In the generation that we live in today, it is a very common question of whether you can become a professional in a particular field without actually having a degree.
Amongst these sets of questions, one of the most popular ones is the possibility of becoming a Data Scientist without a degree. To get the correct answer to these questions, it is better to look for guidance.
The first Chief Data Scientist, DJ Patil built the first team of Data Science at LinkedIn. He became the Chief Data Scientist of the US in the year 2015.
In 2016, he mentioned the fact that your course major or whether you have a degree, does not affect your chances of learning Data Science and becoming a Data Scientist.
So, to be a data science expert, you have to join data science courses. Following up with this, he also mentioned that HR and recruiters should make a judgment based on work rather than education.
Does the role of a Data Scientist require a degree?
It makes more sense for someone to be judged for a job based on their work experience and not education. In reality, many successful tech professionals have reached the optimum height and goal without getting a degree.
Many of these professionals like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Steve Jobs are college dropouts yet they are known by the world for their inventions and contributions.
You can become a Data Scientist even if you have a degree in another field. Many well-known Data Scientists do not have a technical degree. The developer of the Hadoop framework, Doug Cutting, has a degree in linguistics.
O’Reilly Media, one of the most famous publishers for programming and data resources, is owned by Tim O’Reilly who has a degree in the classics. These degrees are nowhere close to qualification the in technical field.
It does not mean that getting a degree does not make any difference in landing a job. Getting a bachelor’s degree in any field helps in a lot of ways but it is not a necessity.
When you search for Data Scientist jobs, they generally do not mention any qualifications as such. The main reason is that there is a high demand for Data Scientists but it outmatches the supply. This is why companies generally hire people even without a graduation degree.
Becoming a Data Analyst without a degree
Though it is possible to become a Data Scientist even without a degree, you can’t say the same about Data Analysts. The roles of a Data Analyst generally require a bachelor’s degree in the field of science, engineering, technology, or mathematics.
Also, it requires experience in programming, predictive analytics, or computer modeling.
So if you want to become a Data Analyst then it is better if you get an undergraduate degree in the necessary field. However, you can also sign up for a Data Science course and learn the skills that are required to become a Data Analyst.
Skills required to become a Data Scientist
Even though you don’t need to have an undergraduate degree to become a Data Scientist, you do need to have some specific skills. The three must-have skills to become a Data Scientist include programming, statistics, and knowledge of the business industry.
To analyze trends and patterns in data and manipulate it using various methods, you need to have a good knowledge of mathematics and statistics. You need to have good programming skills to deal with a large amount of data.
Lastly, to communicate and share your insights within the organization, you need to have an understanding of business fundamentals.
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