A Career in Data Science: Why is Now the Perfect Time?

Ever since Harvard Business Review termed ‘data scientist’ as the hottest job of the 21st century, India has been more than willing to grab a piece of the action. It is because of the sheer number of opportunities available in data analytics in India, and that’s why the grass definitely looks greener here.

NASSCOM had predicted over 5,00,000 openings in India for data scientists in 2018 alone. India’s data analytics market is growing at an unprecedented rate, and the industry in India is expected to almost double by 2020.

India: The golden bird in data analytics 

The demand gap for data scientists has been reckoned by industry experts. India has the highest number of data analytics jobs after the US. Analytics companies in India have grown at a staggering rate in the past five years. The Indian analytics market is majorly driven by BPO/KPO service providers taking up to 80 percent of the market share. Other evergreen industries like banking and financial services top the list of companies that are hiring data scientists.

Data analytics is creating job opportunities in virtually every sector including e-commerce, media, and healthcare.

“In the next few years, the size of the Indian analytics market will evolve to at least one-third of the global IT market.” Srikanth Velamakanni, CEO Fractal Analytics

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Ambitious growth opportunities, lucrative pay packages 

Data analytics is overshadowing top career choices like MBA and CA. In an article featured in The Times of India, TeamLease, a recruitment firm reported that the salary of a data scientist with five years of experience grows to approximately 75 lakhs annually, much more than CAs and engineers with the same experience.

The salaries for professionals trained in new technologies like data science, AI, and ML are on a rise due to the talent shortfall in such fields. But that’s not the only reason. A data scientist is seen as a valuable asset by companies seeking data-driven disruption in their respective industry.

A survey by PayScale revealed that the average salary for a data scientist in India is INR 6,70,665.

A career in data science is your best bet

Upskilling in data science is a well-calculated move taken by students and tech professionals who are passionate about understanding and utilizing data analytics techniques and want to begin their career in this field. Competencies like data analytics, Hadoop etc. are sought after by analytics companies. A professional course can turn you into a more valuable asset for the company along with better incentives and growth options compared to your peers who didn’t choose to upskill.

That being said, Bengaluru is the Indian hub for data analytics jobs accounting to 27% of the vacancies in data science created all over the country, and if you’re looking to grab an exciting opportunity soon, there’s no better way to start your journey than to enroll in a big data analytics training program.