WHAT DOES AN AMAZON DATA SCIENTIST LOOK LIKE?

This week I am happy to share my findings after analysing the typical profile of Data Scientists who work for Amazon in the United States.

I profiled 264 people whose job title is "Data Scientist," and here is what I found. I hope you find it useful.

Understandably and taking into account where Amazon is located, many Washington University graduates have found themselves hired by the "everything store."

Once again, Ph.D.'s are well represented, however, Masters degree holders are by far the most prevalent.

Unsurprising Statistics is a common discipline to graduate within. However, I noticed that other more "business-orientated," degrees such as Business Analytics, Economics and Industrial Engineering also enjoy a good showing.

I would suggest that Amazon, by virtue of the fact that they are so consumer-focused, is a company that likes it's Data Scientists to have a blend of business and technical skills. In comparison to Google, for example, there seem to be more business-orientated degree holders, and this would indicate that perhaps those coming from a technical consulting background could also find themselves a home here. There could also be a clue in where they are located, in that Palo Alto tends to attract more technical professionals giving a broader cross-section to choose from whereas Washington State is less recognized as a place for great tech jobs except for at Amazon, Microsoft, and a select few others.

My name is Richard Downes, and I specialize in helping companies hire experienced Analytics, Data Science and Machine Learning professionals in Europe and the United States. If you are considering your next career move or are a company needing to make an experienced hire within any of these areas, please feel free to get in touch and take a look at my video introduction, embedded below.