Data Scientist - Skills Needed

Discussion in 'Education & Personal Growth' started by Caughtinbetween, Apr 22, 2020.

  1. Caughtinbetween

    Caughtinbetween Gold IL'ite

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    Thanks @shravs3 . i am also going to try the 30 day trial first .
     
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  2. startinganew

    startinganew Gold IL'ite

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    Spending a year doing small projects in these areas is itself a great start! Even familiarity with all these sub-domains will help you chart your way in this.

    That is amazing, keep it up!!!

    If I were in your place, here is what I would do. Once you can zero in on what aspect of data science you want to be involved in:

    1. More than facebook groups, slack groups I have seen are more technical and have better quality discussions. You can easily pick up on who the helpful senior folks are. I would just show up and be present in these groups - asking good questions and try to answer other newbie questions. I would use the same handle across slack/twitter/github - so people can start knowing who you are.

    2. Follow the strong technical folks in your specific area of interest on Twitter. It's easy to be overwhelmed with noise (or useless info) there. The main benefit of twitter of these senior folks is that you'll be the first to hear of advancements or new packages or new research in your specific area of interest. And keep up with the cutting edge will give you an advantage when you interview.

    I have seen a lot of these folks advertise for job openings in their teams or within their circles also - in twitter and slack. So you'll get to know these openings without having to search through the large job database of open positions in the company website.

    4. After a couple of months more of prep work - cold-call Indian women who are in the companies you would like - with a polite introduction - on LinkedIn/Twitter (whichever allows you to reach their profile). A lot of people I know - once they are in a field for 5 yrs or so are very happy to help mentor a younger woman who is interested in their career path. In this mail you can talk about how you are already preparing (for e,g certifications you are doing) and what you plan to do - then say you would like their guidance on how to proceed.

    5. Create a github profile, all your coding practise, data analysis results visualization, even notes on setting up your tools/development enivronment, keep it public. There is a nothing an interviewer will like more than a candidate whose efforts in a new area are public. Keep your github repo URL in your email signature - so people can know your efforts. (I used to be very shy of doing this, always worrying that I am just a beginner, my code snippets have no value to others, etc. But when i started interviewing others, I realized how valuable even simple notes/code snippets shared by newbies are - it is very revealing of how earnest they are to learning)

    Slack groups I am part of (may not be relevant for you - just sharing so you know what I am talking about..) You can look for local chapters so that you can attend their in-person meetups after Covid.

    #womenwhocode (my local chapter) has a ML channel
    #systers is a wonderful mailing list (recently has a slack also). Step 4 above - that letter can even be posted here and you can get some wonderful advice - provided you share as much detail about your background and efforts.
    #Wimlds (Women in machine learning and data science) The have a jobs board.
     
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  3. Caughtinbetween

    Caughtinbetween Gold IL'ite

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    Thank you @startinganew a lot. Its very useful I mean all the pointers .
    As far as my understanding of the slack groups go I think it needs invitations to join right ? I tried it again just now and struggled . I have sent an email to their customer support to help me join those . I am browsing through the meetup link . Didnt know that slack also holds meetups . So far I havent maintained a public github profile of my code . Will work on it going ahead. Thank you for the recommendation. Github repos were definitely useful . In my old company they had a internal git repo where people would put a general version of their work to show . Once I feel confident enough with the technologies I shall start reaching out to people . Thank you.
     
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  4. Caughtinbetween

    Caughtinbetween Gold IL'ite

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  5. startinganew

    startinganew Gold IL'ite

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    Hi @Caughtinbetween - I don't know about this specific online degree from UC Berkeley but the Computer Science department of UC Berkeley is extremely prestigious. Ever since my grad school days I have been an ardent follower of the research coming out from a few professors in this department.
    I would try to do some research on whether the online degree is being offered by the same in-university professors to check if the program would also be of high-quality. I would also write to the degree program co-ordinator and ask if they can share where the last few graduating batches have been placed. And if they could give contact references of alumni - so you can find out if the course would suit your goals and circumstances.
     
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  6. lavani

    lavani Platinum IL'ite

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  7. Caughtinbetween

    Caughtinbetween Gold IL'ite

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    Thank you @lavani . The article is very informative . I am still going through the resources that it links to and browsing. I came across these khan academy statistics and algebra references from somewhere else last year end as well but couldnt pursue it to the end. This time trying again.

    thanks @startinganew for the response .
    I did contact the course co ordinator for details few weeks ago. Professor Kylie Hamilton i think is one of the program professors . They would need you to be at the campus for two weeks or so initially . and also the total program fees is close to 55-60k . We would be moving to the west coast in the last quarter of this year. So i will probably revisit this again in 6 months - 1 year to assess where i stand financially as location constraint wont be there then.
    For now I am working on coursera IBM data science course and AWS ML cert and working on some simple code challenges to build up my profile.Thank you very much for your help throughout.
     
  8. Caughtinbetween

    Caughtinbetween Gold IL'ite

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  9. lavani

    lavani Platinum IL'ite

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    Please do not consider my response as rude. I think you are entering in a analysis paralysis mode, i have been there, where i have ended up spending collecting data and planning and then getting overwhelmed.

    i feel, the thread you have shared the old from Guari, has all info and others shared in this 3 pages.

    Unless you are not having Visa issues and time issues due to family / kids commitment, i would say go for any course and give your 100%.

    not every person in their linked in profile is full fleged data scientist, some are just developers (python or ML using tensor). they just keep progressing up as they get into new projects. and Update their profile as the Best of the best :)

    once you are good and can compete, this is a good site to compete and build your portfolio - Kaggle: Your Machine Learning and Data Science Community
     
  10. Caughtinbetween

    Caughtinbetween Gold IL'ite

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    thanks @lavani ..you are right about that..somehow i am analyzing a lot this time which is not my natural behavior . I usually dont think a lot about the results before jumping in to anything (not good at all times though) . But I dont know why this time i am doubting myself a lot . I have been working on H4-EAD . My H1 got picked up in the lottery this year but so far didnt find any projects to file for my h1 yet. I am still trying and covid is not helping besides keeping my almost 2 yr old at home . we will be moving to the west before the end of the year and i want to find a better job again before that. that thought makes me anxious all day .
     

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