What Factors Can Increase Your Data Science Salary - Springboard Blog

8/4/2016
Whatfactorscanincreaseyourdatasciencesalary?SpringboardBlog
JUL27,2016
Whatfactorscanincreaseyourdata
sciencesalary?
RogerHuang 0 DATASCIENCE
Albert Einstein was once said to have noted

that compound interest was the most
powerful force in the world. Its sad to say
that while most data scientists are intensely
datadrivenabouttheirprojects,theyareless
soaboutthecompensationwhichfollowsthat
same powerful force of annual growth.
Startinglowandnottakinganoptimizedview
on compensation means that data scientists
areoften working for less than what they are
worth.Ifyoudontreevaluate,youwillalways
haveasuboptimaldatascientistsalary.
https://www.springboard.com/blog/highestdatascientistsalarypossible/
1/15
8/4/2016
At Springboard, weve been teaching a lot of people the skills they

need to become data scientists, data engineers or data analysts.
We get a lot of questions about data scientist salaries anddifferent
career paths in data science. Its led us to believe that this is a hot
topic. Its why we built a comprehensive guide to data science
interviewsbutwewantedtodigevendeeper.
Beingdatadrivenpeople,wewonderedwhatitwouldlooklikeifyou
optimized your data scientist career for the highest data scientist
salarypossible.
We decided to examine several factors that might be relevant. This
started with the tools data scientists used and ended with an
examination of whether demographic traits determined their career
pathindatascience.Welookedintodeeperfactorslikecostofliving,
but mainly we focused on how to get compensation up as high as
possibleforadatascientistsalary.
We learned that applying to data scientist roles rather than data
analystrolescouldmeanadifferenceof$50,000inbasesalary.We
learned that using big data tools like Scala and Spark could
add $15,000 to your salary. And we learned that negotiation often
leadstoa7%bumpinsalarieseventhough18%ofallpeoplenever
negotiate their salaries. You should read this guide if you want to
maximizeyoursalaryasadatascientist.
Donottakethisasanindictmentofanythingthatpayslessbutmay
be more fulfilling: it is simply a guide to maximizing the salary you
should get as a data scientist, and how you can have the most
powerfulforceintheworldworktoyourbenefit.
Howtooptimizeadatascientistsalary
A good starting point for any analysis is OReillys Data Science
Salary Survey. A definitive survey with more than 600 respondents
2/15
8/4/2016
indifferentindustries,itcontainsdifferentanalysesofwhattraitspay
themostfordatascientists.Thestudydeterminedthatthemodeof
basesalaryfordatascientistswasabout$80,000USD(assumethat
fortheremainderofthispiecewewillbeusingUSDforcomparison,
unless explicitly stated otherwise)a large amount surely, but
perhapsnotwhatonewouldexpectfromthesexiestjobofthe21st
century.
Still, quite a few respondents (about 1%) reported a base salary
above $240,000, and with entrylevel salaries for some companies
over $100,000, its clear that seniority isnt the only factor at play
