Launch Your Data Science Journey in 2021
By: Benjamin Obi Tayo Ph.D.
Tags: Growth, Data Science, Professional Development, Education, Self Improvement

Launch Your Data Science Journey in 2021

Photo by SpaceX on Unsplash

The world is in the midst of a global pandemic that has brought about unprecedented economic challenges, with hundreds of thousands of lives lost, businesses crushed, and millions of people out of work. Despite the grim situation, there is light at the end of the tunnel. The approval of vaccines such as the Pfizer vaccine and potentially Moderna vaccine (within a few weeks from now) and others means that there are positive signs of life to return to normal again towards the third/fourth quarter of 2021. These are fascinating news.

As more and more people become vaccinated, we will eventually gain herd immunity, and life will then return to normal again. This means the global economy will start to pick up again, and there will be lots of new opportunities to explore. If you are currently unemployed and are looking for an area to enhance your professional skills, or if you are simply interested in learning a new skill to boost your resume, data science is worth your consideration.

Data science is a growing multidisciplinary field that can open the doors to several opportunities. Anyone passionate about working with data can set it as a goal to learn the fundamentals of data science.

Are you interested in learning about the power of data?

Are you interested in learning how to explore data, analyze data, and draw out meaningful and insightful findings from data?

Are you interested in adding data science skills into your skills set toolbox?

Are you interested in learning about one of the hottest career fields today?

If you answer yes to a majority of the questions above, then you have to make up your mind and begin your journey to data science as soon as possible. There is no reason to delay. Challenge yourself to begin your journey this 2021. It takes time, energy, and effort to master the fundamentals of data science, but keep in mind that a journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step. Slowly but surely, as you educate yourself about data and look for opportunities to share your newly acquired knowledge with other data science aspirants or professionals, your knowledge and expertise will continue to grow over time.

Here are 5 reasons why you should consider launching your data science journey in 2021.

5 reasons for learning data science in 2021

1. We live in a digital world. Everything is data-driven

We live in the most interesting times of human history. The digital age has ushered in the “data era,” an era in which data has become a commodity that is more valuable than oil and gold. The amount of data produced globally on a daily basis is unprecedented and is expected only to keep on increasing as more of the world’s population gets more access to the internet. Think about the amount of data stored on platforms such as Google (your google searches), Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Amazon, Netflix, etc. How about government data, health care data, customer data, and academic records held in the databases of thousands of universities across the world. Telecommunication data such as text messages, voice calls, etc. These are the most exciting times to learn about data science.

There is data science in business, accounting, education, science, engineering, healthcare, technology, energy sector, government, and so on. So having the ability to work with data is an essential skill. Combining your data science knowledge with whatever skill sets that you already have will add more value to your resume and CV.

2. Learning about data science provides an opportunity for you to recreate yourself

When I started my journey to data science about 3years ago, I was already working as a physics professor at the university. But as always, I always wanted to learn something new, something that can keep me academically challenged, something inspiring. After doing some research and also having conversations with a friend of mine who was also getting into data science, he encouraged me to pursue data science. I began my journey to data science about 3 years ago. Over this period of time, I have completed numerous data science and machine learning courses on platforms such as DataCamp, edX, Coursera, and YouTube. Challenge yourself to learn about data this 2021. If you have some background in a complementary discipline such as mathematics, physics, engineering, computer science, accounting, or economics, then you can teach yourself the fundamentals of data science through self-study. For resources to get you started, please see this article: Learning Data Science Has Never Been Easier.

3. Data science is a very promising field with lots of high paying job opportunities

Data Science, Machine Learning, and Analytics are considered to be among the hottest career paths. The demand for skilled data science practitioners in industry, academia, and the government is rapidly growing. The ongoing “data rush” is, therefore, attracting so many professionals with diverse backgrounds such as physics, mathematics, statistics, economics, and engineering. The job outlook for data scientists is very positive.

By learning the foundations of data science, you can increase your odds of getting a job in the data science field. The question to ask yourself is this: When the opportunity in data science comes knocking at your door, will you be ready? If you have been putting data science off, this is the time to start your journey, do not delay.

4. Basic data science skills are important for personal use

I have found data science to be very helpful in my academic life for analyzing research data. As a computational materials scientist, my research involves analyzing tons of data produced from computational modeling software. Analyzing these data helps me to draw out meaningful insights such as exotic materials properties that render the material suitable for diverse applications such as drug design and delivery, solar energy harvesting, high-speed electronics, and biosensing applications. I also use machine learning tools to analyze large datasets of materials properties to establish correlations between certain properties and for outlier detection. Using data visualization techniques has also helped me to produce high-quality visualizations of research data.

5. You can use your knowledge in data science for generating side income.

There are so many side income opportunities for people with a data science background, for example, freelancing, tutoring, teaching, blogging. When I started blogging, I was making under $2/month from my data science articles on medium. Today, I now make over $600/month, certainly not house rent yet, but quite a good subsidiary income, especially as it is generated from something I love doing. If you already have some basic data science knowledge and are interested in writing data science blogs on medium, here are some resources:

Beginner’s Guide to Writing Data Science Blogs on Medium

Choose the Right Featured Image For Your Data Science Articles

Other side income ideas to explore with a data science background include:

Freelancing

Creating an online course, e.g., massive open online courses.

ebook

Training Sessions/Webinars

Consulting

Summary

There are numerous free resources for learning about data science these days. Resources can be found on platforms such as edX, Coursera, Udemy, DataCamp, YouTube, etc. The only factor now is you. The ball is in your court. Are you willing to dedicate your time and energy to learn about data? Learning the fundamentals of data science is a great investment you can never regret. This is the time to act and to act fast. Let 2021 be the year you finally get on board for your data science journey.

Additional Data Science/Machine Learning Resources

Data Science Minimum: 10 Essential Skills You Need to Know to Start Doing Data Science

Data Science Curriculum

Essential Maths Skills for Machine Learning

3 Best Data Science MOOC Specializations

5 Best Degrees for Getting into Data Science

A Data Science Portfolio is More Valuable than a Resume