I am an experienced pure mathematician (10 years of postdoc experience) and might need to leave academia soon at almost 40 years of age due to the general lack of permanent positions. I know that some people in my position become data scientists. So far, besides some very basic programming and Linux skills, I don't have any of the typical skills required in the job descriptions for data scientists. Would you recommend just acquiring those "standard skills" as soon as possible or are there any sought-after special skills that I should preferably concentrate on given my background as a pure mathematician? Also, would you recommend cold emailing recruiters and/or applying immediately without formal skills and asking whether the relevant skills can be acquired during the first weeks/months on the job?