What Skills Do Data Scientists Need

There is currently a huge demand for data scientists, which is a top-trending job with attractive salaries. But what are the skills and tools that employers are looking for. It's a few years since we asked What is a Data Scientist and How Do I Become One? The answer given back in 2015 is still valid as a starting point: Similar to a business/data analyst, data scientists combine knowledge of computer science and applications, modelling, statistics, analytics and math to uncover insights in data. But what does this mean in terms of the skillset a data scientist should acquire. The question How to Become More Marketable as a Data Scientist has been tackled by the research team at CV Compiler, a company which provides guidance on creating a convincing resume to developers and others in the software industry. For an analysis of the skills required by data scientists the CV Compiler team looked at 300 Data Science vacancies from StackOverflow, AngelList, and similar websites. Then using their own text analytics tool, they identified the terms which were mentioned the most frequently and created this chart: It needs to be noted that the research represents the preferences of employers, rather than of data scientists. I would have expected to see "Machine Learning" near the top of the list because looking at job descriptions you discover that Machine Learning Engineers work in Data Science teams and that Data Science Interns can expect to "gain valuable AI/ML skills". Perhaps the two terms are so intertwined that knowledge of  Machine Learning is assumed. While R is frequently referred to as "the language of data science, Python outnumbering it in job vacancies makes sense in that Python a general-purpose language and currently trending when it comes to popularity. I'm surprised to see Scala quite so high and the complete absense of Julia both from the table and from the blog report write up where other skills and tools that gain substantial number of mentions are discussed. For example, while Big Data is in the table with 221 mentions, the term Data Mining, used for "collecting big data" isn't in the table despite but the fact that it had 128 mention in job vacancies is reported. While SQL comes high in the list, and ETL (Extract, transform, load) is in the table, there's no mention anywhere Mongo DB or No SQL. On the other hand mentions of the open source  Apache Spark outnumber those of Hadoop. Commenting on this Andrew Stetsenko writes: According to the 2018 Big Data Analytics Market Study, Big Data adoption in enterprises soared from 17% in 2015 to 59% in 2018. Thus the popularity of Big Data tools also grew. [In addition to Spark and Haddoop] the most popular ones are MapReduce (36), and Redshift (29) .....some employers still expect candidates to be familiar with Apache Pig (30), HBase (32), and similar technologies. HDFS (20) is still being mentioned in vacancies as well. As with Compiler CV's earlier report on the skills needed by JavaScript developers, the figures in brackets are the number of mentions. Stetsenko also mentions the importance of data visualization, mentioned in 55 job vacancies and notes: It’s crucial that you could represent the outcomes of your work in a format, understandable to any team member or a customer. As for the data visualization tools, employers prefer Tableau (54). The fact that Computer Vision and NLP (Natural Language Processing) make it into the table serves to emphasize that AI and Data Science are inextricably linked and that knowledge of AI tools such as Tensorflow is well worth acquiring.  Source: https://www.i-programmer.info/news/197-data-mining/12988-what-skills-do-data-scientists-need.html (Accessed on August 7, 2019)

US tech firms dominate top 10 green card application list

Pune: Only two Indian companies —Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys — figure in a list of the top ten applicants for employer green cards in the six months to March 2019, a review of US government data shows.
US-based technology companies such as Amazon, Cognizant, Cisco, Facebook and Google have together filed more green card applications, or those seeking talented immigrants with permanent residency to work in their offices in the United States, according to the US Department of Labor data.
The Department of Labor follows an October to September calendar year.
Amazon has filed 1,500 applications, the largest among the ten companies. Cognizant Technology Services, a US-headquartered IT services firm that has a large employee base in India, is second with more than 1,300 employer green card applications, followed by Cisco. TCS, with 1,009 applications comes fourth on that list, while Infosys is in seventh position, according to the data. It is as yet unclear how many of these applications will convert into permanent residency permits.
Amazon, Cisco, TCS, Infosys, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple and Deloitte — all of which figure in the top 10 — declined to comment.
A spokesperson for Cognizant said it consistently sponsors employees in “securing legal permanent residence in the US precisely because they are highly-skilled, highly-educated knowledge professionals who are valuable assets to our company and clients.”
The National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), the industry lobby group for Indian IT, said the data supports its contention that there is a shortage of skilled talent in the US and that American companies are hiring people from where it is available the most —India. “While it is a company’s decision on how it wants to recruit and retain talent, this is a reflection of the talent shortage with low unemployment rates and an increased demand for digital skills,” said Shivendra Singh, vice-president of the global trade department at Nasscom.
US grants H-1B visas to highly skilled people for a period of three years. This can be extended for a similar term. Most workers apply for a green card or permanent resident status towards the end of their H-1B visa tenure.

The application enables them to stay and work in the US legally while it is in process.
Companies are required to pay for a worker’s H-1B visa application, but the responsibility for a green card rests with the individual. However, many companies apply for an I-140 or Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker to retain a highly valued or skilled resource.
A prospective employer submits the Form I-140 to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to petition for an alien to work in the US on a permanent basis.
Currently, it takes an Indian applicant more than eight years to receive permanent resident status. It is estimated that up to 300,000 Indians could benefit if the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act or HR 1044 is passed by the US Senate. 

Source: //economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/70562546.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Must Read: 07/08/2019

University Grants Commission (UGC) has permitted SDM, Ujire to start three professional courses

Read more at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/70553169.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Existing varsities don’t qualify, yet-to-be-set-up ones do

If KREA University, Azim Premji University, Ashoka University, apart from the Indian Institute for Human Settlements and the Indian Institute of Public Health—all promising private universities—not making it to the University Grants Commission (UGC) list of Institutes of Eminence recommended to the government seems odd, its justification for rejecting these seems outright batty. The UGC says that since none of these institutes—and a handful of public universities—feature in global and Indian quality rankings, they weren’t included.

Read more at: https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/existing-varsities-dont-qualify-yet-to-be-set-up-ones-do/1668246/

'Spin' Highly Prevalent in Top Psychiatry Journal Abstracts

More than half of clinical trial abstracts published in top psychiatry and psychology journals exaggerate the significance of study findings, a discovery that may lead to poor clinical decision making.

This is potentially "dangerous," first author Samuel Jellison, third-year medical student, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences in Tulsa, told Medscape Medical News.

Read more: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/916484

Regarding Ph.D.

Varsities should send teachers on sabbatical leave for pursuing research: UGC panel

Universities and colleges should develop action plans to send mid-career teachers on sabbatical leave for pursuing research and writing, a panel set up by the University Grants Commission (UGC) has recommended.

The four-member committee on “Promoting and improving quality of research in Indian universities and colleges” headed by professor P Balaram, former director, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, recently submitted its report to the commission.

“The UGC should encourage and support state universities and affiliated colleges to put in place a rigorous but generous program that would offer sabbatical leave to mid-career teachers for pursuing research and writing books and monographs which consolidated accumulated original research knowledge,” the panel said in its report.

The report said mid-career national level sabbatical awards on a competitive basis for a year may be introduced enabling 50-100 faculty-members to pursue research which may also provide an opportunity for faculty to build collaborative contacts with major national and international institutions.

“Such opportunities must be mandated in both public and private institutions,” the report said.

Developing classroom pedagogy, curricula and system of assessment, promoting academic integrity, remedial teaching, encouraging vernacular languages, use of technology and media platforms and policy internships, are among the other recommendations made by the committee.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/education/varsities-should-send-teachers-on-sabbatical-leave-for-pursuing-research-ugc-panel/story-4M0Wgrtmh6uYy83T4W5AVO.html (Accessed on August 7, 2019)