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The growth of internet technology has created new professions, for example; data analysts and data scientists. Both are currently on the rise, and anybody interested in becoming a Data Analyst or Data Scientist must know the differences between the two. Despite having similar names, the two are slightly different. 

Data Scientist

Quoted from ekrut.com, a data scientist performed large data process using various methods and algorithms to find solutions to complex problems. The data collected and analyzed covers a large amount of data so that it requires special expertise.

To make it clearer, take the example of world-class e-commerce, Amazon, which collects user data and analyzes it to find out which products and services are suitable to be offered to the customers in the wider community. To do this job, you need a Data Scientist.

A Data Scientist, to be able to process large amounts of data, requires expertise in statistics, programming, and business knowledge. Someone who studies statistics on campus can plunge into a Data Scientist when they enter the world of work because the core of a Data Scientist is statistics. 

Why is programming skills needed to become a Data Scientist?

The programming ability of a Data Scientist is not merely used for coding, a Data Scientist must be able to change a data set in the form of a programming language into something easier to understand for ordinary people.

Data Scientists must also understand basic business because the company needs their services to help the company in driving their decisions and/or create product recommendations.

Data Scientist is now highly needed for their ability to reveal a trend of data from large numbers, it often could exceed a million rows. If you are interested in becoming a Data Scientist, the chance is open as it doesn’t always fill by statistics graduates or computer graduates. However, to become data scientists you have to persevere and hard-working.

Data Analyst

According to ekrut.com, a Data Analyst is someone whose job it is to translate numbers into reports that are easily understood by management. A Data Analyst is not required to understand the world of programming, but if you have some basic skills ion that then it will be a plus.

Data Analysts must know statistics and business as they are required to produce reports for the company. So, from here, in terms of the basic skills needed, it is similar to a Data Scientist, right?

Indeed, Data Analysts and Data Scientists are similar, the difference is in the scope of their duties. The scope of the duties of Data Analyst is smaller than the Data Scientist that sometimes they are called Junior Data Scientist.

Similarities between Data Scientists and Data Analysts

Although the two are slightly different, there are also similarities between the two:

1. Data Scientists and Data Analysts must understand MySQL, Cassandra, and Hadoop.
2. Data Scientists and Data Analysts must have basic programming knowledge.
3. Must have good communication skills because both will translate very technical data sets to make it easier to understand for people in general.

Now, amid intense competition in the job market, pursuing a career as a Data Analyst or Data Scientist has nothing to lose. Both are hot jobs because they are needed by large companies. Unfortunately, not many talents are available in Indonesia. If you want to pursue a career in these two, then it might be good for you! So, which one will you choose, Data Analyst or Data Scientist?

Reference: 

ekrut.com