Roles we hire for

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Data Science

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Data Scientist

A Data Scientist analyzes complex data and providing insights to support business decisions.

What is a Data Scientist?

The Data Science field, and Data Scientist roles, have been around for decades - but in the last several years, data science has become one of the most strategic functions of any company. In the simplest sense, Data Scientists help companies find, organize and use data to make decisions. Data Scientists work across many different teams - including product, product design, marketing, sales and engineers - to build and analyze large data sets, and are critical to many tech companies and startups’ success.

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What is a typical background of a Data Scientist?

For many Data Scientist roles, a Master’s or Ph.D. in Data Science, or a similarly related field may be a required qualification. To become a Head of Data Science, or to manage a team of Data Scientists, you may also need several years of experience in the field, showing increasing responsibilities, in addition to an advanced degree.

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What are some of the typical responsibilities of a Data Scientist?

To craft strategies around obtaining data: Data Scientists should have an understanding of how to cultivate and test large data sets. Where are these data sets pulled in from? What is the methodology used? Data Scientists should be able to help answer those questions.
To identify critical metrics: A Data Scientist should be able to help companies identify key benchmarks or put together financial or customer projections that allows companies to better compete within their industry.
To communicate with commercial teams: Not all Data Scientists may work on this, depending on the size of the organization, but Data Scientists are often responsible for finding data about customer likes/dislikes, demographics, satisfaction, or any number of metrics that can be used to influence how commercial teams sell, market or engage with customers.
To test and improve models: Data Scientists will often use machine learning and algorithms to test new hypotheses, or to test the veracity of models they build to make sure they’re capturing the right data accurately.

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What are some of the skills a Data Scientist should have?

To stand out as a superb data scientist candidate, you’ll want to show that in addition to stellar quantitative skills, you also have great communication skills. Can you synthesize data points, to present and use them in a meaningful way?

Another way to stand out as a data science candidate is to demonstrate interest or experience for data science within the specific industry you’re most interested in. For example - if you’re interested in working with cryptocurrency companies to develop the latest blockchain technologies, you can demonstrate knowledge in how to use data to map out how to adjust the pricing of products according to seasonality or market shifts. Or if you’re interested in higher education, you can share what attracted you to the field - was it the opportunity to build products that change the way students learn, or the opportunity to help teachers understand where their students may be struggling?

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