analyst or data scientist. Read my story below for more on this.
Is Data Science or Analytics for me?
My short answer is, it's for people who enjoy logical thinking and problem solving and have a desire to learn more on the same.
Here's my short story on how I started my career in this domain and hopefully that's a motivation for some of you still in doubt.
Before I started my first job (in Analytics) my background was Mechanical engineering and then an MBA. So far I had absolutely '0' experience in Analytics and had never written a line of code in my life. I couldn't even write Macros in Excel. Vlookup was a cool new feature for me back then (I know!)
Nevertheless; I applied for a job in a multinational company for an Analytics role and got selected for the interviews. I made it clear during the interview that I hadn't done coding before.
In the interview they asked me a bunch of real world problems that the company faces and asked me how I would approach to solve them, what information I would need to look at to understand the problem etc. I gave my answers and they were happy with it.
Later that day I got an offer from the company. Not to brag, but I was the only candidate among the 7 being interviewed who had '0' experience working in a company.
It's been 6 years since, and I know how to use multiple platforms to do my analysis and coding is a part of my daily routine. Still lots to learn as I try to get better with statistics and building models.
Finally, I would say don't pursue Data Science or Analytics because people are talking about it. Do it if you like solving problems and remember you can always learn tools and coding as you work.
Feel free to ask your questions in the comments below, I will try my best to answer them.
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