Data science is one of the hottest fields in the IT industry these days. Data science has become very dear to almost every company and industry, be it agriculture, media or finance. The abilities and skills that recruiters are searching for will shift crosswise over organizations and businesses. Certifications will prove to be a feather in your cap because they enable you to achieve the aptitude that is desired in your field.
If you use Quora and got a chance to search about data science, you would know the most popular question and that is “What data science certificate should I get?” If you don’t have an educational background in data science, these certifications may allure you. To many people, it may seem vital to enter and kick start a career in data science and to some extent it is true.
But let’s just get one thing straight: To get a job in data science, it is not necessary to have any certifications. It all depends on your aptitude and skill set. If you are good at programming and quantitative analysis, you don’t need any additional achievement in your portfolio. The main goal of data science certifications is to enhance and groom your skills.
Here’s a list of some best data science certifications in 2019 that can give a boost to your career and salary potential:
- MCSE: Data Management and Analytics
This Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) certification strengthens your career by building strong skills in SQL administration, enterprise data solutions and also tackling the business intelligence data.
Having this certificate in your portfolio certifies that you’re a pro in Microsoft technologies including SQL Server, Microsoft R, Azure machine learning and BI development.
Cost: $165 per exam, per attempt
Requirement: You need to have an MSCA certification in any of the certification offered under MSCA.
Location: Online
Duration: Self-paced
Job Titles: Qualifies you for the job of database analyst, data engineer, data scientist, software engineer
Expiration: Valid for three years
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Scientist Associate
The Azure Data Scientist Associate certification will build your expertise in Microsoft Azure’s machine learning techniques. It is designed to help professionals pass the Exam DP-100: Designing and Implementing a Data Science Solution on Azure certification.
Cost: $165
Requirement: Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals certification and Azure experience of 1-3 years is preferred.
Location: Online
Duration: Self-paced
Job Titles: Qualifies you for the job of data engineer, data scientist, applied artificial intelligence architect, senior data scientist
Expiration: Doesn’t expire (lifetime)
- Mining Massive Data Sets Graduate Certificate
This certification will get you familiar with all the fundamentals of data mining, which is one of the very basic and important process in data science. You will get to learn different algorithms for extracting models and information from given data.
Cost: $4,500 per course ($14,000-$17,000 total)
Requirement: Bachelor’s degree in computer science, statistics or mathematics with a CGPA of minimum 3.0.
Location: Online
Duration: 1-2 years, maximum 3 years
Job Titles: Qualifies you for the job of data scientist, senior data scientist, data analyst
Expiration: Doesn’t expire (lifetime)
- Hortonworks Certified Associate (HCA)
The HDP Certified Developer Exam certifies that you are an expert in Hadoop and can develop Hadoop applications for data ingestion, transformation and analysis using the open-source tools of the Hortonworks Data Platform including Pig, Spark, Hive, Solr and Sqoop.
Cost: $250
Requirement: Must have developed applications on Apache Hadoop.
Location: Online
Duration: 60 minutes ( for the test only)
Job Titles: Qualifies you for the job of Hadoop developer, tester, architect.
Expiration: Doesn’t expire (lifetime)
- Data Science Council of America (DASCA)
Data Science Council of America provides you a certification that is a proof of your expertise in Big Data Analytics. It ensures the proficiency in data analytics as well as statistics. DASCA offers more than 30 certifications in data science and is well recognized.
Cost: $520
Requirement: Relevant educational background.
Location: Online
Duration: Self-paced
Job Titles: Qualifies you for the job bid data engineer, big data analyst, data architect, principal data scientist.
Expiration: Varies for different certifications
- IBM Certified Data Architect
IBM Certified Data Architect is a globally recognized certification in big data science. A Big Data Architect must be able to handle and translate big data problems with ease.
Cost: $200
Requirement: There’s a huge list of requirements by IBM therefore it is better to visit their website for proper details.
Location: Online
Duration: 90 minutes
Job Titles: Qualifies you for the job of data architect.
Expiration: Varies for different certifications
- CAP: Certified Analytics Professional
CAP certification is administered by INFORMS which stands for Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences. The vendor neutral nature of this certification is its biggest strength. Analytics professionals who want to boost their career should go for this one.
Cost: $495 (Member) and $695 (Non-members)
Requirement: Educational background in analytical sciences and a minimum of 3 years’ experience in the same domain.
Location: Designated test centres
Duration: Self-paced
Job Titles: Qualifies you for the job of data scientist
Expiration: 3 years
- SAS Certified Data Scientist
SAS Certified Data Scientist is said to be one of the most challenging certifications. It includes a set of four credentials and the students have to take 5 exams. This certification will enable you to gain insights from data and transform it something useful using SAS and different open-source data visualization tools.
Cost: $180 per exam (total 5 exams)
Requirement: SAS Big Data Professional and the SAS Advanced Analytics Professional certifications.
Location: Online
Duration: Self-paced
Job Titles: Qualifies you for the job of data scientist
Expiration: doesn’t expire
Data science will remain a big name in the IT domain for years to come, which will increase the job opportunities for young people. With organizations digitizing their data and shifting to data-driven approach, more data will be generated making room for more data science professionals. If you’re considering a career in data science, or you’re already there but want to step up your game, then a Data Science training for any of afore-mentioned certifications can help you achieve that. We are sure that you will find the best certification in the list for yourself.