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Meet our Data Scientist community
Braintrust is a user-owned talent platform created by and for the world’s top talent. This includes a talented network of experienced Data Scientists available for hire.
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Nina Lelovic
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Pankaj Mathur
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Mathu Kira
- Python
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How to hire Top Data Scientists
Overview
Hiring a data scientist involves a comprehensive assessment of both their technical capabilities and their soft skills. They should have a solid understanding of mathematics and statistics, proficiency in programming languages like Python and R, knowledge of machine learning techniques, and experience with data preprocessing and data visualization. They also need to have problem-solving abilities, and strong communication skills to translate complex data insights into understandable and actionable information. Experience with big data technologies can also be important, especially for roles that involve working with large datasets.
When it comes to hiring a data scientist for a startup versus a larger company, the role, business needs, and expectations can differ. In a startup, a data scientist might be expected to wear multiple hats - data cleaning, modeling, analysis, interpretation, and even engineering tasks. They might need to work with limited resources and make do with less structured data, requiring a high degree of creativity and adaptability.
On the other hand, at a larger company, roles may be more specialized, with separate teams for different parts of the data pipeline. Data scientists at larger companies might focus more on developing advanced models or complex analyses, and might work with larger, more structured datasets. They may also have to navigate more bureaucracy and protocols.
In terms of employment arrangements, both full-time and hourly contracts have their pros and cons. A full-time data scientist is typically more involved in the company, has a better understanding of the business, and can work on long-term strategic projects. They may also contribute to the company culture and team dynamics. However, hiring a full-time data scientist is a significant commitment and can be more expensive considering benefits and overhead costs.
Hiring data scientists on an hourly basis or as contractors can offer more flexibility. It can be a good option if you have a specific, well-defined project, or if you need to ramp up your capabilities temporarily. It might also be less expensive in the short term. However, hourly data scientists might be less integrated into your team and might not have the same level of commitment or business understanding as a full-time employee.
In all cases, it's important to provide clear expectations and a comprehensive job description of the role, to ensure that you attract candidates who are a good fit for your needs. It's also critical to have a robust onboarding process, to set your new data scientist up for success.
Strong Understanding of Mathematics and Statistics
A firm grounding in mathematics and statistics is paramount for data scientists. They need to have a grasp of concepts such as probability, hypothesis testing, Bayesian statistics, regression, optimization, and clustering, as well as linear algebra and calculus. These form the basis for data manipulation, inferences, artificial intelligence, and machine learning algorithms that data scientists implement in their work. Moreover, understanding these principles allows them to create custom, novel solutions and not just use out-of-the-box algorithms. Familiarity with tools such as statistical programming languages (like R), libraries (like NumPy, SciPy, and statsmodels for Python), and software (like SPSS or SAS) is also useful.
Proficiency in Programming Languages
Data scientists need to be adept at programming to manipulate a significant amount of data, create models, and build data products. Python and R are the most common languages due to their readability and extensive libraries for data manipulation, analysis, and visualization (like pandas, numpy, ggplot2, and dplyr). SQL is often necessary for querying databases and retrieving data. Other languages like Java, Scala, or Julia can be useful, especially in big data or performance-critical contexts. Understanding of general programming concepts like control structures, data structures, algorithms, and object-oriented programming is also expected.
Knowledge of Machine Learning
Machine learning, including deep learning (a subset of machine learning), is a crucial part of data science, used to predict future trends, classify data, and uncover patterns. Data scientists should understand supervised learning methods (like linear and logistic regression, decision trees, random forests, SVMs, and neural networks), unsupervised methods (like clustering and dimensionality reduction), and reinforcement learning. Knowledge of how to validate models, like understanding of cross-validation, bias-variance tradeoff, and ROC curves, is necessary. Familiarity with machine learning libraries like scikit-learn, TensorFlow, Keras, or PyTorch is usually expected. More advanced roles might require understanding of natural language processing or computer vision.
Experience with Data Wrangling and Preprocessing
Raw data is often messy and unsuitable for direct analysis. Therefore, data scientists must be comfortable with preprocessing steps such as cleaning (dealing with missing or inconsistent data), normalization, outlier detection, and feature engineering (creation of useful input features from raw data). Knowledge of data manipulation tools like pandas in Python, dplyr in R, or SQL for data extraction and manipulation is essential. For larger datasets, experience with big data tools like Spark or Hadoop might be necessary. Familiarity with handling different data formats like CSV, JSON, or XML is also expected. Regular expressions can often be helpful for parsing and cleaning data.
