Data Science is, without a doubt, one of the leading jobs of the future. In fact, the World Economic Forum has ranked it as the job role with the highest increasing demand across all industries. Data Scientists gather and analyse large amounts of structured and unstructured data. They also have to process and model the data and then interpret those models to come up with actionable plans which can be implemented within their company or organisation. In this modern day and age, online courses have become greatly popular. People these days prefer to take short courses and upskill themselves rather than taking 2+ years of a university degree. Taking two or three of these courses can basically teach you everything you need to know to get started in a field. Data Science courses can also be found on the internet. Put four or five of them together and you can also become a proficient Data Scientist, ready for today’s job market. Here are five courses which cost less than 30 dollars each and can be exactly what you need to fast-track your career as a Data Scientist: Airschool - Introduction to Modern Data Analytics Airschool is a Pakistan-based e-learning platform which provides many short courses required to upskill yourself in different fields. The course they offer relating to this field is called Introduction to Modern Data Analytics. Data Analytics forms the basis for Data Science. Data Scientists use machine learning and predictive modelling to analyse and comprehend different sets of data. The Airschool course is a basic introductory course that teaches you about the essentials of Data and Analytics and how to get started with them. The course costs USD 9.09 which is the equivalent of 1,462 Pakistani rupees. Link to course can be found here. Udemy - The Data Science Course 2021: Complete Data Science Bootcamp Udemy is a renowned online courses website, famous for short courses on topic specifically relating to the tech industry. This course, named The Data Science Course 2021: Complete Data Science Bootcamp gives an extensive preview of the Data Science world. It gives complete Data Science training which includes components of Mathematics and Statistics, and also includes programming with Python, the programming language. The course also dives deeper into advanced statistics using Python and Machine and Deep learning relating to Data Science. The course itself is broken into 63 subsections spread over 476 short lecture videos (about 5-10 minutes each). The total length of the course in about 29 hours. The course will cost you USD 12.99, which amounts to approximately PKR 2,100. Link to course can be found here. Pluralsight - Bringing Data Science into the Business Large businesses everywhere use Data Science and predictive modelling to predict how the company will perform within a certain amount of time, how one particular event affects other subsequent outcomes, and what kind of turnover they can expect within a given time period. Even small businesses and startups can benefit from the predictive nature of Data Science. This particular course, called Bringing Data Science into the Business, offered by Pluralsight gives insight into how businesses can benefit from Data Science. The course integrates Business Intelligence and Data Analytics within itself to give its students the skills necessary to integrate Data Science into a business and quantify and solve business problems. Sections in this course are either Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced level; each level is close to an hour long. One advantage with Pluralsight is that users can buy monthly subscriptions to the platform and then take as many courses as they want, as long ad they fall under their package. A monthly subscription to the site can cost you as low as USD 29, or PKR 4,666 per month. Once you’ve paid for the month, there are numerous other courses relating to Data Science that the platform offers. There are also other courses relating to different fields of study that can be found on the website – all for the low low price of 20 dollars. Link to course can be found here. Datacamp - Data Scientist with Python Datacamp, also an online learning platform, offers full career tracks that you can choose to take on their website. This particular career track is called Data Scientist with Python. The track teaches all the necessary skills you need to function as a Data Scientist. It takes you essentially from the fundamentals of Python coding up until professional ML-integrated Data Science. People taking this course can learn all about the Python libraries used to analyse and interpret large amounts of data. They will also experience dealing with real world datasets and work with decision trees and NLP (Natural Language Programming). The track includes 29 smaller courses within it, all less than five hours long; the total length of the track is 88 hours. At the end of the career track, a statement of accomplishment will be issued to you. A monthly subscription to Datacamp costs USD 25, or PKR 4,022. The career track can be found here. Udemy – Data Science A-Z™: Real-Life Data Science Exercises Included If you’re more of a hands-on learner, this Udemy course could be a better fit for you. The Data Science A-Z™ course offers a complete overview of Data Science using real world examples. The course will walk you through a complex Data Science project and when you’re done, you’ll be able to carry out large and complicated Data Science projects of your own. The full course contains 28 subsections (217 lectures) and total time of just over 21 hours. The current cost for this particular course is USD 12.99, which is PKR 2,090. Link to the course can be found here. Image source: The Data Scientist.