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Launch your data science career with MIT’s online courses

Launch your data science career with MIT’s online courses

Explore five data science jobs and the MIT Open Learning programs and resources that will help you land the role.
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MIT Open Learning

By Katherine Ouellette

Did you know that data science is one of the fastest growing industries? Data scientists and data analysts will be among the top new jobs created by 2030, according to the World Economic Forum. After you jumpstart your data science journey with foundational courses, explore five surging career paths with MIT Open Learning’s online educational resources.

Data scientist

Data scientists uncover insights, make predictions, and anticipate questions that will help guide decisions. Data scientists collect, analyze, and interpret data through statistics, programming, and development of predictive models.

Fields for data scientists

  • Education: Use big data to predict educational outcomes and personalize learning experiences.
  • Finance: Develop predictive models to detect fraud and optimize investment strategies.
  • Health care: Use machine learning to predict patient outcomes and personalize treatments.
  • Government: Analyze large datasets to predict trends and improve public services.
  • Manufacturing: Use statistical methods and data visualization to optimize production processes, improve quality control, and predict equipment failures.

Free courses

Paid courses and programs for working professionals

Data analyst

Data analysts evaluate data to answer specific questions or solve specific problems. They create reports and charts to illustrate patterns and insights related to organizational goals.

Fields for data analysts

  • Finance: Assess financial data to optimize processes and support strategic decisions.
  • IT: Monitor system performance, detect security threats, and streamline digital operations.
  • Marketing: Evaluate campaign performance to better personalize marketing efforts and boost engagement.
  • Operations: Optimize processes and improve overall efficiency of an organization.
  • Sales: Analyze customer data to identify trends, forecast sales, and optimize pricing strategies.

Free courses

Paid courses for working professionals

Statistician

Statisticians use mathematical techniques to help solve real-world problems. This job collects, analyzes, and interprets data to help others make informed decisions.

Fields for statisticians

  • Education: Design and analyze studies to evaluate teaching methods.
  • Environmental science: Develop models to assess trends in environmental data.
  • Government: Design surveys and analyze data to inform public policy.
  • Health care: Analyze clinical trial data to improve treatments and patient outcomes.
  • Sports: Track and analyze data to provide insights on player and team performance.

Free courses

Paid courses for working professionals

Data engineer

Data engineers design, build, and maintain the infrastructure and systems that allow data to be collected, stored, and processed efficiently. They ensure that data pipelines are robust and scalable, enabling data scientists and analysts to access and analyze data seamlessly.

Fields for data engineers

  • Energy: Develop systems to monitor and optimize energy data.
  • Entertainment: Build data pipelines to collect and process viewer preferences.
  • Health care: Create infrastructure to manage patient data and medical research.
  • Manufacturing: Build data pipelines to monitor production processes.
  • Transportation: Create infrastructure to analyze traffic data and optimize logistics.

Free courses

Paid courses and program for working professionals

Machine learning engineer

Machine learning engineers design, build, and deploy machine learning models to solve complex problems. They create algorithms that can learn from and make predictions from data.

Fields for machine learning engineers

  • Energy: Develop models to optimize energy usage, predict demand, and improve renewable energy systems.
  • Entertainment: Build algorithms and recommendation systems to personalize content and enhance user experiences.
  • Manufacturing: Use machine learning to optimize production processes, improve quality control, and predict equipment failures.
  • Online Retail: Analyze customer data to personalize marketing, optimize inventory, and improve customer experiences.
  • Transportation: Optimize logistics, predict maintenance needs, and improve traffic management.

Free courses

Paid courses and programs for working professionals

These courses are available through MIT OpenCourseWare, MIT xPRO, and MITx MicroMasters Programs, which are part of MIT Open Learning. OpenCourseWare offers free, online, open educational resources from more than 2,500 courses that span the MIT undergraduate and graduate curriculum. xPRO provides professional development opportunities to a global audience via online courses and blended programs. MicroMasters Programs are graduate-level digital credentials from MIT that help learners accelerate their careers and Master’s degrees.

Launch your data science career with MIT’s online courses was originally published in MIT Open Learning on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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