DataCamp’s Professional Data Scientist Certification Program
We started DataCamp to help millions of students build data skills. While we’ve upskilled a lot of students, a massive skills gap continues to exist on the labor market for data talent.
Our Data Scientist Professional Certification lets qualified individuals signal their capabilities to employers. It helps them stand out and land that job or promotion faster. It also helps employers recognize qualified talent both internally as well as during the hiring process. Employers who interview candidates that have been certified by DataCamp can rest assured that these candidates have the skills necessary to succeed as data scientists.
How we created our certification process
Through working closely with our industry partners, we quickly came to realize the need for an accreditation that individuals and businesses can trust. So when creating our certification process, we kept this at the forefront of our mission. We conducted an in-depth practice analysis to identify tasks that are both commonly performed or critical to the role of a data scientist.
We looked at a variety of settings and positions that included:
- Practical interviews with industry experts
- Analyzing the role in various company sizes and industries
- Assessing the impact of differences in team structures - distributed vs. a centralized team
- The seniority of the position
- Differences in geographic locations
What the product entails:
Our Certification process consists of two parts:
- The certification process
- Career services (for our individual learners)
1. The certification process:
Our Data Scientist Professional Certification not only tests for the technical skills required but also critically, the ability to communicate findings and insights.
To get certified our learners have to pass through our automated tests coupled with case study submissions and practical one-to-one interviews. These include:
| Step | Challenge | Skills tested |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Timed assessments | General data science skills in R, Python, and SQL |
| 2. | Coding challenge | The ability to write and run complex code |
| 3. | Case study submission | Taking real-world data sets and analyzing them |
| 4. | Live case study presentation | Ability to describe and structure analysis to both technical and non-technical audiences |
During the case study section, learners are evaluated by both technical and non-technical audiences. We go past just automated diagnostic tests and introduce a human element through our case study. Through our thesis-like structure, we thoroughly test a candidate on their ability to communicate their findings.
Once learners have been certified, they get access to our personalized career services team.
2. Our career services team:
Our career services team is specialized in helping qualified candidates land their dream jobs in data science. Through our sessions, we help guide candidates through their job search whether through resume reviews, interview preparation, or general tips. We wanted to give our certificate holders the opportunity to not only prove their skills through a certification but also go that extra mile and help them put their best foot forward during their job searches. Currently, our career services offering is only available to our individual customers.
What our first certificate holders have to say:
We’ve already had over 30,000 learners get started with the certification process and we’re blown away by the enthusiasm we’ve received.
“It was a worthwhile process, which inspired me to elevate my data science skills to a whole new level.” - Radhika Garg
“This experience with DataCamp really went beyond my expectations" - Qiwei Men
“I enjoyed the certification process, and I'm happy to have been successfully certified.”- Jens Svensmark
What comes next?
We’re just getting started. This is the first in a series of professional certifications. We’d like to give our learners the opportunity to specialize in the fields that they’re most interested in and help employers hire the best candidates.
Learn more about our Data Science Professional Certification here.
It was a worthwhile process, which inspired me to elevate my data science skills to a whole new level.
Radhika Garg
This experience with DataCamp really went beyond my expectations
Qiwei Men
I enjoyed the certification process, and I'm happy to have been successfully certified.
Jens Svensmark