Data Science: Career and Future Scope

Is Machine Learning has a good career prospect in the future? If this question is in your mind then read the article below to know the answer.

Nowadays, Data Science is a buzzword in the technology world. It is a major step towards how computers can learn. Day-to-day evolution in technology and the generation of huge amounts of data have led to the high demand for Data Scientists across the globe. The importance of gathering and collecting data is crucial as it enables organisations to determine and thus influence the trends in a particular industry.

Data Science encloses many breakthrough technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and Deep Learning to name a few. The progress and technological developments in data science have increased its impact across every industry. The article below discusses the scope and job opportunities in the field of Data Science.

What is Data Science?

Data Science can be defined as a multi-disciplinary tool that extracts insights from structured and unstructured data using scientific methods, processes, algorithms, and systems. In technical language, Data Science unifies statistics, data analysis, and machine learning to understand and analyse actual phenomena through data.

Data Science cannot be considered a completely technical tool as it employs techniques and theories from fields such as mathematics and statistics along with computer science and information science. The main 3 components involved in data science are organising, packaging and delivering data. Data Science analyses data and the results of that analysis are used to draw conclusions and make decisions on it.

Future Prospects of Data Science

In a recent survey of The Hindu, it was revealed that around 97,000 data analytics are vacant in India due to a lack of skilled professionals. The use of data analytics in almost every industry has contributed to a sharp increase of 45% in the total jobs related to data science last year. The growing demand for data scientists will give you an idea about the scope of Data Science in India. Here are some major industries with a high demand for data scientists.

E-commerce

E-commerce and retail are some of the most relevant industries that require data analysis at the largest level. The effective implementation of data analysis will help the e-commerce organisations to predict the purchases, profits, losses and even manipulate customers into buying things by tracking their behaviour. Retail brands analyse customer profiles and based on the results, they market the relevant products to push the customer towards purchasing.

Manufacturing

Data Science is used in manufacturing for a variety of reasons. The major use of data science in manufacturing is to affect productivity, minimise risk, and increase profit. Following are the few areas where Data Science can be used to improve productivity, processes and predict the trends:

• Performance, quality assurance, and defect tracking
• Predictive and conditional maintenance
• Demand and throughput forecasting
• Supply chain and supplier relations
• Global market pricing
• Automation and the design of new facilities
• New processes and materials for product development and production techniques
• Sustainability and greater energy efficiency

Banking & Finance

Post the financial crisis of 2008, the banking industry has been evolving rapidly. Banks were some of the earliest adopters of information technology for processes and security. Banks are using the technology to understand their customers, retain them, and have new ones as well. Data analysis is helping financial institutions to engage with customers more meaningfully by understanding their transactional patterns. The data of transactions available to banks is used in risk and fraud management. The advent of data science has led to better management of every client’s personal information. Banks are beginning to understand the importance of collating and utilising not only the debit and credit transactions but also purchase history and patterns, mode of communication, Internet banking data, social media, and mobile phone usage.

Healthcare

Electronic medical records, billing, clinical systems, data from wearables, and various pieces continue to churn out huge volumes of data every day. This presents a valuable opportunity for healthcare providers to ensure better patient care powered by actionable insights from previous patient data. Of course, data science is making it happen. Data scientists across the world are gradually revolutionising the healthcare industry. From improving care delivery to achieving operational experience, they’re working to optimise every aspect of healthcare operation by unlocking the potential of data.

Transport

The transportation industry creates unprecedented amounts of data daily. Most of the data n the industry is captured through passenger counting systems, vehicle location systems, ticketing, and fare collection systems, and scheduling and asset management systems. The use of Data Sciences contains the unprecedented potential to derive insights into planning and managing transportation networks. Insights from this captured data are significant to achieve a competitive advantage, improve service reliability, and mitigate risks.

As there are lots of opportunities in this field, this is the right time to upskill in Data Science to gab any of the following job roles.

Data Sciences: Job Roles

Let us take a sneak peek into some of the Data Science job roles in demand. Data Science jobs for freshers may include the job of a business analyst, data scientist, statistician or data architect.

Big Data Engineer: Big data engineers develop, maintain, test, and evaluate big data solutions within organizations.

Machine Learning Engineer: Machine learning engineers have to design and implement machine learning applications/algorithms to address business challenges.

Data Engineer/Data Architect: Data engineers/architects develop, construct, test, and maintain highly scalable data management systems.

Data Scientist: Data scientists have to understand the challenges of business and offer the best solutions using data analysis and data processing.

Statistician: The statistician interprets the results, along with strategic recommendations or incisive predictions, using data visualization tools or reports.

Data Analysts: Data analysts are involved in data manipulations and data visualization.

Business Analysts: Business analysts use predictive, prescriptive, and descriptive analyses to transform complex data into easily understood actionable insights for the users.

Data Scientists: Average Salaries

Salary packages of data scientists depend on their qualifications, job roles, job profiles, and years of experience. The annual package of a fresher usually lies between 6 lakh to 8 lakh per annum (as per Payscale.com). The table below consists of the average salary packages offered to different job roles of a Machine Learning Professional (as per Payscale.com).

Job Profile	Annual Package (In Rupees)
Software Engineer	2,51,000 – 10,00,000
Data Analyst	1,97,000 - 9,12,000
Senior Software Engineer	4,64,000 – 20,00,000
Data Scientist	3,37,000 - 20,00,000
Software Developer	2,06,000 – 10,00,000
Sr. Software Engineer/Developer/Programmer	4,13,000 - 20,00,000
Senior Business Analyst	4,29,000 – 20,00,000
Business Analyst, IT	2,86,000 – 10,00,000
Senior Data Analyst	3,10,000 - 10,00,000
Software Engineer/Developer/Programmer	2,32,000 – 10,00,000

Top Recruiters

Below is the list of some renowned companies that recruit data scientists

• Amazon

• LinkedIn

• IBM

• Walmart Labs

• Busigence Technologies

• Fractal Analytics

• Sigmoid

• Flipkart

• Mate Labs

• Couture

Data Science Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q. What is Data Science?

A. Data Science is used as a tool to extract information from unstructured and structured data using scientific processes, systems and more. 

Q. What are the job prospects for Data Science?

A. The most popular job prospects for Data Science are in e-commerce, healthcare, finance banking and more.

Q. Currently which Data Science professions are in demand?

A. Currently, Data Science professions such as Statistician, Data Scientist, Big Data Engineer and Analysts are in demand. 

Q. What is the average salary of a Data Analyst?

A. The average salary of a Data Analyst ranges from almost 2 lakh to 9 lakh. 

Q. Which are the top recruiters for Data Science professionals?

A. Few of the top recruiters for Data Science professionals are Amazon, Flipkart and IBM.