Introduction
As companies across industries and sizes are increasing their reliance on data-driven decision-making, there is a steep rise in demand for various data science roles, even at an entry level. It’s projected that data scientist roles will increase by 36% from 2023 to 2033, which is significantly faster than the average for all other occupations. It is further expected that around 20,800 data science job openings will roll out annually, making it a highly in-demand profession.
If you want to take advantage of this boom and enter the data science verse, you need to ensure you have all the skills that recruiters look for while hiring. To enable all the data science aspirants in this regard, we at the Indian School of Business and Finance (ISBF), known for offering the best data science course in Delhi, have curated this blog post today. Here, we’ve covered the two main types of skills, i.e., technical skills and soft skills, that recruiters generally look for in candidates appearing for entry-level data science roles. Explore both below and prepare accordingly.
Core Technical Skills Recruiters Actively Seek for Data Science Roles
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Programming Skills
Recruiters expect proficiency in Python or R for data manipulation, with libraries like Pandas and NumPy being essential. SQL is equally crucial for extracting data from databases, and knowledge of using tools like Git or Bash adds bonus points. Writing clean, readable, and well-documented code is a top requirement, so ensure you excel in all these.
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Statistics and Probability
Foundational statistical knowledge is a must for entry-level data science roles. No wonder most recruiters favour candidates who can confidently apply concepts like distributions, hypothesis testing, or correlation in real-world problems. While theoretical knowledge is valued, practical reasoning and applicability outweigh it. Hence, you must be thoroughly familiar with both the theoretical and practical aspects.
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Machine Learning Fundamentals
When hiring for entry-level data science roles, recruiters expect candidates to have knowledge of basic machine learning models like regression, decision trees, k-means clustering, etc. Besides a clear foundational understanding, you must also understand how these concepts work in real-world applications.
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Data Wrangling and Cleaning
Since real-world data is messy, recruiters prefer candidates who can prepare datasets effectively for analysis. As such, skills like handling missing values, removing duplicates, performing feature engineering, etc., are highly valued. At ISBF, we firmly believe that if you have the ability to transform raw data into meaningful features, you can have a high chance of cracking a data science interview and bagging the job.
Soft Skills Recruiters Look for in Data Science Candidates
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Communication Skills
It’s a non-negotiable for all entry-level data science roles. Recruiters will always choose candidates who clearly explain technical concepts to non-technical teams. Writing clear project documentation and presenting analysis results in an easy-to-understand manner is key.
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Business Acumen
Entry-level data science roles aren’t just about models but solving real business problems. Companies would always hire candidates who first ask the ‘why’ before jumping into the ‘how.’ Understanding business contexts is crucial as it ensures the undertaken work is impactful and serves the project’s ultimate requirement.
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Collaboration and Adaptability
Data science is rarely a solo job, so recruiters prefer candidates who skilfully collaborate with product, marketing, engineering, and other teams for smooth operational work. Adaptability is another significant soft skill because it enables candidates to adjust their work approaches based on feedback or shifting project goals. You can boost your hiring chances if you demonstrate your ability to work in cross-functional setups.
Conclusion
The hiring world is getting more competitive than ever. This simply means that people can no longer expect to get hired based solely on their technical knowledge scale. A healthy mix of technical/core and soft skills is needed to secure rewarding opportunities, even at an entry level. This is why we at ISBF, by means of our B.Sc. (Hons) Data Science & Business Analytics program, are leaving no stones unturned to ensure that by the time our students enter the professional world, they grow fully prepared on both fronts, i.e., theoretical and practical. By inculcating various sorts of activities in our curriculum, we are making sure that our students are not only groomed on their technical skills, but their soft skills are also equally honed.
So, if you plan to pursue data science as your professional field, enrol for ISBF’s B.Sc. (Hons) Data Science & Business Analytics program, referred to as the best data science course in Delhi, and acquire a competitive advantage over others to boost your chances of bragging the best of data science jobs.