Friday Funny: The Fastest Way Ever to Becoming a Data Scientist

Data scientist and data analyst are among the most wanted positions. It also sounds very cool to be a scientist, despite Sheldon Cooper. There is one little thing that makes it hard to get on the board and it is the amount of work one need to put in developing the required skills. I have a good news to you! Recent research has proved that this an absolute misconception and data-science-related skills could be developed much faster than previously though. There is a recipe to open the door to this lucrative field and it is based on numerous observations on the evolution of experts in the field, so it could be trusted.


The foundations of this methodology are in the very few people understanding what is behind "data science" and even less organizations applying it properly. Advanced in the web technology is crucial as well. Walk this path following the instructions as described below:

1. Read the data science related article in Wikipedia. Do not go further than the first paragraph! Try to remember some key phrases - the more obscure the better.
2. Open Google and do searches for "data science", "data mining", "forecasting"
3. Open random links and see what is inside. Do not go further than the second page of search results.
4. Open Excel and create a simple chart over a simple data. Try another chart as well as "sum", "average" and STDEV functions.
5. Search for R project on Google
6. Download and install the application
7. Open R
8. Search for "R" and open randomly few links.
9. Look at some examples of the R language and copy/paste some of them in R
10. Search for some other software packages for statistics, data mining and forecasting and try to remember three of them.
11. Very important: Update your Linkedin profile and include the skills: R, data mining, data science and other related stuff you like. Do not forget to include "Big Data"! Find a way your manager to notice you know some terminology.

Done! Congrats! You are now an accomplished expert and you could start talking about it with a concerned and serious voice. Do not worry - most people would have no idea what it is all about. Please take care avoiding the people who have been in the field for some time or have the slightest chance to know a thing or two. Avoid professionals at any cost! Professionals tend to be vicious and unforgiving creatures! Do not worry about a project that may come at your doorstep - there is Google, so things should be fine.