“The sexiest job of the 21st century.” “The best job in America.” Data scientist, a title that didn’t even exist before 2008, is now the position employers can’t hire enough of and job seekers strive to become. There’s good reason for the hype: data science is a hugely growing field, with a median base salary of more than $100,000 in the United States in 2019 (http://mng.bz/XpMp). At a good company, data scientists enjoy a lot of autonomy and are constantly learning new things. They use their skills to solve significant problems, such as working with doctors to analyze drug trials, helping a sports team pick its new draftees, or redesigning the pricing model for a widget business. Finally, as we discuss in chapter 3, there’s no one way to become a data scientist. People come from all backgrounds, so you’re not limited based on what you chose to study as an undergraduate.