It shouldn't come as a surprise to any career-minded woman that data skills are more valuable than ever before. Along with numerous soft skills such as communication, organization, and punctuality, data skills are sought out by hiring professionals. This means that broadcasting these skills in your resume can be profoundly rewarding.
However, the benefits of data skills should not just be limited to how they help you in your career. Rather, in today's technological world an understanding of data science and data management can take you a lot farther even in your personal life. Choosing to focus on data management may just be the best thing you can do for yourself.
With that in mind, it is worthwhile to dive into the ways that data science skills are likely to benefit you overall. Work is one thing - and that skill is certainly needed there. But you would be surprised at the way even a basic understanding of data management can help you do things such as research large purchases or protect your personal information.
Broadly Valuable
Perhaps the reason that data analytical skills are so sought after is that they are broadly applicable to nearly any position that you might apply for. In fact, data science is far more prevalent than you may think. Take marketing for example. Data scientists are in high demand for the analytical skills used to understand the purchasing patterns and preferences of both loyal and new customers.
Alternatively, consider the healthcare field. More so that ever before, healthcare providers are using data science to understand the spread of diseases and the risk factors associated with certain types of illnesses. Careers in natural resources use data science too to understand ecological patterns and interactions that impact the environment we live in.
For better or worse, there is a huge gap in data science professionals today. There are far more positions available than people that have the skill sets to fill them, meaning that anyone with an interest should take advantage of the opportunity. Economists estimate that the number of data science-related positions will continue to grow in the coming decades.
Making Large Financial Decisions
Beyond just the benefits of having a data science background at work, there are numerous benefits that tie into your personal life too. Take, for example, making large financial decisions such as purchasing a new car. Numerous people are opting for electric vehicles today, and it can really benefit them to understand the costs and benefits of this.
There is no doubt that electric vehicles save consumers money on gas after the initial purchase, which can be significantly higher than regular gas engine vehicles. Electricity prices tend to be more stable, meaning that expenses can be budgeted much better. Furthermore, many government incentive programs can help to make it easier to fund.
Data can help to better understand the costs and benefits of purchasing an electric vehicle, especially if you are weighing the environmental pluses and minuses. For example, when thinking about the many environmental benefits of electric vehicles, many people fail to consider the serious negative impacts of a rapidly increasing demand for lithium mining. They also rarely consider the harsh chemical leaching that lithium batteries do as they decompose in landfills.
Managing Data
With great data also comes great responsibility. There are more risks to personal data than ever before; hundreds of people had their data stolen last year and taking the time to manage yours is critically important. An understanding of what steps need to be taken to help you protect yours is another valuable way that knowledge of data science can help you in your personal life.
The first step in this is certainly securing the data that you have and making sure that you know which entities have how much of your data. This can be super challenging in today's world where medical records, banking records, and even Amazon transactions require some piece of personal information. The next step is to back up your valuable data and make sure you have a copy of the important things.
Managing your data also means completely deleting lingering data that you no longer need. Once again, this can be a lot harder than you think because your data can be saved by numerous entities in thousands of locations. It isn't always easy, but your skills in data science will certainly help you to track down even the most cumbersome piece of remaining data out there.
Data science skills are highly valued in the workplace because they are applicable in nearly every career path. Furthermore, there is a critical shortage of people that have a true understanding and well-developed skills base in it. Learning data science skills can provide you immense benefits in your work life as well as in your personal life. For example, data skills can be used to inform major financial decisions and to protect your data in a world where data is more unsafe than ever.
This guest post was authored by Dan Matthews
Ms. Career Girl was started in 2008 to help ambitious young professional women figure out who they are, what they want and how to get it.
