One of the coolest ways to build data science experience is to jump right into online competitions and learn the methods with hands-on applications. There are even rewards to be had. Plus, being a Kaggle competitor makes one showcase their work to potential employers. Fasten the seat belts and dive deep into the big data analytics. It is a crowdsourcing alternative to finding solutions to big data challenges in predictive modeling and analytics. Kaggle competitions are a serious business. And, when one does find a solution, the license rights are handed over to the host - which is a bit of a niggle of sorts.
