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Ask HN: Am I too late for the “Data Science” wave?

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Re: Ask HN: Am I too late for the “Data Science” wave?

#101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try filtering them on their specific ability to visualize things. My neighbor was 80+ year old math guy who could see graphs of equations in his head. My hypothesis is that good stats people probably don't visualize (Aphant) or visualize very specific types of data in a unique way. Without visualization, people tend to fall back to logical thinking - or emotional thinking, depending. For example, I have a friend who…

The person you are replying to seemed to be complaining about their lack of programming ability, not statistical ability, so how would this help in their situation?

Yup, I think I and that child are talking past each other. :-(

It's good though because they raise some really valid points about the importance of intuition. I joke with my colleagues that all we're doing is encoding data as a hilbert space and slapping an algorithm on it, but that elides the fact that intuition like the child is talking about is important for knowing how to build that hilbert space.

Re: Ask HN: Am I too late for the “Data Science” wave?

#102
post #6

If I may give you an advice : Python, R and deep learning are sexy but the most important skill to start in data science is SQL. It will help you get your first data role and will be your main tool to solve 97% of the problems you will ever face. Bonus point it is very easy to learn.

SQL is almost never used in algorithmic trading by data scientists.

Learn Python, it is used universally.

Don't learn R.

Re: Ask HN: Am I too late for the “Data Science” wave?

#103
As someone with a PhD in a different field who's made that switch, I actually have to disagree with most of the advice here.

This is a bit too bitter and jaded (I'm not quite this pessimistic), but I think it needs to be said to counter a lot of the rosier advice.

Having a PhD in a non-CS field is a _massive_ negative in the eyes of potential employeers. Even if you're looking at moving into a role where your domain knowledge would be immensely relevant (lots of ag + remote sensing startups these days), you will be seen as underqualified compared to someone with only a BS. You'll be seen as underqualified compared to someone with no BS or a BS in an irrelevant field. You need to be strictly better at multiple roles than anyone they could hire to be considered, and even then you'll be expected to work for 1/3 to 1/2 of what they'd pay someone with only a BS and no experience. Folks usually despise domain experts because they see the role of their company as "disrupting" all of the prior knowledge. You represent what they want to replace and you're likely to disagree with them about key approaches.

You will be much more effective, but no one cares about how much you contribute to the company's bottom line. People only care about appearances.

The appearance companies want is a "self taught college dropout". That holds for data science and machine learning positions every bit as much as it does for developer positions, in my experience.

The upshot of this is that you likely know how to learn quickly. Pick up multiple additional skillsets.

You won't get hired because you're an expert in X field that the company needs + a data scientist. You'll get hired because you can throw together a crappy web app on short notice, or debug their crazy duct-tape-and-glue CI system, or save a lot on their AWS bill by switching some things around. You need those skills _on top of_ being a domain expert and a data scientist.

You have to be able to do more than anyone else they could possibly hire for the role to even be considered. Otherwise, you'll never overcome the fact that you have a PhD in their eyes.

Again, that's the bitter/jaded view. Take the above with a grain of salt.

Re: Ask HN: Am I too late for the “Data Science” wave?

#104
As with any role/skillset, the explosion of data science demand has lead to an explosion of "data scientist" supply. When demand was greatly exceeding supply, you naturally saw the definition and requirements of data science roles loosening. When I contact companies about DS roles, I like to ask what they mean by "data science". Often times you would find roles that were some mix of: SQL analyst (no DB admin skills required), Python hacker (no "real" software eng skills required), and basic stats (can you calculate a confidence interval?).

What I've seen in more recent years with growing supply and maturation of departments is the need for specialization. Can you do hardcore statistics? Are you an ML practitioner? Are you a data architect? Basically, the blended role DS hacker is more commonly (and correctly IMO) relegated to a various analytical and strategy roles.

Honestly you haven't missed the boat and you don't need a formal education, but I would highly recommend having a depth of skills in one or more areas of data science generally with an example or two to back it up. Basic skills are just table stakes at this point.

Re: Ask HN: Am I too late for the “Data Science” wave?

#105
post #103

As someone with a PhD in a different field who's made that switch, I actually have to disagree with most of the advice here. This is a bit too bitter and jaded (I'm not quite this pessimistic), but I think it needs to be said to counter a lot of the rosier advice. Having a PhD in a non-CS field is a _massive_ negative in the eyes of potential employeers. Even if you're looking at moving into a role where your domain…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Am I too late for the “Data Science” wave?

#106
post #24

I work as a data scientist and have some perspective on this. There's no boat to miss, you'll probably be fine. Just keep a couple of things in mind - The fundamental skills that you need are mathematics and software engineering. Depending on your background it might take years of additional studying. - There is a big oversupply of people for the junior-mid level data science jobs. There are more people who want to g…

What kind of math? It takes me a while to learn math so any focused area would help cut down the time taken immensely (not that I don't enjoy learning tidbits like supremum/infimum)

Re: Ask HN: Am I too late for the “Data Science” wave?

#107
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - If you're already employed with your agriculture PhD, there must be a number of opportunities for you apply the techniques that you're currently learning wihout leaving the industry. That's probably the path that I would suggest - it would allow you to expand your skillset without taking big risks and you'll have more options in the future. Use the career capital that you already have and explore your options ins…

In general, domain knowledge is incredibly valuable and will generally trump someone who may have some more technical skills but doesn't know the field. I'd add that a lot of larger companies--heard someone from Shell talking about this a couple months ago--are training up people who have knowledge of the business with "citizen data scientist" skill sets. Without knowing all the details of your situation, it seems at…

There is a book "Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World" which claims there are domain-specific problems that are more likely to be solved by people originally outside that domain.

Re: Ask HN: Am I too late for the “Data Science” wave?

#108
post #24

I work as a data scientist and have some perspective on this. There's no boat to miss, you'll probably be fine. Just keep a couple of things in mind - The fundamental skills that you need are mathematics and software engineering. Depending on your background it might take years of additional studying. - There is a big oversupply of people for the junior-mid level data science jobs. There are more people who want to g…

What kind of math? It takes me a while to learn math so any focused area would help cut down the time taken immensely (not that I don't enjoy learning tidbits like supremum/infimum)

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Am I too late for the “Data Science” wave?

#109
post #24

I work as a data scientist and have some perspective on this. There's no boat to miss, you'll probably be fine. Just keep a couple of things in mind - The fundamental skills that you need are mathematics and software engineering. Depending on your background it might take years of additional studying. - There is a big oversupply of people for the junior-mid level data science jobs. There are more people who want to g…

What kind of math? It takes me a while to learn math so any focused area would help cut down the time taken immensely (not that I don't enjoy learning tidbits like supremum/infimum)

Multivariable calculus, differential equations, linear algebra, probability theory, statistics.
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