[demian]

There seems two be 2 main fields that you must domain at a fundamental level: Statistics and Business.

Stats, because it is the science of fiding information in data. Get a knack for the basic models, and work your way to the harder and more sophisticated ones.

Business, because you must learn how this information can create value. This facet seems to be often forgotten, but the main point of Data Science is optimizing businesses. Learn about how Big Co. is working, how they tried to solve the problem of Big Data, read about Data Mining, Datawarehousing, ERPs, and other approaches.

There are some other established fileds from where to find great insight, like Operations Research, but these two are the ones you must incorporate in your thinking habits to get the right holistic view. Other fields can even be considered as just extensions of the mindset.

[benawabe896]

Thanks for the reply demian. Did you or someone you know make this type of career switch?

[demian]

Yeah, most of them ex-programmers turned either "Data Scientists" or "Business Analyst/Consultants".

From a career perspective, most of my friends had to prove that their time as programmers didn't "hurt" their potential to think in terms of business. I don't know where you work -you seem to be well compensated so maybie it doesn't apply- but business guys (especially in Big Co.) tend to see programmers as "workers" that "grind" what they are told to. So, besides learning the hard skills, they had to learn how to talk in "business", and to show that they know how and why the company makes money.

Some got moved around in the company they worked as programmers/devs. Others just quitted and got a job somewhere else. It all seems to deppends on your skills, your network, and how well you can sell your potential.

PS: all of them had either engineering or CS degrees.