One of the most commonly asked questions about data science is what kind of certificate should I get and is it important? For students, who don’t have a professional background in data science, getting a certificate may feel like an important step on the road. But you need to understand that recruiters don’t just worry about certification but your skills and learning too.
Let’s understand why data science certificates are valuable.
Choosing a Data Science program
Finding a program that offers certification in data science is the easy part – there are so many data science courses that offer specific certifications and a quick Google search will bring up hundreds. What can be more difficult is deciding which data science program to go for, which one will help you pursue the career path you’re looking for and if the return on investment will be greater entering into this particular one.
Here are a couple of factors to consider when looking for a data science course.
- Things that you will learn in the program
- The expense of the course and its effectiveness
- Any qualifications or skills you will need
- What is the time commitment like?
- The reviews and testimonials from other people who have done the program
Take a look at real-time programs with data science certification and have a look at them in order to compare their worth.
Taking into consideration the qualifications needed
While some programs do not require any particular industry knowledge or background, others have concrete perquisites. For example, certain senior data science certification courses require a bachelor’s degree, (a master’s degree) and maybe even three to five years minimum of professional data experience. Some courses also require specific skills or qualifications, so you can’t just start learning them as they are more advanced. So, take the time to consider which courses you are going for depending on your time, expense, application, skills, and knowledge. Compare all your options and pick the one that suits you the best.
Data science certificates
Certificates that prove useful in a job can really help you in the long run if they are the right ones. Data science certification is useful but most employers and recruits would much rather see their employee’s skills and knowledge. For a potential employer, the problem with certification is that there is no universal standard authority, different schools, universities, and online learning platforms each give their own version of a data science certificate and their assessment standards aren’t as high as what students will learn in real life. Online training courses that provide certification need to be checked very carefully and be in-tune with the type of job the student will be going in for in the future. Assessment for students in different online platforms can vary from real-world student learning which is much harder to learn and manage.
In Conclusion
The point of data science certificates is to ensure that students have taken the course and engaged in a new skill. It helps convey to the recruiter that the students are constantly trying to improve themselves and certification can help you to do that. But besides certification, you need to look at your skills and projects first and the possibility of real-life experience in this field. Application knowledge can only take you a certain way, but you need to figure out your skills and get a hang of knowledge in the field in order to help you the rest of the way; because that’s what is actually going to help you land the job, wow the employer, and help you understand what the job really is all about.
Data science certification is quite popular among many students and individuals nowadays, and mastering it online is the way to go. That is because there is so much to learn, experiment, understand, and grow with when you opt for online certification.
