thinQmaster Virtual testing partner Adaptive practice exams that find your weak spots and drill them. Every answer explained. From $69

thinQmaster

Find your exam

Five questions free, before you decide.

Step 1 · choose a vendor

In one of our camps? Your practice exams come with the tuition — they are on your study page already.

thinQcompass

Tell us where you are standing and which way you want to go. We will lay out which certifications to take, in what order, and how long each one is likely to take you — including the ones we do not teach.

Plan my direction
Have a job in mind? Paste the details and we will read them

Paste the details of the position or offer — the requirements section is the part that matters. We will pull out the job title, the certifications it asks for, the experience and the pay, show you what we matched, and build the route from there.

Data Scientist / ML Engineer

Building models and the pipelines that feed them, then proving the model actually helps.

$120,230Median pay
12 moYour horizon
8 hrsPer week
5Steps in range

Pay is the US Bureau of Labor Statistics median for Data Scientists, May 2025 — the occupation this job is counted inside, which is usually broader than the job title itself. BLS projects 35% growth in this occupation between 2025 and 2035 - among the fastest of any job it tracks. Study times are our own estimates for someone working 8 hours a week, and they are ranges for a reason.

We do not teach Python for data work (self-study or college). It is on your plan because you need it, not because we sell it.
CompTIA DataAI: Assumes five or more years already doing data science work.
Most postings for Data Scientist / ML Engineer name a bachelor's degree. Plenty of people hold this job without one, and certifications plus demonstrable experience are how they got there - but expect the résumé screen to be the hard part, not the interview.
Data Scientist / ML Engineer is not usually a first job. The realistic route is a data analyst role first. Almost every data scientist analysed data for somebody before they modelled it. The plan below is still the right study order for getting there - it is the timeline to the title that is longer than the timeline to the certifications.

What are you aiming to earn?

$120,000
$62,000 $176,000

Data Scientist / ML Engineer reaches this. Its median is $120,230.

Your sequence

In order. Each step assumes the one above it.
Scroll the steps — the marker follows  
$62,890 · Computer Support Specialists $120,230 · Data Scientists

Both ends are US Bureau of Labor Statistics medians, May 2025. Everything between them is a straight line we drew, not data: nobody publishes pay per certification, and real pay moves when you change job, not when you pass an exam.

  1. 1

    CompTIA Data+

    1.8-2.8 months · from month 1

    Analysis fundamentals without assuming you can already code.

    ~$74,358 modelled Associate We teach this See dates →
  2. 2

    Python for data work (self-study or college)

    2.8-4.6 months · from month 3

    Not a certification, but data and ML roles will test it. A community college course or a structured online track is the usual route.

    ~$85,826 modelled Associate We do not teach this
  3. 3

    Microsoft Azure AI Fundamentals (AI-900)

    2-4 weeks · from month 8

    Orientation to AI services before committing years to the field.

    ~$97,294 modelled Foundational We teach this See dates →
  4. 4

    Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals (DP-900)

    2-4 weeks · from month 9

    Quick orientation to how data is stored and served in Azure.

    ~$108,762 modelled Foundational We teach this See dates →
  5. 5

    CompTIA DataAI

    3.9-5.5 months · from month 10

    Data science at expert level. Expects five or more years already doing the work.

    ~$120,230 modelled Expert We teach this See dates →

    On the model, this is the step that reaches your $120,000 goal.

    Experience requirement. Assumes five or more years already doing data science work.

Same interests, different destination

Change your answers

Nothing is saved and no account is needed. Your answers live in the page address.

What interests you?

Pick as many as apply. If you are not sure, pick the one you would read about on a Saturday.

Where you are now

Both of these change the plan. Experience especially — it decides what we skip and how fast we think you will move.

How much time you have

Be honest rather than optimistic. A plan built on hours you will not find is a plan you abandon in week five.

$62,000 $120,000 $176,000

Anything you already hold

Tick these and we will not sell you a course you do not need.

I already hold some certifications

Free, and it will tell you about certifications we do not sell. If the honest answer is that you need something we do not teach, the plan says so.