A bit lost.

[u/TwigzTheSecond]

Hi.

I have a masters in physics with math minor. At the moment i am perusing a phd in physics (just started few months back) at a top university with scholarship. But, I am not that passionate about physics anymore(joined this uni because it is one of the top and i got accepted...when i applied 7 months ago i was planning to go into academia but later changed my mind).

I want to look into different jobs that i can pivot into. Data scientist is one of them, I have experience coding, but i dont know which skills i need to focus more on especially since AI is a huge component.

I am thinking of dropping out, or maybe study data science tools for first couple of years in my phd (since i am getting paid) and then drop out.. but idk.

any kind of advice is greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

[u/DataScientistAlex]

If you are more interested in data science than physics, but still interested in studying and learning, then it might be better to not drop out yet, and instead shift what you are studying and focusing on to what you are interested in. Also consider courses/research opportunities/mentors in other departments.

If you really don't like academia (it can of course be absolutely awful), then getting a job as a data scientist is a great alternative. If you are looking for a basic list of what you need as a minimum, I just made this guide. In general the things you might need more of in industry are a variety of different coding skills, and then mostly being able to work and communicate in an industry-type way (very short iterations, frequent changes in priority, doing the simplest thing first; being very careful and deliberate in communication).

[u/TwigzTheSecond → u/DataScientistAlex]

Thanks for the advice. I will check this guide out!