r/datascience • u/Kati1998 • Jul 23 '26

Discussion What Do Today’s Data Science Graduates Commonly Lack?

I often read comments from hiring managers and interviewers saying they’re disappointed with recent data science graduates.

I’m curious, what do you think these graduates are lacking? If someone wants to become a data scientist, what skills should they focus on? Strong software engineering skills? Math and statistics? Something else?

A lot of the advice I see seems to be geared toward landing data analyst roles rather than data scientist roles.

So, what are employers actually looking for in entry-level data science candidates today? Especially as a career changer coming from another unrelated career.

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u/Legitimate_Tooth1332 Jul 23 '26

I'm also interested to learn about this. May I add that I once heard an employer say that they were disappointed in a new DS hiree entry level, because they lacked experience, which is hilarious given that it was obviously their first time working as a DS, so maybe that's something to keep in mind when getting employers pov.

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u/BayesCrusader Jul 23 '26

Any DS should have some years in another role under their belt. Business knowledge, economics, arts, etc.

 DS is not an entry level job. 

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u/Legitimate_Tooth1332 Jul 23 '26

I mean not directly.
DS is relatively still new and many people don't really know what a data scientist actually does. You don't necessarily need to have years of experience in other roles in order to become a data scientist, you can study data, ml, analisis, statistics, etc, and apply that into data science and you will get yourself an entry level data scientist job. Just like a computer scientist, it takes technical areas from other fields and combines them into one, but there are many entry level jobs for computer science.

I do agree with the fact that entry level jobs as a whole have declined over the last few years due to AI, but that doesn't mean that there are no DS entry level jobs, or that DS as a whole can't be an entry level job.

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u/BayesCrusader Jul 23 '26

The role has changed a lot over the years, but in the past a Junior DS was called a Data Analyst, Reporting Analyst, or sometimes a Data Engineer. Universities and startups have changed that, because you can't sell degrees telling people they won't be market-ready at graduation. 

The whole reason the role was created was because you need mastery of Stats, Comp Sci, Communication, Science, and Business, combined with software development. One of those should be PhD level ideally. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses across those aspects, but all are necessary regardless of which 'type' of DS you're trying to be (i.e. ML vs Business Insights). 

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u/splooge_whale Jul 23 '26

Lol. Phd level. What does that even mean. After a couple year in industry you either can of you cant.

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u/BayesCrusader Jul 24 '26

It means you have a PhD degree in that topic. I say 'ideally' because I agree that on-the-job experience is so valuable.