Becoming a Data scientist Contractor

What is a data scientist?

A data scientist’s skills will be sought after by several different sectors, from healthcare to retail.

They will help a business to optimise their operations, mitigate risks and better understand customer behaviour by extracting knowledge and insights from data, using statistical methods and machine learning algorithms.

They will analyse this information to solve complex problems and help businesses with their decision-making.

How to become a data scientist contractor

A good data scientist will have an analytical mind combined with strong technical and mathematical skills.

The majority will start their career by gaining a bachelor’s degree in either science, mathematics, statistics, or a similar field, and some may also go on to get a master’s or doctorate.

It’s important to build a portfolio that will showcase your skills in data analysis, machine learning and programming, which you can share on your website (if you have one), or platforms such as LinkedIn, Medium, GitHub and Kaggle.

Due to the nature of the sector and how it’s constantly evolving, it will most certainly work in your favour to keep your skills updated. This ensures you stand out from other contractors.

Take a look at our Finding work as a contractor/resource/finding-work-as-a-contractor/ page for advice on how to find potential clients.

Benefits of becoming a data scientist contractor

There are so many benefits to joining the contracting sector:

Rates of pay
Self-employed professionals are often able to command higher rates compared to their permanent counterparts.

This is due to their specialised skillset and expertise, as well as the added risks and responsibilities of full-time contracting, and not being entitled to holiday or sick pay.

Claiming back on expenses
Being self-employed typically means that you’ll need to pay out for various costs that are essential for your business – the good news about this is that you’ll be able to claim back on these expenses and therefore reduce your tax bill at the end of each year.

Read our Limited Company Expenses Guide pages for more help and advice on contractor expenses.

More freedom and flexibility
When you’re self-employed, you’ll have so much more freedom and flexibility compared to an employee, as you’ll be in the position to choose your own hours and decide the days you want to work.

Do I need insurance?

As a data scientist, it’s wise to have insurance in place to protect you and your business:

Cyber Insurance
With cyber-attacks and data breaches becoming increasingly commonplace, having insurance to cover the costs caused by them has never been so important, especially as your role involves handling sensitive data.

Cyber insurance can help to cover legal claims, compensation costs and fines under GDPR.

Professional Indemnity Insurance
Professional Indemnity Insurance, or PI insurance, is recommended for any role that involves offering skills and advice that could impact a client’s business negatively should something go wrong.

PI helps to protect you from claims such as:

• Loss of documents or data
• Errors or omissions

For more help and advice on this, read our What is Professional Indemnity Insurance? page.

We hope you found this page helpful. If you have any further questions, our team of experts are available to answer any queries, so give us a call on 01442 795 100 or email jaime.thorpe@dolanaccountancy.com. Alternatively, contact us via live chat.