How to start journey in data science?

Data Science, AI and ML
, , , ,
#1

If you are looking for a career in data analytics, I would suggest that you take up a job in one of the analytics companies - Mu Sigma, ZS associates, Fractal, Tredence, etc. These companies mostly don’t need any prerequisites for entry level analyst jobs and provide great opportunities to learn the skills from scratch

If that’s not possible for you, I would suggest you take the following progression to learn data analytics in each of the key areas:

Maths

  1. Basic statistics and data summarizing parameters like mean, median, mode, central tendencies, distributions, etc.
  2. Data integrity, comparison and tendency tests like t-test, z-test, f-test
  3. Regression - Linear, Logistic, GLM, Mixed in that order
  4. Advanced techniques like predictive modeling and prescriptive methods

Technology

  1. Microsoft Excel: This is the Holy grail of analytics. Learn this in and out. From simple formulae to the data analytics tool and dashboard in, you should learn it all
  2. VBA: This is an extension of Excel and though not used very extensively, can help in making a lot of tasks in excel easier
  3. SQL: This is the logical progression from Excel for handling larger data volumes and also standardizing processes and creating code modules for repeated use
  4. SAS/R: The next step will be one of these tools as they can help you do more complex processing like regression and modeling
  5. Tableau: This is almost the standard right now for data visualization and dashboarding
  6. Advanced technologies like Shiny, Hadoop, Hive, etc.

Business

  1. Working of different verticals like Technology, Pharma, Healthcare, Retail, Banking, etc.
  2. Applications of analytics in each of these verticals

Hope this helps.