Demand for skilled data scientists continues to be sky-high, with IBM recently predicting that there will be a 28% increase in the number of employed data scientists in the next two years.
Businesses in all industries are beginning to capitalize on the vast increase in data and the new technologies becoming available for analyzing and gaining value from it.
This makes it a great prospect for anyone looking for a well-paid career in an exciting and cutting-edge field.
But it isn’t just those following a traditional academic path – such by studying for one of the best US data science masters degree courses I covered in a recent article – who can benefit.
There are also a large number of free online courses and tutorials which a motivated individual could use as a springboard into a rewarding and lucrative career.
Who could benefit from a free online data science course?
Employers are waking up to the fact that employees with the ability to use data and analytics to solve business problems are increasingly valuable, whatever their background or position in an organization.
A lot of this is because of the proliferation of self-service infrastructure and tools designed to automate many of the technical but repetitive tasks involved with data cleaning, preparation and analytics. This means workers are increasingly able to carry out complex data-driven operations such as predictive modelling and automation without getting their hands dirty coding complex algorithms from scratch.
However, someone with an understanding of the principles will often be in a better position to use these tools productively than someone without! So, if you are looking to enhance your own CV with analytics skills you could do far worse than look at some of these courses. It’s worth noting however that while you can educate yourself with these courses without spending a penny, some of them charge for certification when you’ve finished.
Coursera provides one of the longest-established online data science educations, through John Hopkins University. It isn’t completely free – if you can afford it, you are expected to pay a course and certification fee – but this is waived for students who don’t have the financial resources available.
Comprised of 10 courses, the specialization covers statistical programming in R, cluster analysis, natural language processing and practical applications of machine learning. To complete the program, students create a data product which can be used to solve a real-world problem.
Also from Coursera, this course is provided by PwC so unsurprisingly focuses more on business applications than theory. It covers the spectrum of tools and techniques which are being adopted by businesses today to tackle data challenges, and the different roles that data specialists can fill in modern organizations. Students are also tutored on selecting the best tools and frameworks for solving problems with data. The four-week course concludes with a task involving deploying a data solution in a simulated business environment,
This course is provided by Microsoft and forms part of their Professional Program Certificate in Data Science, although it can also be taken as a stand-alone course through EdX.