here. The possibility of cracking into that upper echelon is tempting
formanybutreally,whatwouldittakeforyoutodojustthat?
Factors
ToolsUsed
The tools data scientists use are often a point of pride in technical
discussions, but they can also make a ton of difference in the
compensation you get! We wanted to see what tools gave you the
mostlifttoyouraveragesalaryherearetheresults.
OReillys Data Science Survey singles out the tool that will add the
mosttoyoursalary:ApacheSpark.Scalaisanotherlanguagethatis
3/15
8/4/2016
indemandaswell.Learningthetwocouldaddupto$15,000toyour
salaryifyouassumeacausallinkintheOReillydataset(adubious
assumption,butonethatshowsastrongcorrelationatleast).
LearningD3, a Javascript visualization library, is the only significant
data visualization tool to have an effect on your salary with a
correlationofa$8,000positiveboost.
Lastly,familiarityandexperiencewithcloudcomputingwillalsoboost
salaries,
with
respondents
who
use
Amazon
Elastic
Mapreducegettingaboostofabout$6,000intheirsalaries.
OReillyalsonotedthatthosewhoused15ormoretoolscouldmake
up to $30,000 more than those who just used 10 to 14. There is
clearlyapremiumassociatedwithmasteringavarietyoftools.
The main takeaway from the OReilly Study is that there are nine
main clusters of tools that data scientists use in their daytoday,
rangingfromtheHadoopecosystemtotheopensourceenvironment
surroundingPython,totheclosedMicrosoftSQLcluster.Peopletend
to learn tools within a cluster, as the tools complement one another
within. People who tend towards closedOracle and Microsoft tools
willearnless,whilethosewhoflocktoopensourceclusterswilltend
toearnmore
ItshouldbenotedthatOReillysaudiencetiltstowardsoneofopen
source practitioners, as the OReilly ecosystem is focused on
supporting and highlighting new technologies. With that said, these
resultstendtoholdupprettywell.
SearchinginSanFranciscoinIndeedwiththekeywordsPythonand
DataScientistyieldedanaverageof31%ofexpectedsalariesbeing
below $105,000 while searches with the keywords Scala and Data
Scientisthadnoexpectedsalarybelow$105,000.
4/15
8/4/2016
How to get the best data scientist salary possible based on the
toolsyouuse:
1.LearnSparkandScala
2.LearnD3
3.Getcomfortablewithcloudcomputing,especiallyAmazonWeb
Services
4.Getintoopensourcetoolsandstayawayfromproprietaryones
5.Learnawholelotoftools(aimfor15+)
Industry
Whereyouchoosetoworkcandetermineyoursalaryinmanyways.
Different industries have different data challenges, and different
abilities to pay for top data science salary. Make sure youre not
constraining yourself by working for a company where you cant
captureyourfullvalue.
Figuresareapproximate
The OReilly Salary Survey found that the highest salaries went to
datascientistsinsearch/socialnetworking,whichmakessensegiven
the amount of valuable data those kinds of companies sit on (think
LinkedIn,FacebookorGoogle).Theytracktheinteractionsofmillions
ofpeopleontheirplatformsandmustcomeupwithsomereasonable
conclusionsbasedonthatchaos.
5/15
8/4/2016
The Facebook data scientist salary is an average of ~$133,000 a

