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Ask HN: I realise data science is not for me and feel depressed

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Re: Ask HN: I realise data science is not for me and feel depressed

#31

Post by Archelaos »

I don't know about the job market in Russia, so my perspective may not dircetly apply to your situation.

In my experience, smaller companies might be more for you. The job positions are often more versatile and varied. I imagine you are more likely to find a job there where you can combine SWE with your DS knowledge and still like it. In such companys your tasks typically require you to solve real business problems all the way through, for example: "We have some sales data. Can you write us a tool that helps us decide where to focus our marketing efforts?"

But firstly, as others have pointed out, since you already invested a lot of time into DS, finish your degree as fast as possible, and then take the opportunity to build a portfolio (even if it is pure DS) and a professional network to help you find a better job. I do not think that it should be too difficult to transition into SWE with a DS degree; and after a few years of professional activity, no one is interested in what you have originally studied anyway.

Re: Ask HN: I realise data science is not for me and feel depressed

#32

Post by captaincaveman »

ghoshbishakh wrote: post #17
saalweachter wrote: post #8

Firstly, finish your degree. For most employers, just checking off the degree is more important than exactly what it is. This is especially true for software engineering. You will have many, many coworkers who have degrees in physics or bioinformatics or mathematics and work as SWEs. Most of their stories will be exactly the same as yours, although "...but there weren't any good paying jobs so..." will be in the runn…

You think degree is important? I am trying to finish my PhD. But I don't want to stay in academia after I finish. Would my degree be helpful in getting any SWE jobs?

I think it will help you get roles, I don't think it actually helps in doing the job, and in my personal experience has a negative correlation with being a good software engineer (not necessarily on skill, more on delivering what's actually needed).

Re: Ask HN: I realise data science is not for me and feel depressed

#33

Post by phphphphp »

ghoshbishakh wrote: post #17
saalweachter wrote: post #8

Firstly, finish your degree. For most employers, just checking off the degree is more important than exactly what it is. This is especially true for software engineering. You will have many, many coworkers who have degrees in physics or bioinformatics or mathematics and work as SWEs. Most of their stories will be exactly the same as yours, although "...but there weren't any good paying jobs so..." will be in the runn…

You think degree is important? I am trying to finish my PhD. But I don't want to stay in academia after I finish. Would my degree be helpful in getting any SWE jobs?

it's an interesting talking point but that's about it in most cases. If you can find a role where some domain knowledge is related to your PhD subject, or they need the skills a PhD requires (i.e: academic writing) then it'll be very valuable, but a PhD in most places wouldn't actually add much value in the day to day: most SWE work is nonacademic.

Thinking to my own experience, PhDs are pretty uncommon but of those I've worked with, some are brilliant, and some are terrible -- just like non-PhDs. I wouldn't consider a candidate with a PhD better than a non-PhD candidate, but then some people would love to hire someone with a PhD. I'd say on balance, it's a positive to have, but I would never recommend someone pursue a PhD as a route into a SWE role. A year of hobbyist programming experience is enough to get a SWE job.

Re: Ask HN: I realise data science is not for me and feel depressed

#34

Post by sitkack »

1) as others have said, get your degree.

2) look at data engineering

Either on specific jobs or systems (map/reduce, streaming, databases etc).

Three, you have been given a gift. You know what you don't want and some things about what you do. Nothing you did was a waste. Focus less on the specific goals and be in the moment. It is great that you have industry experience, even before graduation. That is where you will do/did a whole bunch of learning. Also, don't let this specific job color your whole view of DS.

Peace

Re: Ask HN: I realise data science is not for me and feel depressed

#35

Post by vkk8 »

saalweachter wrote: post #8

Firstly, finish your degree. For most employers, just checking off the degree is more important than exactly what it is. This is especially true for software engineering. You will have many, many coworkers who have degrees in physics or bioinformatics or mathematics and work as SWEs. Most of their stories will be exactly the same as yours, although "...but there weren't any good paying jobs so..." will be in the runn…

How do you get a software engineering job as a physicist? I'm one and I tried applying for a few (mostly with titles like "machine learning engineer", etc.) and mostly received no responses. For comparison, when applying for "data scienist" or "quantitative analyst" (in finance) jobs, I got many offers. Around here, the SWE people seem to assume that physicist can't write good code.

