A data science degree is one of the most popular degrees at present. This is because companies have never been able to collect so much data before. They’re swimming in it, but often lack the understanding about how best to use it profitably, or usefully for that matter.

But what can you do with a data science degree? This article provides an extended view of how useful it might be for a long-term career.

A Growing Demand Creates a Strong Career Tailwind

The skills that are acquired through studying for a Data Science Degree are specific enough that it is quite unlike a general Computer Science (CS) degree. Often studied at a master’s level, it rises considerably above the broader CS degree in both depth and specificity too.

Due to the reality that big data is a real thing, and companies often have huge databases filled with customer and business-related information, the field of data science is evolving. Also, because of its newness, there’s a considerable and growing demand for qualified people in the field that is not matched by available personnel. As mentioned in this article, the demand was reported to have risen by 29% in just 2019 alone. Few fields have seen much higher growth rates in recent years. For anyone looking to advance their studies at the master’s level, that’s excellent news.

Big Data Analytics

Surely, the strongest interest by potential employers and many graduates is in the big data field. The amount of data to analyze and the number of ways in which that can be done is expanding all the time. Sometimes, companies have trouble securing enough data center storage space for everything they’re storing, such is the voluminous nature of the data collection at some firms.

E-commerce Shows Profit Potential Through a Better Understanding of Customers

Many times, it’s in the e-commerce field where big data is crunched most effectively. While other areas can certainly derive significant benefits from finding relevance in the data stored, effective analysis of data in e-commerce can lead to increased sales. And that directly affects the bottom line, particularly in sectors where the margins are slim and the competition fierce.

Marketers Can Benefit Too

Knowing how customers have behaved previously, including their responses to on-site promotions, upgrades and upsells, proves useful to a marketing team looking for an edge. Without useful data, they’re left shooting in the dark, which almost always leads to poor results.

Insights gleaned from a detailed review given by data analysts provide answers to questions about what customers want, how they’ve responded to different promotions before, and which ones fell flat. Using this information as a guide can help to rule out marketing ideas unlikely to find a favorable audience and lead towards those that offer a higher likelihood of success.

Leading the Change with Online Marketing Efforts

Creating a profitable online marketing campaign is genuinely difficult to do. Many end up an abject failure with losses being the net result. The fact that most pay-per-click advertising campaigns begin as a losing proposition where the advertising expenses overrun the amount available while still making a profit is not lost on many people. Better targeting avoids losing too much early in the ad campaign that it’s impossible to make up lost ground by the end of it.

Helping to break down customer trends, demographic mixes for various products and markets, and how this affects which groups to target is key. It’s always better to focus on advertising dollars in areas where there are plenty of likely buyers, rather than one where the marketing dollar will be wasted.

A data-driven approach is necessary with advertising to know for certain where to spend that quarter’s marketing budget to get the best results. It’s not always the most obvious platform or demographic group that ends up being the most profitable either. Sometimes, looking in unlikely places where the ad bid prices are less costly provides the best potential for profit per unit sold. But that often takes out-of-the-box thinking and data to back that up to convince the higher-ups that it’s worth pursuing that course of action.

The Analytics Manager Role in Larger Companies

When multiple data analysts are working for a corporation because of its size, the number of divisions, and a complex product range, then they’ll need oversight. That’s where the Analytics Manager comes in.

Data analysts use different tools to work on their craft. Certainly, for a traffic analysis of a website, then Google Analytics is a popular one. However, the raw traffic data is only a starting point. How a team will use this data to crunch the numbers and find meaning in the visitor information is another matter entirely.

Wielding Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets like a sharp tool to slice and dice the data to the segment it and find meaning is a skill in itself. It can be put to so many uses because of the wealth of data that’s offered by Enterprise-level tools like Brandwatch (keeping an eye on social activity relating to brands, products, and more) and Hootsuite (the social listening ear).

Whatever tool is being used; staff will need direction to get the most relevant results. This is where a manager can learn to guide the team to find value in the chaos.

Business Analyst as a Source of Inspiration

A business analyst has a high-level understanding of how businesses operate. They appreciate what makes companies successful, the business processes that contribute to their achievement, and the role that business data plays. Without business data, and a careful analysis of it, companies can make major missteps. This might be in the selection of a new product to develop and launch to market, how marketers approach a new market successfully by attracting early adopters, or in changing processes to smooth out the ride.

For some people who are either choosing which post-graduate qualifications to consider or who are in their first year of working with a master's under their belt, the role of a business analyst is one to aspire to. They won’t be able to successfully apply for it right away, but with a broader range of experience and proven skillset, it’s certainly an achievable goal. And the financial rewards are likely to be considered too.

Director-level Insights

For employees who wish to rise to the top-most level within an organization, there is much to be said about a director who has a clear understanding of data. In different discussions with other directors within the organization, they will be able to converse intelligently with them. Surely, if you’re able to get yourself into that sort of position in your career, then it bodes well for the future. Certainly, suggestions and decisions made can be done based on the information presented and verified to improve the quality of the decision-making within the organization.

Looking beyond director level, getting onto the board of directors for anyone with a business mindset and experience backed up by data analysis – especially formally in a role as business analyst – is entirely possible. Companies are always eager to improve the quality of their boards to provide appropriate oversight and review of the CEO’s performance and that of the company as a whole.

Create a Service-based Business

A service-based business is one that offers something of value to other business customers or consumers. While working for one is certainly possible, another approach to take is to start one of your own.

Avoid Having Blinkers On

One of the biggest mistakes that new and inexperienced entrepreneurs make is to have their head in the weeds when it comes to business data. They often prefer to use hunches and run with a new idea despite having little to back up whether there’s a market for it.

However, with the mindset that information collection and number crunching matters enormously, then it’s likely that you’ll look before you leap. This alone can mean the difference between creating a viable business or failing shortly thereafter while taking substantial losses.

Know What Services Are Finding the Right Customer Segment

When offering several services, it’s not just about which one is outselling the others; it’s important to look beyond that to consider other factors that might make a difference in the future too.

For example, while a service may become the top-selling one, it may not have legs. Its current popularity could be because of a specific need that will be a passing one. Being clearer on what’s driving the market and why customers are purchasing different services at certain times proves illuminating when looking out ahead.

Capital is a finite resource as a business owner. Knowing where to invest resources to sustain growth rates allows an owner to develop something that’s far more sustainable. Also, planning for recruitment of personnel and other requirements is easier when growth is steadier rather than representing that of a rollercoaster. Targeting the right customer segment with the most appropriate service allows for careful growth instead of rapid growth that may end abruptly.

Also, Read- 7 Must have Skills Need to Become a Data Scientist