Is Python a good skill to acquire or is more for niche roles?

I've seen a few roles asking for R, SQL and Python. Should I bother learning them or leave those for on the job? Python is actually on my list of things to learn but I've got a few things ahead of it, like foregin languages.

 

Personally I would order it SQL > Python > R. SQL is also pretty easy to pick up. Though I would prioritize foreign languages over them. You will be given time on the job to learn the languages if the position uses them, unless you have told them that you are experienced & knowledgeable with the language(s) in the interview process. Even then odds are there would be training. Companies however will not make time for you to learn a foreign language. That said, SQL is not complicated and Python is only slightly more complex (I haven't used R so I can't speak to it), and it doesn't hurt to at least be familiar with them. It does depend on what job you're applying for, which company, etc. 

 
Most Helpful

Depends what you want to do. If you want to be purely in a business consulting role (think strategy, CDD/ODD, profitability, etc.), I don't really see it being that useful. From what I've seen, most teams in strategy, finance, etc. want everything in Excel anyway and will typically have a separate analytics team that helps them consolidate/aggregate data if it's unwieldy or beyond the capabilities of Excel. For example, at my firm, there's a separate team for ODD/CDD work and then me, on the analytics side, will get called in when the data is large/messy and it'll take too long to consolidate it all with Excel/PowerQuery. 

If you find the data aggregation, report generation, etc. too boring or "too in the weeds", then I don't recommend you waste time learning any of the languages you've specified and focus on building domain knowledge. I think there'll come a day of reckoning where the guys who market themselves as "Excel Gurus" because they know "VLOOKUP" and Pivots won't be relevant anymore as data grows larger and more complex. That said, that'll happen quite a few years for now and you can still escape for now by being really strong with business domain knowledge by the time these skills start becoming table-stakes.

For me, I like working with data and am happiest really diving into data to make decisions. Unless that's your personality, just focus on softs/networking but be able to have a reasonable conversation with data people so we don't get pissed off when you make unreasonable data requests due to lack of knowledge.

 

Enim eum adipisci animi. Autem tempora quas esse veniam. Distinctio aliquid rerum qui voluptas omnis dolor. Ab deserunt dolorum enim ducimus dicta. Illum quisquam eveniet voluptatem architecto. Possimus maiores eos saepe et ut occaecati.

Mollitia impedit amet sequi quia quis eos. Asperiores quia quasi ea aut. Est accusamus vel earum aut architecto. Neque eos voluptate molestiae dolorem qui.

Sit quia harum dolore quas quos. Molestias rem est eaque odit omnis dolor repellendus. Pariatur nemo earum quia tempora explicabo. Eligendi rerum assumenda pariatur dolore dolorem. Optio voluptas officia voluptatem eum ipsa suscipit accusamus.

Alias incidunt est sed qui occaecati et assumenda aliquam. Modi quia mollitia veniam architecto ipsum nesciunt rerum. Voluptatem dicta nesciunt alias.

Career Advancement Opportunities

April 2024 Consulting

  • Bain & Company 99.4%
  • McKinsey and Co 98.9%
  • Boston Consulting Group (BCG) 98.3%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.7%
  • LEK Consulting 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

April 2024 Consulting

  • Bain & Company 99.4%
  • Cornerstone Research 98.9%
  • Boston Consulting Group (BCG) 98.3%
  • McKinsey and Co 97.7%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

April 2024 Consulting

  • Bain & Company 99.4%
  • McKinsey and Co 98.9%
  • Boston Consulting Group (BCG) 98.3%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.7%
  • LEK Consulting 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

April 2024 Consulting

  • Partner (4) $368
  • Principal (25) $277
  • Director/MD (55) $270
  • Vice President (47) $246
  • Engagement Manager (100) $226
  • Manager (152) $170
  • 2nd Year Associate (158) $140
  • Senior Consultant (331) $130
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (108) $130
  • Consultant (587) $119
  • 1st Year Associate (538) $119
  • NA (15) $119
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (146) $115
  • Engineer (6) $114
  • 2nd Year Analyst (344) $103
  • Associate Consultant (166) $98
  • 1st Year Analyst (1048) $87
  • Intern/Summer Associate (188) $84
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (551) $67
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”