Data Visualization Skills
Data visualization is a crucial part of a data scientist's job as it enables them to convert complex findings from their analyses into visual, understandable insights for the data science team or team members, or stakeholders. They need to have a good understanding of design and aesthetics, along with the ability to translate data patterns into compelling visual stories. This requires skills in using visualization tools and libraries such as Matplotlib, Seaborn, ggplot2, Plotly, D3.js, or Tableau. In addition, data scientists should understand the best types of charts and graphs to use depending on the data and the intended audience - be it bar charts, pie charts, scatter plots, heatmaps, or more complex visualizations like treemaps and geospatial plots.
Experience with Big Data Technologies
With the rise of big data, data scientists often find themselves working with datasets that are too large to be handled by conventional tools. Therefore, experience with big data platforms like Hadoop, Spark, or Hive can be advantageous. Knowledge of distributed storage systems like HDFS, Cassandra, or MongoDB, and familiarity with concepts like MapReduce can be crucial. Additionally, an understanding of cloud platforms like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, or Azure for scalable data processing and storage can be a major plus point for a data scientist.
Problem-Solving Abilities
Problem-solving is at the core of a data scientist's role. They are often tasked with complex business problems that need to be broken down, analyzed, and solved using data. This requires critical thinking skills, creativity, and a logical, analytical mindset. They need to understand the problem domain well, come up with suitable hypotheses, and know which data science techniques can provide the best insights. A keen attention to detail and patience to persist through potentially complex and time-consuming analyses are also important qualities. While problem-solving skills are often inherent, they can also be demonstrated through a track record of tackling and overcoming difficult analytical challenges.
Strong Communication Skills
Data scientists are often the bridge between technical teams and business stakeholders, which means they need to effectively communicate complex data insights in a clear, understandable manner. This includes both written and verbal communication skills for presentations, meetings, and written reports. They need to articulate the findings, explain the significance of the data, and make actionable recommendations. Tools like Jupyter notebooks for Python, RMarkdown for R, or PowerPoint for presentations, can often be useful in this context. It's also crucial for data scientists to have active listening skills to understand the business context and objectives clearly, and empathy to relate to the needs and limitations of their audience.
Expert Resources for Hiring Data Scientists
Frequently Asked Questions
What do Data Scientists do?
Data scientists are often referred to as "big data wranglers", taking an increasingly vast amount of complex data and analyzing it to find trends, extract insights, and inform decision-making. They bridge the gap between the business and IT worlds and are crucial in turning raw data into comprehensible visualizations and actionable business insights.
Here's what they typically do:
1. Data Cleaning and Preprocessing: They spend a significant amount of their time cleaning and preprocessing data, as data in the real world can often be messy and unstructured.
2. Data Analysis: They analyze data through a process known as “data mining” to discover trends, patterns, anomalies, and correlations that can be used to drive business decisions. They might use statistical models and algorithms for this analysis.
3. Predictive Modelling and Machine Learning: Data scientists use algorithms to create predictive models. These models can be used to predict future outcomes based on historical data. For example, a data scientist might build a model to predict customer churn based on past customer behavior.
4. Data Visualization and Reporting: They present data insights and metrics to business leaders, data analysts, data engineers, and stakeholders in a way that is easy to understand. They might create dashboards or reports using data visualization tools (such as Excel, Powerpoint, Jupyter, etc.) to present these insights.
5. Experimentation and Testing: Data scientists may also be involved in designing data-driven tests and experiments to validate certain hypotheses or explore new ideas.
6. Data Management and Security: Depending on their role and the organization they work for, they may also be responsible for ensuring the security and integrity of data.
In terms of skill sets, here are some key skills that are often required in data science roles:
1. Programming: Python and R are two of the most commonly used programming languages in data science.
2. Statistics: A strong understanding of statistics is crucial as it forms the backbone of many data science techniques.
3. Machine Learning: Familiarity with machine learning algorithms and principles is important. This may range from linear and logistic regression to more complex algorithms like neural networks and ensemble methods.
4. Data Wrangling: The ability to preprocess and clean data is important, as raw data often needs to be processed before it can be used.
5. Data Visualization: Skills in data visualization are important for presenting data in a clear and concise manner. Tools like Matplotlib, Seaborn, ggplot, or Tableau might be used.
