- GRATITUDE DRIVEN
- Posts
- What Skills Do You ACTUALLY Need for Data Science?
What Skills Do You ACTUALLY Need for Data Science?
I analyzed 2,244 job postings to find out.
Marina Wyss
January 30, 2025
Welcome to Gratitude Driven, a weekly newsletter where I share practical ideas and insights across personal growth, professional development, and the world of AI and data science.
In This Newsletter
What Skills Do You ACTUALLY Need for Data Science?
When I was starting out in data science, I had an ever-growing list of skills that I thought I needed to master in order to get my first job. It was overwhelming and, honestly, I wasted a lot of time learning things I've never actually used in my six years in the field. So, I analyzed 2,244 data science job postings from December 2024 to find out what employers are actually looking for, so you don’t make the same mistakes I did!
Here are the top 50:
Here are my main takeaways:
Python is king. There’s not really any debate about that in my mind.
AI skills are nice-to-haves. ML, stats, and traditional “data science” skills are still far more important.
Soft skills will make or break your career. This isn’t a surprise to me at all based on my personal experience, that of my mentees, and also from sitting on hiring panels. Those who can communicate and present themselves well will beat those who cannot (even if they aren’t as technically strong) nine times out of 10.
I made a video walking through the details, along with how the skill progression changes by seniority level, and which AI skills are actually worth your time. Check that out here.
Have questions? Ask me during a live Q&A!
Next month I’m trying my first live stream! Join me on February 15th at 10am Pacific time on YouTube Live for a Q&A session. Don’t forget to click ‘Notify me’ so you’ll get a reminder once the stream starts.
Bring your questions on the data science/ML job search process, study tips, interview preparation, mindset, fitness… whatever you could use help with.
This Q&A is open to everyone, but since it’s streamed it will allow comments only (we can’t chat live). As a paid subscriber to this newsletter, you’ll get access to quarterly Q&As with me via Google Meet where we can actually have a live conversation. This will be smaller groups with more dedicated time for questions about your personal journey.
Thank you for your support <3
Consider upgrading if that sounds interesting to you!
What I’m Reading
Last year I read David Brook’s new book, How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen, and have revisited it several times since then.
A few months ago I wrote a post about my key takeaways, one of the most practical being ideas for interesting questions to ask people that help them to open up and share something more meaningful, in order to help to build more genuine connections. I’m not naturally socially gifted, so these have been really useful as I try to make friends in a new city and connect more deeply with the people in my life.
Want to chat 1:1? Book time with me here.
Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
Note: This email may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase I may make a small commission, at no cost to you. Thank you for your support!