How I Became A Data Scientist With No Experience: The Story Of How A Unilag Undergraduate Became A Chief Data Scientist In America

My journey from obscurity to limelight as a Data Scientist is captured in this must read Excerpt.

Read! Get inspired!!

Invest in self

‘‘Growth must be intentional – nobody improves by accident’’ – John Maxwell.

Take responsibility to acquire relevant and cognate knowledge by reading, studying, taking online courses, and researching.

These basic courses will enhance your intellectual capacity:

ü  Data Science Foundations:

·         Data Science Foundations

·         Data Science Methodology

 

ü  Introduction to Computer Science:

·         CS50’s Introduction to Computer Science CS50

 

ü  Programming:

·         How to Use Python: Your First Steps

·         Python for Everybody - Full University Python Course

·         Python for Data Science

·         Programming for Data Science with Python

·         R 101

 

ü  Statistics and Probability:

·         Statistics and probability

 

ü  Mathematics:

·         Mathematics for Data Science Specialization

 

ü  SQL:

·         SQL Tutorial - Full Database Course for Beginners - YouTube

·         SQL with MySQL – Complete Tutorial

 

ü  Machine Learning:

·         Andrew Ng’s Machine Learning on Coursera

·         Fast.ai Machine Learning Course

 

Develop vital skills (Build capacity)

‘‘It is the capacity to develop and improve their skills that distinguishes leaders from followers’’ – Warren Bennis and Bert Namis.

Another secret of success in the journey of Data Science is acquisition of essential skills.

Some of the hands on soft and hard skills critical to success are:

ü  Soft skills: Willingness to learn, Adaptability, Problem-solving, Creativity, Team work, Effective communication, Dependability, Organization, and Integrity.

 

ü  Hard skills: Data Cleaning and Interpretation, Data Mining, Programming Languages (Python, SQL), Tableau, Power BI, MS Office Suite, Flask, HTML, Regression (Linear, Multi-Linear, Logistic, Polynomial, SVR, Random Forest), Classification (K-NN, SVM, Random Forest, Naïve Bayes), Clustering (K-Means, Hierarchical), Gradient Boosting.

 

Get Exposed! Gain Evaluated Experience!!

It is imperative to know how Data Science works in the corporate world.

ü  Be an intern

·         Data Analytics Consulting Virtual Internship - KPMG

·         Data@ANZ Program

 

ü  Do Projects: Embark on projects that will add value to your pursuit.

·         Covid-19 Data Analysis and Visualization

·         The San Francisco Crime Classification

·         Predicting Customers Churn

Remember: ‘‘Don’t just build projects, showcase it’’

 

ü  Go for rich contents

Follow, Subscribe, and Learn!

·         Ken Jee - YouTube

·         Data Professor - YouTube

·         Krish Naik - YouTube

 

ü  Participate in Data Science Competitions

·         Zindi

·         Kaggle

·         Analytics Vidhya

 

Get Connected!! Be mindful: ‘‘Your NET WORTH is a function of your NETWORK’’.

ü  Professional Connections: Build healthy and mutual relationship with professiona

    Be part of these Data Science Communities – Network! Network!! Network!!!

·         Data Science 101

·         Big Data Scientist

·         Data Science Technology and Corporation

·         Data Science London

·         DataScience Central.

Market Yourself Strategically

ü  Create and maintain a positive digital presence.

ü  Have a professional portfolio that tells your story.

ü  Talk your crafts with others on the same level and higher levels than you.

    Get started!!!  See you at the top.