Re: Ask HN: I realise data science is not for me and feel depressed

#36

Post by captaincaveman »

It's no bigee, don't take it too serious, your still figuring out what you want to do, that's normal. Be pleased you have learnt something, better now than in 10 years! And what you have learnt isn't going to be completely wasted, I'm sure it will help you as a SWE.

Re: Ask HN: I realise data science is not for me and feel depressed

#38

Post by saalweachter »

saalweachter wrote: post #8

Firstly, finish your degree. For most employers, just checking off the degree is more important than exactly what it is. This is especially true for software engineering. You will have many, many coworkers who have degrees in physics or bioinformatics or mathematics and work as SWEs. Most of their stories will be exactly the same as yours, although "...but there weren't any good paying jobs so..." will be in the runn…

Hmm, re-reading your post and thinking more about the specifics, I think the next steps vary a lot depending on your personal experience and resources.

You can basically break a "software engineering" degree down to three components - writing code, "core theory", and "specialist knowledge".

You may already have "writing code" down well enough for entry level gigs; if not, side projects are a fine way to get you there. Look over job postings that interest you, see what languages they ask for, try writing some code in that language.

For "core theory", there are three basic classes you'd ordinarily take: algorithms/data structures, an introduction to compilers, and an introduction to operating systems.

If you've taken these courses already while in your current degree program, great, you're done. Don't worry about all of the extra specialist knowledge, you can pick it up later if you need or want it. You'll know as much as any other entry level generic software engineer.

Algorithms/data structures tells you why some code is fast and why some is slow, and the theory of fast code. Compilers teaches you how programs work under the hood, how the computer actually interprets and executes your programs. Operating systems teach you how the computer as a whole works what happens when you write to a file or a socket or a screen.

You don't need to be able to write a compiler or am operating system from scratch to be a good generic software engineer, but having a rough overview of how the entire system works is one of the things that elevates you past being "just" a self-taught coder. It helps you understand what your code is doing as well as how to write it.

If you haven't been exposed to the "core theory", you're probably best off just trying to pick up books or (free) online courses on the subject. Unless you have just fantastic financial resources you shouldn't try to change your degree or get extra formal schooling in the subject. As long as you can write code, there will be people happy to hire you as a SWE, so you don't even have to wait to master the core theory to start applying to jobs.

Start with algorithms/data structures. It's the most useful and a good opportunity to get more practice writing code in, especially in new languages.

Re: Ask HN: I realise data science is not for me and feel depressed

#39

Post by thorin »

vkk8 wrote: post #35
saalweachter wrote: post #8

Firstly, finish your degree. For most employers, just checking off the degree is more important than exactly what it is. This is especially true for software engineering. You will have many, many coworkers who have degrees in physics or bioinformatics or mathematics and work as SWEs. Most of their stories will be exactly the same as yours, although "...but there weren't any good paying jobs so..." will be in the runn…

How do you get a software engineering job as a physicist? I'm one and I tried applying for a few (mostly with titles like "machine learning engineer", etc.) and mostly received no responses. For comparison, when applying for "data scienist" or "quantitative analyst" (in finance) jobs, I got many offers. Around here, the SWE people seem to assume that physicist can't write good code.

What country are you in? When I graduated in Elec Eng in the UK there were plenty of big companies like banks, government, utilities taking graduates of all kinds to train them into software engineering. I've met plenty of SWE with degrees in history, music, or people with no degree who've started doing manual testing or admin and got into automation and then software. Equally, if you already have the skills and can pass their test I'm sure they won't care what degree you have, physics shows a high level of technical comprehension and analysis as well as hard work.

Re: Ask HN: I realise data science is not for me and feel depressed

#40

Post by gk1 »

Your degree does not define you. People change careers regularly, and by the time they’re 40 they might be so removed from their degree that it becomes nothing more than an interesting topic for a party conversation. “Oh, I majored in so-and-so, can you believe it?”

The only way you can screw up is by staying in a field long after you’ve realized it’s not for you. It’s crazy to keep doing something you don’t want to do, for your entire working career. Whether it’s from the sunk-cost fallacy or feelings of shame or just complacency, it’s a sad thing.

It takes courage to be honest with yourself and make a change.

(I’m in marketing now but got a brutally difficult degree in naval architecture. Can you believe it?)

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