By Ranthilini Vithanage

Anyone who is thinking of getting into data science as a career probably wonders whether being a data scientist is a good career in India. And the answer is, yes, being a data scientist is a very lucrative career that will get you a fat pay cheque at the end of the month.

But, before we get into further details, what exactly is a data scientist?

According to Coursera, a “data scientist uses data to understand and explain the phenomena around them, and help organizations make better decisions.”

In layman’s terms, a data scientist is someone who examines and analyzes sets of data to depict patterns and rhythms in them so that they can help organizations with understanding otherwise messy sets of data. A data scientist’s role spans across several fields such as mathematics, social sciences, technology etc. and they create agendas for companies based on their findings.  

In India, being a data scientist is a fruitful career. Particularly with India’s sky-rocketing number of start-ups, companies need more and more data scientists to make sense of the world around them.

Be it market analysis or sales trends, companies are in dire need of professionals who can provide them with accurate predictions based on processed and analyzed sets of data. In order to maximize profits and minimize losses, especially in times of a global pandemic, companies need solid intel grounded on numbers.

And this is where the data scientist comes in. With their expertise in data analyzing, they can make or break a company, to put it in the simplest of terms.

And that is why more and more companies are seeking to hire data scientists. According to IndiaToday, the hiring rate in the field of data science has escalated by 46% since 2020 and around 93,000 positions in data science were vacant as of August 2020.

For anyone thinking of making a transition to data science, now would be the high time to do so!

Job opportunities available in the field of data science

There are multiple paths you can take if you are looking for a career in data science. For example, you can explore the following opportunities in the field:

Data scientist

Machine learning engineer

Machine learning scientist

Applications architect

Enterprise architect

Data architect

Infrastructure architect

Data engineer

Business Intelligence Developer

Statistician

Data analyst (source: northeastern.edu)

And if you are on the lookout for an immediate opening, Naukri.com shows that the following Indian companies are hiring at the moment.

Antier Solutions

IBM India Pvt. Ltd

Schneider Electric India Pvt. Ltd

Datamatics Business Solutions

Philips India Limited

Visa Inc

Wrackle Technologies Pvt. Ltd

Also, according to 360digitmg, these companies welcome new talent all year long.

Aditya Birla Group

BridgeI2I Analytics Solution

Course 5 Intelligence

Evalueserve

Genpact

MIO Digital India

Tiger Analytics

Trendence Inc

Ugam

Verizon

Wipro (source: 360digitmg)

And what about the salaries? How much does a data scientist get paid in India?

The salary cheque one receives as a data scientist largely depends on their experience. For example, your chances of making money doubles as you grow up the experience ladder.

According to Payscale, an entry-level data scientist with less than 1 year of professional experience gets an average of ₹533,214 including overtime pay, bonuses and tips.

With 1-4 years of experience as a data scientist, the average pay is around ₹785,975.

As a data scientist matures and gains experience, they can earn an average salary of ₹1,387,152 with 5-9 years of experience.

Being an experienced data scientist with 0-19 years of experience gets you an average of ₹1,759,961.

For a senior data scientist with more than 20 years of experience, the pay cheque rotates around an average of ₹1,100,000.With these statistics, it is clear that data science is a promising field with diverse opportunities. And if you are an amateur in the field looking for opportunities to hone your skills and get some qualifications, Growth Central offers some exciting new courses and certifications. Check out this basics in Python certification for example. It will get you started!