Finding the Unicorn Data Scientist
Nowadays, as more shifters or career shifters are around there are people who declared themselves as Data Scientist. These abundance are somewhat we can call as raw skills. They may possess skills at some level but it is not yet enough. In order for us to beat the uncertainty, let us see what it takes to be a data scientist.
In order to be a Data Scientist, there are 3 major skills, the Computer Science / Hacking skills, Mathematics & Statistics skills and Substantive knowledge like research, business, medicine, biostatistics and other domain skills and knowledge.
Machine learning also come into play which is part of Artificial Intelligence, it is where we model the world in order to be able to forecast and predict information. Knowledge of programming, especially functional programming, database systems and big data is necessary for the technical skills.
Statistics and Mathematics skills and knowledge are also needed in order to be a Data Scientist to have the expertise on looking and solving problems and expressing them in figures and numbers. With these the data scientist can model the world in numbers or they are able to quantify the world that we are living in in order to infer analysis.
Substantive knowledge on the other hand will come into skills with research, business, biostatistics or medicine and other fields which may need some knowledge of the problem being observed and analyzed through the use of data.
Other skills needed for Data Scientist is the ability to present his work to non-technical people and visualize the findings so as to make the relay of information in simpler forms so that everyone can get a grasp of the information being communicated.
Unicorn Data Scientists are those that have accidentally gained different skills. In my case, I am a certified IT engineer, have been skilled in Marketing and Digital Marketing, took up Master's Degree in Business Administration (MBA), been doing Solutions Architecture (Cloud) and other sort of researches like in the biotechnology research on BioPhotonics, bioinformatics and more. A vast array of experience and exposure to different fields and being able to integrate or having a look at different stages of the industry, business, medical field, sciences, arts and technology is needed in order to be a Unicorn Data Scientist.
It is somewhat hard to find them, and most them are either Master's Degree or Doctor's Degree (or PhD) holders. They have a mixed nut in marketing and economics too, and have been around in Research and Development projects, some have experienced multi-shifted career experience, and others are life-long learners that have immersed oneself in Computer Science, Math & Stats and Substantive Knowledge.
Unicorn Data Scientists are products of experience, sometimes not of a well lined career path but a path wherein these people have skills in mixed and different fields. Most of them are fast learners and have even looked into Systems or processes which is one of the applications of data science. Even in business processes not just data can we apply data science and engineering.
If you are lucky to find a Unicorn Data Scientist, be sure to take care of them as they are mostly rare and hard to find.