year based on 44 employee salaries. Google has a data scientist
salaryaround~$145,000ayear.
Payscale takes technology companies like Amazon that pay about
$150,000 in median data scientist salaries and compares and
contrasts that with consulting companies like Booz, Allen and
Hamilton,whosemediansalaryfordatascientistsisbelow$100,000.
Senior data scientists at Linkedin earn an average of~$157,000 a
yearbasedon26employeesalaries.
ItsimportanttonotetoothatcompanieslikeFacebookandLinkedIn
alsooffergenerousstockincentivebonuses,whicheasilyaddabout
$40,000 to $50,000 more when it comes to compensation. Those
companiescontinuetohire,withFacebookhaving16openpositions
indatascience.
Startupsareoftenbighirersaswellandindicativeofwheresalaries
are headed in the future. While there were onlythree data scientist
jobs from hardware startups that paid over $100,000, 71 enterprise
software startups were looking to hire data scientists at a salary
above $100,000, perhaps indicating a latent demand for data
scientists in the industry that will soon propagate to larger
companies.
6/15
8/4/2016
How to get the best data scientist salary possible based on

industry:
1.Look, above all else, to work in social media or search
companieslikeGoogleorFacebook
2.Keep an eye on trends in startup salaries for data science as
theymayspreadtoindustry
3.Looktowardshardware,finance,andsoftwarecompaniesifyou
dontwanttoworkinsocialmediaorsearchcompanies.
Location
There is significant advantage to working in certain areas with a
concentration of top talent and thriving companies. The OReilly
Salary Survey reports that the United States of America has the
highestmediansalaryandrangefordatascientists.Nowitsuptous
tofindthemostlucrativeareainthecountry.
Most people think of Silicon Valley as the obvious pick, and at first
thatseemstoholdup.Payscalereportsanupliftof23%forMountain
View where Google and LinkedIn are headquartered. The OReilly
report even managed to infer that living in California was worth an
extra$16,000insalary.
Thatisntthewholestory,though.Wehaventtakenintoaccountcost
7/15
8/4/2016
oflivingorstatetaxrates.
WevelistedthetoppayingareasintheUnitedStateswhenitcomes
todatascientistsalaryandcomparedthemtocostoflivingindexes
for each city so you can get the complete picture (for more on our
methodology, see our appendix at the end of the article). We then
subtractedthestatetaxrateforthemediansalaryforadatascientist
($105,000)andgotthefollowingchart.
Somekeyinsightsonthis:
1.SanFranciscoisnotactuallywhereyoucanmakethemostas
a data scientist: neighbouring San Jose takes the cake with
lower cost of living and higher salary differential. In fact, by
adjusting for cost of living and state taxes, Seattle actually
comesoutoverSanFrancisco!
2.Cities like Los Angeles and Austin seem like bad deals when
you consider how much lower the base salary is for data
scientists, but in reality their low costs of living and in Austins
case, no state taxes, make them comparable to other tech
hubs.
3.SticktotheWestCoastovertheEastCoastwhenitcomesto
datasciencesalaries.

location:
8/15
8/4/2016
1.LooktoworkintheUnitedStates
2.LooktotheWestCoastoftheUnitedStates
3.Considercostoflivingandstatetaxes:optimizeforSanJose
Roles
A lot of people conflate data scientists with data analysts and data
engineers, a mistake that led us to write extensively about
thedifferencesbetweentheroles.
RangesbasedonthosesourcedatthisprimerbyDatajobs,averages
sourced from Indeed. It should be noted that the ranges taken are
sourcedasacombinationofentrylevelandexperiencedrangesfor
dataanalystsanddataengineers.
Datascientistshaveamuchhighersalaryceilingthantheothertwo
roles,especiallythoseenteringdataanalystroles.
Roles in practice: How can you differentiate between the roles?
Mostofthetimeitwillbestatedinthejobtitle,butifyoureallywant
toparseoutexactlywhatkindofrolethecompanyhasinmind,look
totheskillstheyexpectandtheworktheylllookforyoutodo.
If Excel and SQL are strong requirements and the job description
9/15
8/4/2016
soundslikeyouaregoingtobequeryingdataoftenbutnotbuilding
data systems, then youre applying for a data analyst role. If
programming knowledge is a strong requirement but knowledge of
statistics and algorithms is secondary, youre likely applying for
adataengineerrole. If youre being asked to manage data science
projects from endtoend and to implement your knowledge of
business, communication, algorithms, and programming, its likely
youreapplyingforadatascientistrole.
Tomaximizedatascientistsalaryselectthedatasciencerole.
How to get the best data scientist salary possible based on the
roleyouchoose:
1.Make sureyoureapplying todata science roles,andnot data
engineeringordataanalystrolesindisguise.
ExperienceandDegrees
In OReillys survey, adding a Masters degree without a Ph.D is

correlated with about a $1,000 a year increase in data scientist
salary. Adding a Ph.D degree is correlated with $9,000 a year in
increaseddatascientistsalary.
Payscaleindicates510yearsofexperienceisworth~$20,000 more
in annual salary, 1020 years of experience is worth ~$30,000,
10/15
8/4/2016
andmorethan20yearsofexperienceisworth~$55,000.
AsearchfordatascientistinSanFranciscoyields that 42% of data

scientists earn a salary above $100,000while 68% of senior data
scientistsearnabove$100,000.Experiencemattersfordatascience,
perhapsevenmorethandifferentdegrees.
Youlllikelyneedanadvancedtechnicaldegreetogetyourfootinthe
door:
However, aPh.Dcan quicklybecome a massive investmentoftime

(withanaveragetimeof8.2yearsfromstarttodissertation), and in
that time, if you aimed for at least five years of experience in data
science,youdgetdoublethereturnonannualsalary.Still,youcant
11/15
8/4/2016
maximizeyourdatascientistsalarywithoutaPh.D.

