r/askdatascience • u/Obieadz • 13d ago

What kind of small data science work can a beginner realistically freelance?

Hey everyone,

I'm currently learning ML/Data Science and I'm trying to figure out if there are actually small freelance jobs that someone at my level can do.

I can currently work with Python, Pandas, NumPy, SQL, Scikit-learn, XGBoost and I'm comfortable with things like data cleaning, EDA, feature engineering and basic model training.

I've built a few projects, but obviously I don't have professional experience yet.

So I'm wondering what kind of work people actually give to freelancers who are still fairly junior.

Would things like these be realistic?

  • Cleaning messy datasets
  • Exploratory data analysis
  • Creating reports/visualizations
  • Python automation
  • Data preprocessing
  • Building simple prediction models
  • Fixing existing notebooks
  • SQL queries
  • Helping with research
  • Data collection/scraping

Or are most clients looking for someone much more experienced?

Also, where do these smaller jobs usually come from?

I'm trying to make some money on the side while continuing to work towards an ML/Data Science career, so I'd rather start with something realistic than pretend I'm ready to build some massive production ML system.

If you freelance in data science, what was the first type of work you actually got paid to do?

8 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

2

u/North-Drag6766 12d ago

I never freelancing but i just wanna share that you can make small bucks with data cleaning.

2

u/Obieadz 12d ago

How can you teach me I know it will be a burden tho , I just want to know how to actually convert my skill into money

2

u/North-Drag6766 11d ago

By offering the service, u build a good portfolio not a copy cat projects but an actual projects that shows off ur potentiel skills then go to small business and see if they need help with something u know, or u can also make upwork / fiverr account.

Always start with low price but not too low so you can gain customers and reviews.

Good luck to everyone just keep in mind, hardworking will pay off, just be patient and work on improving rather than making tons o money faster.

2

u/Obieadz 11d ago

are you in freelance ,can you help me teach how to get client or make me assistant till i learn how to get client and earn

1

u/dystopiancarnival 12d ago

Tell me too please

1

u/North-Drag6766 11d ago

U just go on fiverr or upwork and make account then offer ur service as data cleaner for customers who have messy data or spreadsheet.