Data Analytics Courses vs. Data Science Degree: Which is Right for You?
Can a data analytics certification give you the same leverage as a data science degree? While the terms data analytics and data science may sound similar, their meanings are quite different for professionals. Data Science is often confused with data analytics as both work with large amounts of data.
While both professions have seen a meteoric rise in demand for talent, you should pick your course carefully.
Enrolling in a data analytics certification or a data science course is the best way to start. But first, you need to discover which of these professions will serve your future the best. Both job roles are different and require different skill sets.
You can start by understanding the basics and identifying what suits your interests more.
What is Data Science?
Data Science is the science of discovering and handling vast amounts of data. For example, General Electric equips all its commercial turbine jet engines with thousands of sensors. The data these sensors collect helps predict the maintenance issues with the engines. Thus, airlines enjoy lower downtime for their aircraft, and servicing teams avoid big repair expenses and accidents.
Data science roles are usually industry agnostic as you are concerned with the quality and processes to collect, store and analyse data. The responsibilities of a data scientist can include the following:
- Identify relevant data sources and develop automated data collection processes (data mining)
- Process structured and unstructured data for storage
- Apply analytical models on large amounts of data to highlight trends and patterns
- Predictive modelling and machine-learning algorithms
- Orchestration of different data models
- Develop big data infrastructures
Data Science combines scientific computing, statistics, and algorithms to extract the required information from structured or unstructured data.
You should be comfortable with mathematics, statistics, and programming to build a career in data science. Moreover, companies prefer post-graduated or PhD data scientists over those who have only completed a bachelor’s degree or a short-term diploma.
What is Data Analytics?
Data Analytics can be defined as the use of vast amounts of data to find insights, trends, and other possibilities invisible to the human eye. Data analytics is all about analysing existing data for exploratory or analytical programs.
Data analysts may face the following responsibilities:
- Extract relevant data from a data lake
- Data analysis and forecasting
- Using business intelligence models to draw insights
- Performing different types of analytics on the data to:Describe the problem Identifying the cause of the problem Predicting repetition or event Providing possible solutions to the problem
Data analytics also helps a business understand market trends to make better data-driven decisions. For example, it helps you recognize your customers’ interests, identify products that your target audience like more, and understand the buying behaviour of your customers.
Course Vs Degree
Several factors can affect your choices between a certificate course and a degree. Here are a few factors to consider:- Time: A certification course can take six months to one year, whereas a degree can take 2-4 years.
- Qualification: A post-graduate degree will require a bachelor’s degree. Even undergraduates can complete certificate programs.
- Coverage: A degree offers wider coverage of different subjects. On the other hand, a certification course is more focused on developing the skill.
- Dedication: A degree course may require a full-time dedicated approach, while a certificate course requires only a few hours every week.
Job Roles: Data Scientist vs Data Analyst
One of the big reasons why everyone is confused between data analytics and data science is because both work with large amounts of data.
Responsibilities of Data Scientists
The role of a data scientist is highly varied and depends on the scientific priorities of an organization’s strategy. The responsibilities of a data scientist in an organization may include:- Building algorithms from scratch
- Building and executing new data structures.
- Performing investigative analysis of large datasets
- Processing, cleaning, and validating data integrity.
- Data Mining through ETL pipelines
- Performing statistical analysis using Machine Learning algorithms
- To make business predictions by identifying new data trends.
Responsibilities of Data Analysts
The job role of a data analyst in an organization includes:- Collecting and interpreting data
- Determining data requirements
- Separating the data based on age, gender, demographic, or other factors.
- Data querying using SQL
- To use data visualization tools like Tableau to present the extracted data.
Data Analytics Certification and Data Science Courses by Edvancer
Edvancer offers two types of courses in Data Science:Certified Data Science Specialist: This certification course includes 300 hours of learning and assignments. The total course duration is equally divided into lectures and practical hands-on experience with real industry projects.
You can opt for the live classes or the self-paced program based on your convenience and availability.
PG Program in Data Science: This data science program ranks among India’s top 5 data science programs. Also, this program gives you an alumni status with the UPES. The program includes:
- Machine Learning in Python
- Business Analytics in R,
- Data analysis in SQL
Along with theoretical knowledge, you get to work on real projects that improve your practical knowledge.
The data analytics courses by Edvancer are as follows:
Certified Data Analytics Specialist: This certification course includes:
- Business analytics in R
- Data analysis in SQL
- Data visualisation in Tableau
The duration of this program is 300 hours which includes 150 hours of projects & assignments.
Advanced Data Analytics Certification: This certificate program has been developed in collaboration with IIT Kanpur. Currently, this certification ranks among the Top 4 data analytics courses in India. It covers:
- Data analytics in R
- Data analysis in SQL
- Data visualisation in Tableau
Grow Your Career by Choosing the Right Course
Data analytics certification adds value to your professional profile whether you are a fresh graduate or a seasoned professional. You should plan your path to knowledge carefully and always draw it parallel to your career aspirations.
Edvancer offers one of the best data analytics courses in India. These courses, offered in collaboration with industry leaders and top educational institutes, provide you with the latest technical skills. Getting the students industry-ready is the primary goal of the certificate and degree courses in data analytics and data science.
You can explore your options by consulting with the faculties and staff at Edvancer.
FAQs
1. Can I get a job in data science without having a degree?
You do not need a degree in data science to start your career. So, yes, it is possible to get a job in data science without a degree by completing a certification or a diploma course in data science. However, a degree will be more valuable for your progress as higher positions may require PhD qualifications.
2. What is the average salary for data science professionals with a degree or certification? The salary of data science professionals depends on various factors, such as the organization they work for, experience, skillsets, and qualifications.
3. Which one will give me more job opportunities in the field of data science?
Though a data analytics certification and a data science course are good places to start, a degree in data science will offer better opportunities. Data science certificate courses are recommended for experienced professionals who have defined career goals related to it. For fresh graduates and undergraduate students, a degree will offer better opportunities.
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