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The 8 Key Skills of a Data Scientist

July 11, 2014

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With the rise of Big Data in the past few years, a new breed of analysts has gained massive
exposure. The so-called "Data Scientists" are considered by many as the only ones capable of
leveraging the true value of Big Data. Although it has now become clearer what to expect
from them, it is not fully clear what type of profile they should have. The most common
mistakes being to think that a statistician is a Data Scientist or that a BI expert with some
analytical background will be a good Data Scientist. Maybe in some cases they will, but it
will be the exception to the rule.
So, what are the skills required to be a true Data Scientist (DS)?

1 - Statistical knowledge: it's not only about knowing statistics, it's about knowing the
models and methodologies and how to best apply them. It's about being a statistician with a
strong set of analytical skills and knowledge of data analytic tools such as R, Python, etc.
2 - Business Intelligence expertise: it is not necessary to be a BI expert, but a DS needs to
know how to extract, clean, transform, analyse and report data. A DS isn't an ETL developer,
but he/ she can speak with him and understand his jargon and activities.
3 - Business analysis: a DS isn't expected to be a business analyst, but he's expected to
behave as one. The scoping of a case/ project requires in depth discussions with business
users to understand what they need. A DS should be included in the early stages of these
discussions to rapidly grasp the concepts and participate actively in the definition of the
deliverables.
4 - Visualisation: results of Advanced analytics often can't fit in traditional visualisation. A
DS is expected to be knowledgeable with regards to the various visualisation tools and
techniques available.
5 - Communication: communicating on the results and progress of the analysis is as
important as getting those results. The process around Advanced analytics is often very
iterative. Once first results are found, they should be communicated proactively to the users
so that their comments are retrofitted in the next steps of the analysis. The DS is expected to
fuel that iterative process. The DS is also expected to present the results of the analysis. For
that purpose, a sense of story telling is required.
6 - Curiosity: for the business/ topic under analysis as the DS might not be an expert in this
specific field. Curiosity also on the evolution related to Data Science techniques, tools and
techonologies.
7 - Creativity: a DS needs to use a variety of tools and techniques in all the skills mentioned
above. To do so, a DS should show creativity in how to use these tools and techniques.
Knowing the case under analysis, he/ she should come up with innovative proposals as per
how to analyse a specific issue, how to present a set of data, etc.
8 - Common sense: last but not least, common sense should be applied wisely for the
activities performed by a DS. If a case simply requires a linear regression and a bar chart, the
DS should not overengineer it. What is truly expected from a DS is to provide insight and
added value information, not to reinvent the world.
This list is most certainly not exhaustive and doesn't intend to be, but it does show that Data
Scientists won't be easy to find as the scope of skills they should possess is quite large and
doesn't correspond to previously known functions.

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