When well-meaning high school teachers, college counselors, and parents ask teens what they want to do when they grow up, it can land like a loaded and impossible question. Unless the child has some special insight into the career path they desire, it often takes college, internships, technical training, life experience, guidance, and information to truly figure out what path will be both feasible and something they鈥檙e passionate about — and, ideally, help them find purpose in their career path.
So what do they do in the interim? Historically, many colleges and career counselors advise choosing an area of study that鈥檚 of interest to them. It鈥檚 good advice because people who feel a sense of purpose in their career are happier, have fewer mental health issues, and are more motivated. But for some parents paying hefty college tuition bills, this advice may not feel sufficiently concrete. That鈥檚 where studying data science may fit the bill.
According to the at the University of Notre Dame, studying data science can lead to a career in 鈥渘early every industry 鈥� from banking and education to marketing and nonprofits.鈥� Why? Because data science is actually an expansive set of skills that can translate into a vast array of career opportunities, which is why if it appeals to your teen at all, it鈥檚 worth exploring a bit further.
A titled 鈥淒ata Science is for Everyone鈥� from the Burning Glass Institute and ExcelinEd adds persuasive data to this idea. According to the report, 22 percent of all U.S. job postings in 2023 called for at least one skill that involved collecting, exploring, or analyzing data. In tech-heavy California, it was 25 percent — and in the District of Columbia, it was closer to a third of all jobs.
But the big news isn鈥檛 just that this is a growing career path. The big news is that data science is a multifaceted skill set that鈥檚 increasingly called for in totally different fields. To illustrate, here are five fields featured in the 2024 report that — surprise! — ask for data science skills.
5 surprising careers that ask for data science skills
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Editors
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, make an average of $85,000 per year planning, revising, and producing content for publication. And while these jobs can span the gamut from newspapers and magazines to websites and film, the Burning Glass report found that in 2023, 11.2 percent of all job listings for editors required data science skills. What鈥檚 more, 7.4 percent of jobs for journalists asked for data science skills, too.
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Public relations specialists
This is an expansive field. One can do PR for large corporations, small businesses, nonprofits, professional sports teams, hospitals, schools, high-profile individuals, athletes, celebrity clients, and more. The average annual salary in , according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, is $78,000. According to the Burning Glass report, 15.4 percent of job openings for Public Relations Specialists asked that candidates have data science skills.
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Sales representatives for technical and scientific products and sales engineers
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average annual salary for sales representatives overall is $53,000, but in the realm of , it shoots up to $140,000. For , it鈥檚 $131,000. However, these figures may understate the reality because sales people often also make beaucoup bucks in commissions on what they sell. The Burning Glass report specifically calls out sales professionals in the tech and STEM fields and states that in 2023, 16.7 percent of roles required data science skills — as did 14.6 percent of sales engineers jobs.
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Commercial and industrial designers
Would your teen love to design the next generation of headphones? Or create the next iPhone? use creativity and innovation to create the products we use every day (for which they earn an average of $82,000 per year). And, according to the Burning Glass report, 15.3 percent of new hires need data science skills.
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Medical professionals
Quite a few career paths in healthcare showed up in the report. Here are just three to demonstrate the range: , nurse practitioners, and medical records specialists. In 2023, 8.6 percent of pharmacist jobs, which earn an average salary of $135,000, asked for data science skills. For , the stats are $128,000 and 4.6 percent. And for , it鈥檚 $54,000 and 12.1 percent.
