Path to data science from financial/business analyst
I'm a financial analyst in the aerospace industry making $60k. It's stable but the prospects of making more than $80-100k are not great. And it just doesn't compare at all to tech salaries. Should I just job-hop between corporate analyst positions, or should I learn a software language and reorient myself as a business data analyst? It seems like a feasible way to 2x or 3x my income. If so, should I learn Python, or R, or something else? Which is the way of the future? Should I take a bootcamp or just do cheap online courses? I wouldn't have to quit to do online courses, but I would only be able to implement my new skills in a very limited way at my current job.
At AA, new grads with internship experience can start at $65k, with good hours to take advantage of standby travel benefits not bad. Project managers can make $75k+ and if IT work groups much higher, business analysts, QA likely in the $90k+ again just AA: incoming analysts know SQL, R, Python, obviously we are still Excel spreadsheet minded 😐 but if you know how to work with COGNOS, Tableau, Alteryx, Intelex, SharePoint dashboards and create pretty outputs and PowerPoint not hard to make $100k+. Good luck.
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High TC is tempting but try some online courses to see if coding even interests you. I have seen BAs move into product mgmt roles and those come with decent to high TCs too.
Currently a data scientist. Python would be a great start, R is great too. Try to do a personal project or two, solving or analyzing a problem of personal interests is a great step to self learning. One you feel comfortable you can try to automate or integrate your new skills into your current job, you can also ask management about opportunities in that area. If you don't see a path towards data analyst at your current company you should start looking elsewhere. Once you're a data analyst you can transition to a data scientist role usually. Feel free to pm with questions
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Hey the rest of us want to know too lol
Then... PM me? 🤷🏻♂️