Im currently a business dat analyst. I know how to code in Python and R, use Tableau and Excel regularly and proficiently. 3+ years of experience so far. My background was hardware engineer though. current total comp is 140k base + maybe 40k in equity (company is still private, so stock has no value; and this Tesla is an old account during my internship). I want to move up in my career ladder, but not sure if as analytics lead/senior or as analytics manager, or go into data science. if i choose the last option, then the question would be should i get a master? currently it seems like there's very low chance of me breaking into the field with only a BS degree. I know everyone's career path is different, but I want to hear some sincere advice and/or your experience with similar career field. Is getting a master at this point worth it? Also, if so, which master is most reasonable/useful in term of going into DS? Also, would you recommend a part time (online) or full time (immersive) program? And if not DS, is MBA vital for becoming a manager? I know this is a lot questions. I'm pondering about how to build my career.
Part-time Data Science. Don't do Analytics. Ignore MBA. It's useless part-time and not worth the cost full time, except at a few schools. Also not needed to manage. To be a manager, vocalize this as a goal at your company to get some help. Typically ICs like to stay ICs, so know one will steer you towards leading.
Try some of the courses at Udacity.com, they have decent material on Data Science that you can look at for free. Its not a huge investment either if you want to do their degrees, it would give you exposure to the field. Try also networking in your community and going to public events/data events and see what other companies are doing with data. Lastly think about how you can scale impact at your current organization. What are the largest opportunities, and how would you go about tackling them? If you can demonstrate that you can both effectively communicate these problems and execute upon them, it is a strong signal of your capabilities. Better yet, if you can lead a team to success, that gives you more to write about on your resume.
I second the Udacity idea. Difference between free and paid are occasional guidance, and graded projects. The courses are the same though.
These are all really good advice!!! I actually did classes on udacity and cloudera. I also go to data related meet up events to meet others. I think the only thing I'm lacking is the last point, which I tried doing so but was really limited at my previous role. At my current role that i just started, I'm going to try doing more of #3
I've gone through paid program at GA (I had a discount) and seriously think that the free / online option is better if you can motivate yourself. Udacity is good, and for some intro, you can use DataCamp. I'm still in Analytics though and haven't made the switch to DS yet
If you’re making 140 already you’re a fool to go back to school and give that up. Do some data science work on the side and/or integrate it with your current workload. Look up the jobs that you want to have or go into and work on the skills that they require but you don’t have.
Normally my resume doesn't even pass the hr round since i only have a bs... which is why I'm so concerned
If your resume doesn’t pass a hr screen then you need either a better resume or a short cover letter that helps sell yourself. I’d suggest spending the 2-300 it costs to have a career coach or resume professional give it a once over.