How to score a dream data science role

[다니엘쌤]

 There is breaking into data science and then there is securing a dream data science role. At some point everyone should look at pursuing what they are passionate about and gaining experience in that field. Roles that tackle big problems or give you experience that you would otherwise not be able to get, or are in a field that you are particularly interested about (even if that requires sacrificing some salary). The more popular a field, the  more competitive it will be. So how do you stand out in a competitive field? 

In general you will need to exhibit these traits:

• Passion (you need to love what you do, and demonstrate it)
• Commitment (to get past all the rejection)
• Proactivity (to learn how to open doors for yourself)
• Affable (you need to create connections)
• Results (demonstrate the work that you have done, and how it can be applied)

In essence, you will need to change the equation behind your personal story from:  “I am a data scientist with an interest in a desired field (say basketball)” (many people) to…. “I’m a data scientist with an interest in (desired field) who has helped x,y,z…..and done a,b,c” (very few). You should make it your goal to exhaust all possible avenues to get to the latter. You need to make the jump from being one of many to a member of a select few.

Here are some proactive steps to take to help you along your journey.

• Start by doing research into your particular field of choice and how mature the application of data driven decision making is in that field. Find out what is being done, and by whom. If the field is particularly competitive, look for adjacent opportunities as much as work directly in that field – to begin building your network and portfolio.  

• Based on the research that you have done, start following people that are particularly insightful in that field, and reach out to them if you can. The channel to reach out to mentors has changed over the years and may depend on the person, however two relatively reliable ways are via LinkedIn or a work email. State what you are working on and where there may be opportunities to collaborate, and start a dialogue off the basis that you are peers (and not competitors or subordinates). Discuss ideas and not personalities (i.e. do not spend a huge amount of time introducing yourself, let your work, ideas and ambitions be the lingua franca in these relationships)

• start doing and publicizing work of a similar quality to the people that you are following and hopefully with a different angle to what they are doing (making your work unique yet of similar quality). Start managing your online prescence. Often this entails going beyond updating your LinkedIn profile and pushing code to Github. Consolidating your thoughts and capturing them within a blog is a really strong start. Rachel Thomas, co-founder of Fast.ai has covered the reasons for doing so extensively here. Also start to maintain a portfolio. Not a code portfolio (although some code can be involved), but a portfolio telling the story of all the projects that you have done (paid or otherwise) and the results. Think of a designer’s portfolio of projects that they have worked on. You work on projects too, so start tracking them and showcasing them. A well designed portfolio, will signal that you are both organised, and effective, as well as enable to showcase your personal flair (if you so wish). Just having a portfolio / or a blog helps you further along the continuum between “the many” and “the few” – regardless of what area you wish to break into

• learn how to ask for things and make yourself useful (and back yourself) even where no opportunity may exist. If some data administration role pops up (related to field that you want to be working in), treat it as a Head of Data role and do side projects to show your value and make people need / want you. Ideally you want to find a role that you are getting paid, but are also getting paid to grow, whether that means work sponsored training, or just the ability to work on technically complex projects that otherwise traditionally would not have been part of that jobs remit. Look for roles that give you exposure to bigger problems and better connections.

• Learn how to put ideas into practice. Reach out to whatever the MVP version of your dream role is, for the geography that you are in, and the means that you have and try and get it as a first step. Using the sports example, say you wanted to be running analytics for an NBA team. A savvy first step would be to reach out to your local college team and be the head of analytics for their operations. Again the key is to find small opportunities that can realistically turn into big opportunities. Self eval‎uate at regular intervals to make sure that you are aligned to your overall purpose, and goals. Where there are deviations make sure to recognise whether this is because of a particular mistake on you part (unlikely –  but if so, learn from it), or just the realistic non-linearity of 21st century careers.

• Once you have any role in your desired field begin to network like crazy to expand your circle of influence. Your foot is in the door, so the worst thing that you can do is be satisfied. Remember that good is the enemy of great (or one standard deviation  is the enemy of +2SD). Use the opportunities that you have already built for yourself and start to grow your network and connections, given that you have already broken into the field, your challenge now is to use this unique opportunity to expand your sphere of influence. By now you have proven that you can add value, now you can make yourself even more valuable by bringing people and ideas together, an area where networking is really important

• Finally, learn how to push back, especially when you look to cash in all the experience that you have accumulated by doing all of the above. When it is time to go for the roles that are a culmination of all the work that you have put in to date, make sure that your unique story comes through. Remember you have walked the path from many to a few, and based on your solely unique experience in reality to one, so do not let people pigeonhole and un-differentiate you. You have already differentiated yourself so don’t let that differentiation go to waste, make it a point of pride and showcase it. Letting (recruiters for example) categorise you in broad, general categories will undo a lot of the good work that you have done in ensuring that your value proposition is truly different.

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