6. Big Data Platforms: Knowledge of big data platforms like Hadoop or Spark can be beneficial, particularly for roles that involve dealing with large amounts of data.
7. SQL and NoSQL: Knowledge of SQL is important for interacting with databases. NoSQL knowledge might also be beneficial for dealing with unstructured data.
8. Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving: These are important soft skills for a data scientist. They need to be able to solve complex problems and make decisions based on data.
9. Communication Skills: Data scientists often need to explain complex data insights to non-technical stakeholders, so strong communication skills are important.
How do I hire a good data scientist?
As a recruiter or hiring manager, to hire data scientists with solid experience, you will need to conduct interview questions as well as a thorough evaluation of their certifications (if any), technical skills, and soft skills. The hiring process may vary but candidates should demonstrate proficiency in areas such as mathematics, statistics, programming (Python, R, SQL), machine learning, and data visualization. Prior experience with big data technologies can be an added advantage. Assess their problem-solving and communication skills, which are crucial for translating complex data insights into actionable business strategies. Beyond technical skills, a good data scientist also needs to be curious, adaptable, and detail-oriented. A practical test or case study during the interview process can be a good way to evaluate these skills. Lastly, consider the candidate's cultural fit within your company and their understanding of your business domain.
Where do I hire data scientists?
There are various places where you can hire data scientists. You can use online job platforms like LinkedIn, Indeed, or Glassdoor are common places to post job listings. Alternatively, you can use freelance or contract sites like Braintrust to list your job for free and hire vetted and experienced data scientists in 48 hours. Networking events, tech meetups, or job fairs are also valid places to meet potential candidates with data science talent.
How much does a data scientist charge?
The charge for a data scientist can vary widely depending on factors such as their level of experience, the complexity of the project, the industry, and the geographical location. In the United States, a data scientist could earn anywhere between $95,000 to $165,000 annually. Freelance data scientists might charge an hourly rate that can range from $50 to $200 or more. Remember that rates can vary significantly, and it's essential to take into consideration the specific demands of your project and the qualifications of the data scientist.
How hard is it to hire a data scientist?
Hiring a data scientist can be challenging due to the high demand and relatively limited supply of professionals with the necessary skills and experience. The field is highly competitive, and the best candidates often have multiple offers. Moreover, data science is a broad field with many specializations, so finding a candidate with the right combination of skills to match your specific needs can be difficult. Furthermore, because it's a relatively new field, evaluating credentials and experience can be harder compared to more established professions.
What is the average rate for a freelance data scientist?
The rate for a freelance data scientist can vary greatly depending on their experience level, the complexity of the work, and the market conditions. A freelance data scientist could charge anywhere from $50 to $200 per hour or more in the United States. This rate could be higher for specialists or those with significant experience. When hiring a freelancer, it's crucial to clearly define the project scope and deliverables to ensure that the work stays within budget.
Are data scientists worth it?
Yes, data scientists are often considered worth their cost due to the significant value they can bring to a business. They can analyze and interpret complex digital data, such as usage statistics or customer behavior, to identify trends, patterns, and insights. These insights can be used to make informed decisions, drive business strategy, improve customer experience, optimize operations, and even create new products or services. Additionally, data scientists can build predictive models to forecast future trends and outcomes. The value of these contributions can far exceed the cost of hiring a data scientist, particularly in data-driven industries or in companies with large amounts of untapped data.
Why is data science so expensive?
Data science can be expensive due to a few reasons. First, it's a highly specialized field that requires a unique blend of skills, including knowledge of programming, statistics, machine learning, and business strategy, making trained data scientists in high demand. Secondly, the cost of data science projects also includes the necessary infrastructure, such as servers for data storage and processing, software licenses, and potentially cloud computing resources. Finally, data science is often an iterative process, with multiple rounds of data exploration, model development, and validation needed, all of which takes time and resources.
Do data scientists do a lot of coding?
Yes, coding is a significant part of a data scientist's job. They use programming languages like Python and R to write scripts to preprocess and analyze data, develop and implement machine learning models, and visualize data. SQL is also commonly used for querying databases to extract data. Some data scientists may also use Java or Scala when working with big data technologies like Apache Spark. While the extent of coding can vary depending on the specific role and the size of the team, having strong coding skills is generally a fundamental requirement for data scientists.
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