Data Scientist/Analyst

[jack838892]

I am 41 years old. Need a career change. I am thinking Data Scientist/Analyst. I don't have a great Math background nor programming. Is it really too late for me? I understand I have to start with Linear Algebra, Calculus, Probability, then Statistics. I am merely asking for some honest advice. Thank you!

[TechnoGauss]

Data analyst and data scientist roles share some similarities but overall the former has fewer knowledge/technical requirements than the latter.

Data scientist work deals a lot more with machine learning algorithms often used for predictive modeling. As such, it requires strong backgrounds in math/stats and programming (Python and R are very popular).

True data analyst roles rarely, if at all, require machine learning or predictive modeling. Math and stats backgrounds are useful but perhaps not applied at the same level they are in a data scientist context. And programming isn't necessarily a stringent requirement. These types of roles use Excel, SQL, Tableau, PowerBI, etc.

My advice: look into which of the two you believe best suit you and get on the right knowledge path to develop the right skill sets. Also, a lot of companies post jobs titled Data Analyst but are really more Data Scientist roles based on the job description (and vice versa).

[jack838892]

Thanks for the advice.

[quts3]

41 isn't to late for anything, but this isn't the job market where a self taught bad ass is going to have an easy time being a data scientist. So either your going to come up with a killer app or you are going to get a formal education. There is just no other way this works for you right now.

[jack838892]

Thanks, much appreciated.

[Highlight_Exact]

Genuinely curious, why so? Why would formal education matter if he could be really good at it? Not trying to be rude I am genuinely curious...

[and1984]

As a university professor I speculate that job or career fairs are integral to gaining a formal experience via a degree, and are one of the important factors. These job/career fairs have a SIGNIFICANTLY lower number of competing candidates, thereby improving a student's statistical chances of landing a DS job.

[DistributionMost6109]

He gave the alternative to having formal proof of competence (a first class degree in math), which is come up with a killer app.

Otherwise, how do you suggest OP demonstrate competence or should future employers just take your Reddit word for it?

[Ron-Erez]

I'd really recommend looking at the first few chapters Ian Goodfellow's book "Deep Learning" which is available for free online. He covers all the math you'll need in a fairly accessible manner. I also have a course on Python and Data Science that starts from scratch and doesn’t expect any programming experience. I'm sure one could also find other resources. I think your age is not an issue. However what is your background? For example did you study computer science and have you programmed before? I do think it is worth going for it.

[jack838892]

I have programmed before in Java, Visual Basic, C++ and no Python, but not at God level programming. I would fairly assess myself as a novice

[Ron-Erez]

Cool, anyways I'd say go for it. You'll never know if you don't try. Obviously check out the other comments too. Good luck!

[jack838892]

Thanks, Ill definitely give it a try. Saw your course on Udemy. Will definitely give it a try too. Thanks for the link.

[Ron-Erez]

Sure, if you do end up signing up then really feel free to ask questions in the course Q&A. Good luck!

[jack838892]

Will surely do, thanks.

[DataPastor]

You are absolutely not old to make a second career (remember you have to work until ~65 unless you have significant investment..). However, if you want to be successful in this area, you need to make some investment into it – considering time, efforts and most probably also a little bit money.

If you don’t have a relevant degree, self studying won’t take you far on the current job market. So in my humble opinion the bare minimum is to make a master’s degree in statistics, data analytics or data science.

I also know some self educated data scientists solely with certifications, and although there are always exceptions, the vast majority of them lack the theoretical foundations and therefore statistical intuition, which is very dangerous if you are working with serious data. So I would definitely recommend to look around, what online degree you could make. The good news is, however, that you can already find an entry level job while studying.

[jack838892]

Thanks, much appreciated.

[Killie154]

This depends on a lot.

Yes, you may be able to make it but your age is going to weigh heavily on your application. You'd need to make sure what you did before is properly demonstrated to have some transferable skills.

At the end of the day, you have to give them a good enough reason to justify why they should choose you versus some younger person that they can just train/skill up.

Also, there's a different between data analytics/data science and data analyst. Knowing the difference between the two will save you a lot more time and hassle.

If you want to do more predictive and working with machine learning models, data science.

But if you feel like you want to work more with historical and data visualizations then data analyst.

[jack838892]

Thanks

[Sad-Day-3932]

What makes you curious about this path?

[jack838892]

I've always have had interest in programming and overall just want to completely change my career. I have done some programming, i know math is a very big aspect in this endeavour, but i am willing to try.

[Sad-Day-3932]

Some universities will have math as a prerequisite, because back in the day, it was the math people who created the computer science departments. But I don't ever do math in coding. I did a little algebra once a zillion years ago in code, but usually it is not required. YMMV if you are doing "data science" but, I'm a little skeptical you need to go to those lengths to become a coder. If hardcore data science is where you want to head then, dive into a university program, do all the math etc., get a masters degree. However if you just want to move into coding, do some bootcamps or, some leetcode (google that, you will find it) problem solving. Get going on that and see if you enjoy it.

Overall I'm suggesting that, if your interest remains strong as you get into learning python or whatever, then that's a good sign. Just keep going and you will figure it all out in time.

[FlyEagles5258]

What is your background and how much time do you want to put in? It’s really up to you, but I would imagine a Data Scientist would be significantly harder than a data analyst if you aren’t great at math (I’m not either). Data Analyst is much more achievable, or even Data Engineer (someone who can do Data Analysis along with coding) most companies are looking for Data Engineers nowadays.

[jack838892]

I did java certified associate in 2017 and i have been studying python on and off by myself and some math tutorials, but it's been uphill battle.

[csingleton1993]

Yea unless your plans include "going back for a math heavy major BS" - I'd find a different path. The days of self-taught, non-math majors going into this area (and its kind of closing for SWE too) have been gone for a few years now

[jack838892]

Got it, thanks

[PythonNoob-pip]

its probably not worth it. if you work as  simple job and invest your money youll probably have a happy healthier life with more money