Data Mining - the latest buzz in Technical World

“DATA MINING” is the latest buzz word in the technical world. Every business today is hunting talented data analysts that can process a huge amount of its data to more useful information. 

Data mining or data science can be used to solve problems of many business disciplines. It is the analytical skills, scientific methods, and computational skills used to solve many problems across various professions. Therefore, there is an increasing need for the educational institutes to fill up this technical gap by imparting the latest programs in data science and analytics to its students. One can get a lot of exposure and hands-on experience by enrolling for various short term courses specially designed to cater to different aspects of data analytics in the various technical institutions in Delhi/NCR, for example, IIT Delhi, GGSIPU Delhi, Delhi Technical University, DPGITM Gurgaon, etc. However, there are many more other institutions who offer the exposure of Data Mining to its students. Data mining or data science can be used to solve the problems of many business disciplines. It is the analytical skills, scientific methods, and computational skills used to solve many problems across various professions.

Data Science is vast. It is not limited to a certain roadmap that one needs to follow. There can be two different professionals from totally different backgrounds. They may use absolutely different coding languages and the end results can also be totally different. Yet, both the solutions may be correct. Thus, it is clear that data science has no limitations. There are many options to opt for a career in Data Science. If you want to pursue a career as a data analyst/scientist, then you can follow one or more of the following steps:

• Choose a stream that may translate to a career in Data Science: Computer Science Engineering, BCA followed by Masters, Graduation in Statistics, Physical Sciences etc. are all very good choices for a data science career. It need not be focused entirely on Mathematics, but one has to be comfortable in using data and apply it to various fields.
• Take individual courses: A data Analyst needs a strong hand in statistics as well as programming. To develop a solid foundation of your data analytics skills, focus on the core subjects listed above irrespective of your major course.
• Involve with research in College: It is extremely important to reach out to an experienced professor in your alma mater. Create publishable literature pertaining to Data Analytics. This will motivate you to be equipped with the latest in the field. Professors of some premier institutes in Delhi NCR like DTU Delhi, DPGITM Gurgaon etc. are known for their invigorating research practices like this.
• Develop personal projects: Extrapolate your classroom knowledge to the outside world by trying to develop some projects based on Data Sciences. You can also create an app, write a blog or do some data analysis of a real-world problem. Following are some tips that you can follow while you work on your own project:
• Embrace failure: Failures are the road to success. Therefore, you must always be optimistic
• Learn from your practical projects. It has been proven that practical classes tend to be more fruitful than theoretical classes
• Develop interpersonal skills
• Develop team management skills
• Publish your work. Add them to your resumes or you can link them in your LinkedIn profiles as well. These, of course, give a lot of weightage to the employers.

• Train yourself for a graduate college of your choice: Even if you are not able to get admission in a college of your choice immediately after your Secondary School Examinations Result, you can still aim to get admission in a reputed college wherein you can learn Data Science. Various colleges like DTU Delhi, DPGITM Gurgaon in Delhi/NCR consider students from various educational backgrounds and give them an opportunity to pick up courses of their choice like BTech, BCA which pave the way for knowledge in data sciences.

Choose a STEM major: Maths, Engineering, Computer Science, Natural Science, Social Science, Economics, Business, Operational Research, and Medical Science are the majors. You can choose from any of these. These subjects can guide you to acquire skills that are needed to become a data scientist.

To succeed as a data analyst one needs to excel in two fields – Statistics and Computer Science which form the basis and foundation for data science. The introductory classes of Statistics in almost all Technical colleges of Delhi/NCR like DTU, IIT Delhi, DPGITM Gurgaon, etc. are sufficient as well as important to impart the beginners level knowledge of Statistic. There is a plethora of online resources available like Coursera, Udemy, Khan Academy, etc.

For the course in Computer Science, you can opt for Engineering courses. Include Python and R besides other subjects like Introduction to Programming, Analysis and Design of Algorithms (ADA) Problem Solving using Programming (PPS), Machine dependent Programming, Data Structure, and Programming. All these are majorly covered in premier institutes in Delhi/NCR like DTU, DPGITM Gurgaon and IIT Delhi.

To sum it all, if you want to become a pioneer in Data Analytics, take opportunities available while on campus in college, get good grades, join all relevant workshops, develop projects, publish research papers and become the data analyst you want to be and pursue your dream career!!

About the Author:

Dr. Prahlad Singh is the principal of DPG Institute of Technology & Management.