Guys,

I have a non-IT background, but have some experience in Python and R, and taken some courses on Coursera because of interest. I want to change career to Data Science. I have heard that there are consultancies that do training and placement. Can you guys please suggest me some of them? I am in the US and have a green card so I don't need visa sponsorship. Thanks in advance.

Sparty

I've been a Data Scientist for about 10 years now and all positions I have seen are full time. You can try and get in full time but sadly there don't seem to be many consulting roles.

Being a data scientist requires a solid understanding of mathematical concepts as well and the interviews tend to be notoriously hard. You might consider going thru a boot camp and graduate from there in 6 months with a certificate. It might help you get you in the door. Salaries are pretty good but like I said, most have to go thru many rounds of interview before getting a job.

that was the exact question going thru my head. @asdfgh can I ask what tools and skill set (based on your experience) would you suggest as a requirement for at least landing in an interview for entry-level jobs in data science like MS in data science or good knowledge of data analysis tools or any other?

Doing MBA and choosing area of emphasis in Data Analytics is one option, if you already have a bachelors degree.

Few things
1) Usually they look for a quantitative degree, so if you have a Masters in Econ/Stats/Comp Sci/Math it helps a lot. I have mine in Stats.
2) Need to be an expert in SQL, Tableau or SAS and SAS Visual Analytics. Expertise in Python/R is also required. Excel skills should be top notch.
3) Able to write highly automatable and efficient code that takes as few resources as possible because algorithms tend to take a lot of time to converge. Datasets tend to be quite large, few gigs in normal
4) Solid knowledge of Gradient Boosting, Deep Learning (ANN, RNN, CNN), Regression, Decision Trees, Ensemble Modeling. Also need to know how to deal with imbalanced classes, data transformation, feature selection and feature engineering.
5) Most of all you need to have an inquisitive mind and be able to spin a story different ways. Need to be able to present information to a non-technical audience.

We provide Data analyst training and placement. Please contact us for more details info@aeryntech.com