You Can Get a Job in Data Science Without Knowing Everything

Data science can be both an incredibly vague and intimidating topic. If you search on Google or Reddit forums, chances are you may quickly become overwhelmed with how much information exists. Some of that is due to the vast number of roles, from “Business Analyst” to “Machine Learning Scientist” that fall under this umbrella. It’s also a product of advancements in the field being relatively new and constantly changing. For those graduating or looking to begin a career in data science, it can be overwhelming, and in many cases, defeating.

While it seems like many companies are asking for every skill and ability under the sun for entry-level positions, it is, in fact, possible to get started without knowing everything.

As a Type-A person, I always strive for perfection, which often results in “failure”. When I started learning “data science”, I wanted to know everything about every topic which often made it difficult to ever get too deep into any of the topics. I was constantly asking myself “Is there a better option?” when I would start a project or an online course. As a young, aspiring data scientist, I wanted to be doing the best possible option so companies would take notice. Not only did this turn out to be counter-productive, but it also killed a lot of time I could have been using to actually learn new skills.

So my first piece of advice to anyone entering this field is to pick a starting point and stick with it. Are there better places? Maybe. But you’re better off starting down a route than constantly trying to pick one.

Back to my background. During my undergraduate years, I changed majors 4–5 times and actually didn’t land on Data Science until my final year of school. I started with a focus on Computer Science and eventually transitioned because I found Data Science a good balance between math and programming. Entering my senior year, I had exactly zero Data Science internships, work experience, and projects to my name.