Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Gutierrez:
What advice would you give undergrads and grads looking to
move into data science?
Shellman:
For the person still deciding what to study I would say STEM fields
are no-brainers, and in particular the 'TEM ones. Studying a STEM subject will
give you tools to test and understand the world. That's how I see math, statis-
tics, and machine learning. I'm not super interested in math
per se
, I'm interested
in using math to describe things. These are tool sets after all, so even if you're
not stoked on math or statistics, it's still super worth it to invest in them and
think about how to apply it in the things you're really passionate about.
For the person who's trying to transition like I did, I would say, for one, it's
hard. Be aware that it's difficult to change industries and you are going to have
to work hard at it. That's not unique to data science—that's life. Not having
any connections in the field is tough but you can work on it through meet-ups
and coffee dates with generous people. My number-one rule in life is “follow
up.” If you talk to somebody who has something you want, follow up.
I heard a story from a director of a data lab similar to ours, about a potential
hire that didn't have the skills and experience required to join the team. He sug-
gested the candidate take a machine learning class on Coursera and figure out if
data science was more than a fleeting interest. The candidate took the course
and every week emailed the director notes on progress and asked follow-up
questions. I think this is a really great example of putting in the extra effort and
proving to potential employers and to yourself that you can do what it takes to
succeed as a data scientist. I'm pretty sure they got the job too.
Gutierrez:
What advice would you give to data scientists looking for work?
Shellman:
Postings for data scientists can be pretty intimidating because
most of them read like a data science glossary. The truth is that the technology
changes so quickly that no one possesses experience of everything liable to
be written on a posting. When you look at that, it can be overwhelming, and
you might feel like, “This isn't for me. I don't have any of these skills and I have
nothing to contribute.” I would encourage against that mindset as long as
you're okay with change and learning new things all the time.
Ultimately, what companies want is a person who can rigorously define problems
and design paths to a solution. They also want people who are good at learning.
I think those are the core skills.
