Any advice on moving into data science?

[ChangeIsRequired]

Hoping for a bit of careers advice if anyone can be helpful!

I'm currently working in academia but I don't want to stay. I do public health research, am generally pretty well versed in quantitative analysis and spend a lot of time manipulating large unwieldy datasets. I'm comfortable with R and stata and have done bits in the past with Python and SQL but never had reason to learn these in more depth. I'm a very logical thinker and I've been told I'd make a good programmer. I enjoy the coding and working out how to get the answers far more enjoyable than interpreting and disseminating the findings, thinking about policy implications etc (although I'm a good writer), so I was wondering about moving into data science. I'm not that fussed about sticking to healthcare but I'm more interested in something vaguely altruistic (rather than say, finance). Only thing is I'm not sure I'm technical/mathsy enough? I have an A in A level maths but all my academic credentials since then are biology/epidemiology (with a strong stats slant).

I don't want to go back to uni to re-train but definitely willing to invest time skilling up. I've been doing some datacamp courses. Learning on the job would be ideal. Any advice or direction at all welcomed!

I've PMed you :)

(Data crunching math PhD modeller) Colleague at a science institute is jumping over to become a Senior Inf. Analyst with NHS. I am closely watching how he gets on! His job-applic advice about all the specific software NHS ask for: show that you have transferable skills if you don't have the exact experience. Maybe you don't know SQL but you can learn at home from youtube videos enough to put some example code on github & have it do some thing clever, and in meantime talk about all your scripting and data crunching experience with R or PYthon.

I don't know if NHS is altruistic enough for you. We just did some stats analysis collaboration with MSF but they can't pay anybody (I think?). Lots of big charities must have data they have insufficient resources to process.

Thanks both @MedSchoolRat, that's exactly the kind of thing I'd like, I think. I've seen colleagues make similar moves but they all tend to have more of a maths background than me even when we are in similar roles so I think that probably helps convince people their skills are transferable enough? Not sure. Doing something and putting it on GitHub is a great idea actually. I just struggle with coming up with ideas for things I can do on my own!

NHS/civil services/charities def fine, tbh there are plenty of private sector jobs that would be great too. Part of me thinks I'd like to work in a smaller company, as all my experience so far has been in universties, govt agencies and big corps.

It's not just the data crunching that you need but some reporting software. Have a look at the free Tableau package.

Thanks @AuntieGeek, I'll take a look

@Camomile please could you PM me your tips also?

OP, Kaggle is a really good free resource that will help you with ideas for new projects that you can practice and try out yourself.

IMO SQL is a very easy learning language to learn. Your research knowledge is invaluable and so many data science professionals come from a background in academia. I really think this will be in your favour.

If I were you, I'd choose to focus on one programming language to learn. Also, an online course covering big data, distributed computing and machine learning will help you to get more confident in the computing element of data science. It sounds like you already have the stats experience covered though.

Good luck!

Change is right, data visualisation is also a sought after skill. Particularly if you were going into a smaller company, you might be expected to muck in with a lot of the data related tasks.

Tableau have a free desktop version called tableau public.

Take a look at their public dashboards for some inspiration:
public.tableau.com/en-us/s/gallery

Thank you @nm1989, I've heard of Kaggle but never used it, I'll have a look. And thanks for the link to tableau public

I've been browsing jobs and the ones that sound appealing to me generally ask for R, Python and machine learning skills so I think I'm going to have a go at developing those skills further. Especially machine learning, as that's something I have absolutely no experience with. Any recs for any online resources to start with?

I’m on the business side and work with data analysts. There is a huge shortage of good people (especially those who can think creatively and communicate insights, not just crunch the numbers) and because of that the salaries are pretty good. Shrewd move.

If anyone is interested in 2020, my advice:

I'd concentrate on python with cloud eg AWS or GCP. Also specialize in NLP or images or something else. I work in DS. That salary sounds like BS, but the pay can be good , and there is lots of demand.