What Makes A Good Data Scientist?

ANATOMY OF A DATA SCIENTIST The era of Big Data has created a talent gap for people who can pull actionable insights out of raw data. The data scientist-called "the sexiest job of the 21st century" by Harvard Business Review-is in demand, with a 15,000% jump in job posts between 2011-2012. In the US, the average salary for these sought-after scientists is around $100,000. So what malkes a good data scientist? 07 11-expr a+b%. 4 1 5r '-12 Zo = 70.11 1:9 V3r Cn 2 3 Degreed In Geek It doesn't hurt to have degrees from top operations research, statistics or mathematics programs, such as those at MIT, Stanford, Harvey Mudd, Imperial College London, Cambridge University and the Indian Institute of Technology. Problem- Solving Prowess A problem solv heart who's able to devise creative solutions to real-world problems. Knows how to define those problems precisely, spot elusive patterns and connect the dots. Mathlete Strong math skills are table stakes. Insight Whisperer Can develop unique insights, apply them to solve business problems, and explain them to business people who don't have PhDs in operations research. Suit-Able Has the know-how and finesse to be a business leader. Today, data scientists can lead from the backroom to the boardroom. Iiilli SISATWNE Quantastic Successful data scientists come not only from pure math backgrounds, but also from such fields as engineering, statistics and econometrics. They have program- ming skills or the ability to learn programming languages and represent concepts via computer code. Curiouser and Curiouser Critical thinking and a relentlessly inquisitive nature are at the center of an analytic mindset. Agile and Adaptive Versatile enough to apply their expertise to multiple industries, from retail to banking, insurance to government, health care to airlines. It takes one to know one: A true data scientist can spot the real deal Sources: www.indeed.com/jobtrends?q=%22Data+Scientist%22&l=%5D&relative=1 http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2013/05/10/big-data-jobs/ http://hbr.org/2012/10/data-scientist-the-sexiest-job-of-the-21st-century/ar/1 www.nytimes.com/2013/04/14/education/edlife/universities-offer-courses-in-a-hot-new-field-data-science.html?_r=2& www-01.ibm.com/software/data/infosphere/data-scientist/ www.fico.com www.indeed.com/salary?q1=Ddata+scientist& 1=&tm=1 www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=DData_Scientist_%2F_Engineer/Salary FICO