What does a Data Scientist do?

Data Scientists come from the emergence of big data. For businesses, this large amount of data from social networks and websites is a goldmine of information about clients, products and their own performances. As such, data processing is essential for companies. However, generating profit from all this data requires creativity - and that's why businesses need data scientists. Interested? Learn everything you need to know about this promising job!

Specialised in data science, a Data Scientist manages and analyses the data collected by a company for customer prospection purposes. By analysing this data, a data scientist uses predictive modelling to improve the company’s global activity and customer experience.

A data scientist researches and develops large amount of data. The responsibilities of a data scientist include:

• Collecting and converting large amounts of data;


• Detecting trends in data sets;


• Writing reports and communicating with company leaders;


• Solving company problems thanks to data.

The position and responsibilities of a data scientist can be very different depending on a company's needs or available data.

The data scientist is the point of contact between the data processing chain and the rest of the company. Within the Data team, a data scientist mostly works with the Data Engineer and the Data Analyst.Let's review the differences between what a data engineer, a data scientist and a data analyst do:

• Firstly, the data engineer prepares the data. The data engineer develops, builds, tests and maintains the data processing architecture;


• Then, the data scientist analyses and interprets the data with a statistic learning model.


• Finally, the data analyst uses the information provided by the data to help companies make decisions.

Since these projects are highly specific and technical, they require a dedicated team of experts. Hence the data team can include other positions, such as Data Designer, le Data Quality Manager ou encore Big Data Architect.

Many data scientists have a postgraduate qualification, such as a master’s degree in engineering or business. Such training often includes an internship or apprenticeship, which are always useful on your CV. Data scientists are often specialised in computer science, statistics, marketing or big data.

Firstly, the data scientist needs to have computer skills: master machine learning and programming languages (Python, R...). The data scientist also needs to have marketing expertise and knowledge in data management tools and databases (Excel, Access, SQL...). The data scientist also needs statistics skills to make the best of web analysis tools (omniture, google analytics). Finally, while a data scientist doesn't need to be Shakespeare, he/she needs to be fluent in technical English.

Soft skills are essential to succeed as a data scientist. Thanks to soft skills, the data scientist can be efficient in his/her teamwork. Soft skills are notably useful to present and communicate the results of the data analyses in a clear and convincing way. With an analytical mind and a detail-oriented person, a data scientist needs to be organised and able to adapt to everyday life. Point of contact between the data processing chain and the rest of the company, the data scientist needs to know how to communicate with the stakeholders and the projects he/she takes part in.

Being a data scientist offers many career paths. A Data Scientist can build up his/her skills, and become Director of Analytics or develop management skills and become Chief Data Scientist or Chief Data Officer. However there are many other jobs linked to data, such as Data Designer, who presents the data to the clients in a intelligible way, or Data Quality Manager, who checks that the data collected and stored are correct.

Here's the good news! Everybody needs data scientists! Data is now essential to better control a company's market and targets, so data scientists can be hired in all sectors. Employers range from startups to banks, including software publishers, service providers, pure players, SMEs... In short, data scientist is a highly sought-after job! Moreover, Societe Generale has many data scientist job offers.

The salary of a data scientist is attractive, and may also evolve, depending on both experience and the relevance of the algorithms implemented by the data scientist.

• The salary of a Junior Data Scientist: €45K
• The salary of an Experienced Data Scientist: €60K
• The salary of a Senior Data Scientist: €80K

As you can see, due to his/her many skills, a data scientist is a highly sought-after profile. A data scientist can be useful in many sectors, from finance, to computer science, including insurance and e-shopping. Are you interested in the job and think you have the right profile? Do not hesitate to apply at Societe Generale.