Why Data Scientists should learn Web Development
Data Scientists are one of the most sought after professionals for businesses across industries right now. With the rapid internet adoption and resulting masses of data generated, businesses are looking for people to deal with this data and unlock the opportunities to create better solutions and products. Whether it be medicine or manufacturing, finance or retail, companies are adding data science professionals to their teams to produce actionable strategies and plans from data insights. The demand for data scientists has been on a constant rise from 2016 to 2021, according to the data from Glassdoor, and the beginning of 2022 has already seen a 70% increase in job openings as compared to 2021
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In a world where data science is one of the most in-demand careers, you might think that data science certification and strong skills in statistics and algorithm development would allow you to have it all. Well, it isn’t exactly that simple. In this blog, you would get to know:
- Why should data scientists learn web development?
- How to study web development as a data scientist?
Career in Data Science
Before we discuss why data scientists should learn web development, first, let’s talk about Data Science. An HBR article popularized data science being called the sexiest job of the century. Hinting towards its demand in the current business landscape. It is a blend of fields like statistics and business and employs computing techniques to study patterns and extract insights from data to build models for implementation. The growth of cognitive and IoT technologies has allowed companies to access large data bases on their consumers. This highly coveted and voluminous data is managed and processed with the help of machine learning and AI technologies.
Data scientists use their skill in data mining and big data to study the great volumes and types of information that can help understand consumer behavior, carry out valuable product development, implement efficient operations and much more. Companies across the world are using the power of data science to find meaning from the ocean of consumer information and target their marketing accordingly. Hence, data science is trusted to be one of the hottest fields that can set you up for highly lucrative jobs.
Data Science Vs Web Development
So, if Data science in itself is a promising career, why should data scientists study web development? The biggest reason lies in the nature of work. Web development involves building websites and web apps and working on their functions and looks. While data science might be the sexiest job of the century, a career in web development is not so bad looking either. Especially in a world where businesses have unleashed great profit from the web, web developers collaborate with business and marketing experts to make interactive user experiences for the customers and generate great value for the organization.
The difference is that while data scientists and analysts conceptualize the product by building models, web developers and software developers are part of the team who work on that product and bring it to life. Data scientists can hence take up the power of web development to harness the potential of their product. Keep reading to know how data scientists can benefit from having web development skills.
Also Read: How To Hire A Data Scientist In 2022
Why Data Scientists should learn Web Development
Allows you to build an impressive portfolio on a self hosted site
Having a robust portfolio is the strongest pillar to prop you up in the eyes of a recruiter. However, without web development skills, you will have to rely on other websites to create your website portfolio. Web development skills would help you present your models on a self hosted site, or a Git profile. This not only would cost less, but also will give you the autonomy to make it much more impressive. Through web development, you can present your analysis and results and the value of your model in visual and interactive ways, making your data science portfolio stand out.
Help you engage with the team
To build a successful, valuable data product, data scientists have to work with a team.
Knowledge of software and techstacks can help you interact with the tech team at a deeper and equal level. You get a better understanding of the process of transcribing and developing your model since you would have a shared thought process with the team, allowing you to manifest your solutions built on data science and AI.
Also Read: Data Engineering Skills, Courses And Roles
Makes you fulfill the industry demand
As the demand for data scientists rises in all industries, the expectations from these in-demand professionals also rises. The role caught the industry hype only 2 decades ago, and the massive exposure gained in such a short time period has caused it to become a majorly ill-defined role. Companies that recently realized the power of data get impatient with data scientists who deal with largely conceptual problems, and expect dynamic and agile solutions.
In such a business ecosystem, knowledge of software development would make you a flexible data scientist who can drive the process from ideation to execution more efficiently.
Meet your job expectations with reality
If you are a fresher data scientist, you might expect that you would get to solve complex problems through machine learning and help grow businesses. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. Finding the right job that aligns with your career goals is important, and even when you do land your dream job, translating your ideas into working models is something that web development can help you with. By allowing you to effectively do the data magic with AI, it would let you fulfill your job expectations.
Could open a gateway to careers in other DS fields
As said before, careers in data science are yet not well-defined and differentiated. This allows a data science professional to test out various data science roles in the job market. Job profiles like Business Intelligence Developer and Machine learning specialists are dynamic data science roles where along with analyzing complex data bases, proficiency in software tools and engineering becomes a requirement. Knowledge of software development can hence surely open up ways to be a specialist in the industry.
A new skill to learn
Last but not least, if you are passionate about learning new skills, web development is a great option. You can embark on a fun and fulfilling learning experience while empowering your career as a data scientist.
Is it necessary to learn web dev as a data scientist?
Unless you work in the tech industry, software development skills are not a mandate for getting a data science job. Not really. In fact, you can excel and standout as a data scientist by being a specialist in any tech-related domain of your choice. However, since the field of data science is so heavily reliant on advanced technologies in ML and AI, it would be helpful to widen your technology horizons by having knowledge of both data and development.
To put it plainly, for a fulfilling career in data science, you might need more than skills in data mining and developing ML algorithms. To conduct scientific analysis of data and deploy models to the best ability, teaming up with web developers, software engineers and designers is a given. Hence, web development becomes an easily attainable superpower for a data scientist to make their operations come to life
