What skills should I have?

According to our research, a majority of the jobs we found wanted candidates with an understanding of Python.

The next frequently requested skill to have was machine learning, SQL, and Excel. The 3 least requested skills were VBA, Plotly and Power BI.

Based on this data, it seems like this class has been fairly relevant to the current job market. This is even more true if we learn more about machine learning.

What academic backgrounds do they prefer?

Aside from skills, candidates with academic background in math, computer science or statistics are preferred by most data scientist jobs

Also, any other technical backgrounds such as economics, finance and science may also help you in becoming a data scientist.

In other words, if you are a person who thinks technically, likes to do research on complex topics and solve problems, this could be a career for you.