Hi, I’m a hotelier by profession - with zero tech background, and currently an Operations Manager. I’m looking into starting a new career in tech. I started with Data Analytics, Python. Any tips?
How good is your statistical knowledge? Data analysis is a subfield of statistics.
Hi Jeremy,
Thank you for taking time to respond. I would like to further dive into this question by asking back: how do I develop myself in statistics then? Is there a course I can take? Or a step that would help?
A good step would be to answer the question: How good is your statistical knowledge? Or at least what is your math education like?
Out of curiosity, what is pulling you towards DS? It is such a specific choice.
First - learn about what data science work loos like. It may be not your cup of tea.
If it still does not look boring to you…
Khanacademy (free) - complete math up to calculus and linear algebra. There is a statistics course. I reccomend it.
Linux and python skills - lots of free tutorials, you can google them. Try 5 - 10 different ones. Find the one you like and stick to it.
A bit of SQL - there is a nice 4-hour youtube video made by freecodecamp.
Fast.ai for practical lessons on creating/deploying AI models (if you are interested). More emphasis on practical side of things than on math. This is not data science, but a lot of people want to get into DS because of AI.
If you want to learn data science / analytics without tech background and want to be employable, think about year(s) of learning (not weeks or few months).
Good luck.
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A few people have given good answers on learning the skills required, so I’ll give my two cents on the other half of getting your first job, making yourself stand out to potential employers.
The first job is a big hurdle to jump over, and likely the most difficult part of your journey. Employers are reluctant to hire people with no experience, so it’s critical to make yourself stand out by building up a portfolio of real-world projects that solve real problems, begin to establish an online presence by writing and optimizing social media accounts, and start introducing yourself to people in the industry that either do what you want to do or hire for what you want to do.
Most jobs are found through peoples’ networks, so building up a good network and establishing your credibility with an online presence and projects is crucial.
I wrote a guide for FCC that goes over these ideas in more detail in case you are interested: How to Get a Job as a Professional Developer in 2021
Hi Kevin,
Thank you for the insight, very good questions to ask myself before I get into this deeper.
I have been exposed to people who work with loads of data in Excel (for machine learning), and work with Power BI. By chance, when I was doing reports for work in Excel, and doing some calculations for a business (using AVERAGEIF to make a dropdown pricelist with prices per unit - so I know how much making a let’s say making a Macaroni costs), they gave me an idea that how I made my excel is pretty good, and that maybe I can learn data analytics further.
For math - I think it would be best for me to take a test on my statistical knowledge (a few units in college), and then perhaps make this a prerequisite before diving further. I think @MyTrueName 's response is also absolutely helpful.
Hi @kenrogers ,
Thank you for this suggestion, very helpful. I have read someone do this - learned deeper with math, take certification classes on Data Analytics (agree with @MyTrueName - it will be years to learn this), and develop a portfolio. It will not be easy, thank you for your advice.
To clarify, Excel is a great tool for analysis, particularly for business data, but it’s not really a machine learning tool. But those sorts of abstraction skills are useful in learning to think like a programmer.