What Does a Data Scientist Do​? Roles & Key Responsibilities

With data emerging as a crucial know-how today, data scientists play an important role in it. Their primary work is to change raw data to insights.  Businesses can then use these insights and make important decisions. 

Do you want to know what a data scientist does? Well, these professionals happen to be experts in domains such as statistics, analytical thinking, and programming.  This knowledge and skill is then used by them on huge datasets to extract meaningful patterns and solve real-world problems as well! 

In Canada, data scientists earn between CAD 76,000 and CAD 100,000 a year on average. It is the sheer effect that their work has that helps them earn such high figures. 

They work in different industries such as finance, electronic commerce (e-commerce), healthcare, and technology. They also help organizations optimize their performance, enhance customer experiences, and predict trends. 

As part of their work, they use tools like Python, Structured Query Language (SQL), R, and machine learning models so that they can interpret and process complex data. Apart from technical skills they need strong communication abilities so that they can present their findings clearly to stakeholders.

Their demand keeps growing even as companies depend more on data for strategic planning. 

Source: Glassdoor 

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What Does a Data Scientist Do?

What does a data scientist do day to day? The primary responsibility of these professionals is to turn data into valuable insights that assist businesses in making informed decisions.

1. Data Collection and Cleaning

The process starts with gathering data from different sources like databases, spreadsheets, and application programming interfaces (APIs). However, raw data often tends to be incomplete and messy and so they have to clean and preprocess it so that it can be analyzed.

For this, they handle missing values, ensure consistency, and remove duplicates. 

Also read: Top Data Science Skills You’ll Learn in a Course

2. Data Exploration and Analysis

Once they have cleaned the data, data scientists explore it using visualization tools and statistical methods to discover trends, anomalies, and correlations in the same. Such work helps them understand the dataset and identify patterns that might influence the results. 

Also read: Data Analytics and Its Role in Modern Canadian Finance

3. Building Predictive Models

This is one of the most important job responsibilities of data scientists. They use machine learning algorithms to create predictive models that forecast future behaviors or events. It involves training, testing, and optimizing these models for performance and accuracy.

Also Read: Which is better for Data Analytics Jobs in Canada – Power BI or Looker Studio?

4. Data Visualization and Storytelling

They also use charts, visual reports, and dashboards to communicate the insights which allows stakeholders to grasp the complex findings easily. 

5. Business Problem Solving

Data scientists align their analysis with their business goals and provide actionable solutions to actual challenges like sales reduction, cost reduction, and customer satisfaction enhancement. Their work acts as a bridge between decision-making and data and drives measurable business impact. 

Key Responsibilities of a Data Scientist

The table below highlights an important part of the data scientist job description – their responsibilities:

Broader Area	Specific Tasks
Data Modeling and Analysis	Data Cleaning and CollectionExploratory Data AnalysisModel Development Statistical Analysis
Collaboration and Communication	Data VisualizationStakeholder CommunicationCross-Functional Collaboration
Problem-Solving and Strategy	Problem DefinitionStrategic RecommendationsProcess Optimization

Read More: How an Online MS in Data Science Can Help Career Changers in Canada

Essential Skills Needed to Excel as a Data Scientist

You already have a fair idea of what a data scientist does. Now, let us look at the skills that are essential to excel in this role:

Technical Skills	Soft Skills
Programming Mathematics and Statistics Machine LearningData Preprocessing and WranglingData Visualization Cloud Computing and Big Data	Communication Problem-Solving and Critical Thinking Business AcumenCollaborationContinuous Learning

Both soft skills and technical skills are important in this case, as they help you address different areas of your work as a data scientist properly. 

An Interesting Read: Want to Be a Data Scientist in Canada? Here’s How to Do It Without a Master’s Degree

Career Path and Growth Opportunities in Data Science

An essential part of knowing what a data scientist does is knowing how their career progresses. The first stage of such a career is as a data analyst, after which one begins working as a data scientist.

The following stages of this career are senior data scientist, lead data scientist, and chief data scientist.

You can also start working as a data engineer, where you will begin your career as a junior data engineer, progressing to the role of a data engineer proper. After this, you will become a senior data engineer, followed by a data engineering manager and a chief data architect. 

Check This Out: Is the upGrad Executive PG Data Science Program Worth Your Investment in Canada?

Common Tools and Technologies Used by Data Scientists

The table below provides you with an idea of the tools that data scientists use:

Broader Area	Specific Tools and Technologies
Programming Languages	PythonRStructured Query Language (SQL)
Cloud and Big Data	Apache Spark Apache HadoopSnowflake
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning	TensorFlowPyTorchScikit-learnChatGPT
Business Intelligence (BI) and Data Visualization	Tableau, Microsoft Power BI, Matplotlib, Plotly, and Seaborn

The other essential tools for data scientists are Jupyter Notebook, Microsoft Excel, Git, and Statistical Analysis System (SAS).   

Also read: Thinking of a Career Switch? Is an Online Master’s in Data Science in Canada Worth It?

Build Your Data Science Career with upGrad

The online data science and AI courses facilitated by upGrad in Canada provide significant benefits, including flexible online learning, hands-on projects, university partnerships, career services, and industry-relevant curricula. 

• Master of Science in Data Science, Liverpool John Moores University 
• Executive Diploma in Data Science and AI, Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Bangalore 
• Post Graduate Certificate in Data Science & AI (Executive), IIIT Bangalore

Conclusion

Data scientists play a major role in transforming complex data to strategic insights which empower organizations to make smarter and evidence-based decisions. They carry out different responsibilities like collecting and cleaning data, building predictive models, and using compelling visualizations to present their results.

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