Getting Closer To Landing A Decent Job In Data Science

Notes on how to get a job in data science, presented at Sussex University to the PhD summer school programme.

Transcript

1. Getting Closer to Landing a Job in Data Science @IanOzsvald – ianozsvald.com Ian Ozsvald Sussex University 2019-07
2.  Interim Chief Data Scientist  19+ years experience  Ex Sussex (KBS 1998)  Quickly build strategic data science plans  Team coaching & public courses Introductions By [ian]@ianozsvald[.com] Ian Ozsvald
3. The public claim By [ian]@ianozsvald[.com] Ian Ozsvald
4. (A part of) the reality By [ian]@ianozsvald[.com] Ian Ozsvald
5.  Wide range of problems – time series, recommendation, classification, pricing, diagnostics, anomaly detection  Insurance, hedge funds, automated vehicles, travel, healthcare, retail & food, movie sales predictions  Smart teams, pretty good data, big impact potential In industry By [ian]@ianozsvald[.com] Ian Ozsvald
6.  High project failure rate  Poor visibility on progress  Required hidden engineering There are problems By [ian]@ianozsvald[.com] Ian Ozsvald https://thefinancialbrand.com/67039/ai-hierarchy-of-data-needs/
7. Code quality By [ian]@ianozsvald[.com] Ian Ozsvald Attrib: https://devrant.com/rants/347670/code-quality-as-measured-in-wtfs-minute
8.  Refactoring, Unit testing  Visual high-level communication  Building a project plan  Talking to people, communicating progress  Numeracy & technical skills Important skills By [ian]@ianozsvald[.com] Ian Ozsvald
9.  Make a LinkedIn profile, write a CV  Talk to recruiters  Attend events  Speak at events Where to find jobs By [ian]@ianozsvald[.com] Ian Ozsvald
10. Build social evidence of competency By [ian]@ianozsvald[.com] Ian Ozsvald
11.  You’re interviewing them too (two-way)  How good is their data? Do they have enough?  How many data products are deployed & in use?  How will the team grow? What are their strengths & weaknesses? How to interview By [ian]@ianozsvald[.com] Ian Ozsvald
12.  Find a good+established team (probably not a start-up)  Products are in use (so you see the full product lifecycle)  A need to grow beyond “early version” models  I have a jobs mailing list (1k subscribers, 12+ jobs/mo): A good first job... By [ian]@ianozsvald[.com] Ian Ozsvald https://ianozsvald.com/data-science-jobs/
13.  Different industry? Similar role (if you enjoy it)  Different sized company?  I have a jobs mailing list (1k subscribers, 12+ jobs/mo): A good second job... By [ian]@ianozsvald[.com] Ian Ozsvald https://ianozsvald.com/data-science-jobs/
14.  YouTube’s PyDataTV shows “what’s normal” in industry  Figure out what you want from a team  Maybe join my jobs list for tips and my training list  Get social – attend events and talk to folk Summary By [ian]@ianozsvald[.com] Ian Ozsvald