I’m considering pursuing a master’s in data science, but I’m overwhelmed by the scope of tasks involved. What exactly do data scientists do on a daily basis? What tasks occupy most of their time, and which ones are less common?
2 Likes
I can tell you what I did today, if that helps.
I arrived at the workplace at ten. I checked my emails. None needed my attention.
I checked the outcomes of certain jobs that I had done overnight. The results were unusual and unexpected. I spent a large amount of time thinking about why.
I spoke with someone from sales about an algorithm that is now in production.
I had a brief email interaction with a data engineer concerning a salesperson’s question that I was unable to answer.
Another Slack communication with a project manager to try to schedule an architectural workshop with the engineers for another algorithm that we hope to deploy in production (eventually).
That was the morning.
In the afternoon, I spent most of my time rewriting the code for the job that had been running overnight. Because I decided it was easier to attempt a different technique than to lose my sanity trying to figure out what went wrong.
1 Like
A data scientist’s everyday activities often include a combination of data processing, analysis, and communication. Most of my time is spent collecting and cleaning data, analyzing trends, developing prediction or classification models and conveying findings to stakeholders. These tasks are necessary for making educated business judgments. Less common responsibilities may include investigating cutting-edge algorithms or attending specialist training sessions. Overall, it is a dynamic area in which problem solving and data-driven insights are central to what we do.
1 Like
Curious about what data scientists really do?
- Most of the time: Wrangling data (cleaning and organizing), analyzing it to find patterns, and building models to solve problems (think recipe prep, cooking, and explaining the dish).
- Less common: Collecting new data yourself (like growing your own vegetables) and deploying models into real-world applications (serving the dish and making sure it’s a hit!).
A master’s program will teach you these skills step-by-step. If you enjoy puzzles, working with data, and explaining things clearly, data science could be your perfect career!
1 Like
Data scientists often engage in numerous tasks, although the specifics can vary based on factors like company size and role.
The common tasks include:
- Gathering raw data.
- Choosing the best approach to solve the problem.
- Model building and testing; data scientists create and test machine learning models.
- Preparing reports and presenting findings