experienceanddegrees:
1.GetaPh.D.oraMastersthatgetsyourfootinthedoor
2.Aimformanyyearsofexperienceindatascienceroles
Negotiation
When youre presented an initial offer, the employer always has
buffer room with which they concede some space for negotiation.
Yourinitialsalarywillquicklybecomeyouranchorforfuturesalaries,
soyoullwanttomakesureyounegotiatewellinordertomaximize
your salary. Those who rated their negotiation skills in the OReilly
Salary Survey as being very poor had a disadvantage ranging
from$25,000to$50,000comparedtotheirpeerswhoclaimedtheir
negotiationskillswereexcellent.
An astonishing 18% of people never negotiate their salary, despite
thefactthatthosewhodotypicallyseetheirsalaryraisedby7%.
You can develop successful negotiation skills even if youre an
introvert.Donthesitatetodoso.
Howtogetthebestdatascientistsalarypossiblebasedonyour
negotiationskills:
1.Practicenegotiation
2.Alwaysnegotiate
*DemographicTraits
Thislastsectionisdedicatedtounearthinganuncomfortablereality
when it comes to data science salaries: data science, like any
career, has some biases when it comes to demographic traits. The
OReilly Salary Survey indicates that women earn $8,000 less than
menevenafteradjustingforcompanysizeandlocation.
12/15
8/4/2016
There is a contentious debate over whether or not there is agender

gap in technology. There is a noted debate about diversity in
technology across racial and gender lines. This affects who gets
hiredandwhogetsthebestsalaries.
Thisbiasisnotsomethingthatcanbeeasilycorrectedindividuallyit
is something to consider systematically. Youll have to know that
many of the same forces that create biases in hiring in different
industrieswillbepresentindatascienceaswell.
Conclusion
Weapplieddatasciencetodatascientistsalariesandcameupwith
abunchofactionableinsights.Theyaresummarizedbelow.
13/15
8/4/2016
You will need to follow these steps, enumerated above, to harness

themostpowerfulforceintheuniversecompoundgrowthandget
thehighestdatascientistsalarypossible.
Appendix
Cost
of
Living
Index
(based
on
NYC)
Salary
StateTax minus
Rate
Costof
(income
Living
of
minus
$115,000) StateTax
(Rounded)
San
+22%
Francisco (1.22)
0.97
10.30%
(0.103)
147
NewYork +5%
City
(1.05)
6.85%
(0.0685)
11
City
Data
scientist
salary
difference
from
national
average
Seattle
+6%
(1.06)
0.9071 0%
SanJose
+26%
(1.26)
0.8587
10.30%
(0.103)
298
San
Diego
0%(1)
0.7733
10.30%
(0.103)
124
153
14/15
8/4/2016
Boston
Los
Angeles
Austin
3%
(0.97)
0.8937
5.10%
(0.0510)
25
7%
(0.93)
0.6941
10.30%
(0.103)
133
8%
(0.92)
0.7826 0%
137
OurcostoflivingindexcomesfromNumbeoandisbasedonprices
inNewYorkCity(whichistheindex1andthehighestpricedplaceto
live in the mainland United States). We sourced data on the salary
differencefromthenationalaverageonPayscale. Weve subtracted
thecostoflivingandstatetaxesonanincomeof$115,000(amedian
salaryforadatascientist)togetthetotaldifferential.
15/15

What Factors Can Increase Your Data Science Salary - Springboard Blog

Hochgeladen von

Dokumentinformationen

Originalbeschreibung:

Originaltitel

Copyright

Verfügbare Formate

Dieses Dokument teilen

Dokument teilen oder einbetten

Freigabeoptionen

Stufen Sie dieses Dokument als nützlich ein?

Sind diese Inhalte unangemessen?

Copyright:

Verfügbare Formate

What Factors Can Increase Your Data Science Salary - Springboard Blog

Hochgeladen von

Copyright:

Verfügbare Formate

8/4/2016

Albert Einstein was once said to have noted

At Springboard, weve been teaching a lot of people the skills they

The Facebook data scientist salary is an average of ~$133,000 a

How to get the best data scientist salary possible based on

How to get the best data scientist salary possible based on

In OReillys survey, adding a Masters degree without a Ph.D is

AsearchfordatascientistinSanFranciscoyields that 42% of data

However, aPh.Dcan quicklybecome a massive investmentoftime

How to get the best data scientist salary possible based on

There is a contentious debate over whether or not there is agender

You will need to follow these steps, enumerated above, to harness

Das könnte Ihnen auch gefallen