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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

#41

Post by thiago_fm »

You have just started your career. I have plenty of experience in software dev, having hired, managed, coded etc, your future isn't anywhere written in stone as you'd think. You seem very worried about the situation and it's definitely clouding your mind. Drink some tea and breath, all is good(as it can...)

It doesn't matter if you degree is in math if you want to work anywhere in computing: software engineer, data science, AI, IT support or anything. If you dislike working with Data Science feel free to try different jobs.

I'm a foreigner living in Germany and to net a job here you likely need some sort of seniority(read: 4 years working in X Programming language or something from DS) before people start considering you, but given how I know how living in a third world country feel like, and how ambitious people usually are when they live in such conditions, I believe you'll do just fine.

Try different things in IT. If you think SWE is a path, try it! Don't feel too attached to present outcomes, let's say you end up needing 1 year to find an internship in SWE, just accept and go with the flow. Of course, that is considering you are eating properly and surviving.

I know we can't choose like rich american kids, but you definitely have a great future ahead of you and many options

If you want we can have a call(email on bio) and you can ask any questions, I relate a lot to having the same kind of questions when I was at university and I wasn't even dedicated or successful as your beginning. I just stuck at it for a while and did what had to be done and I'm here Today, I work for a company, get paid well, live in a first world country and I believe all of this is in your reach, just enjoy the current moment as well, don't live in the future. Enjoy the adventure.

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

#42

Post by marcus_holmes »

fortytwo79 wrote: post #24
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…

Agreed. Speaking as someone who has hired hundreds of software engineers, I can tell you that having a degree at all tells me a lot about your work ethic. Sure, I'd prefer a comp sci background, but your degree is nearly as good. It's an indicator of how you think. You know what other degree I see a LOT of in SWE? Music. I've hired countless music majors.

I have the opposite experience, almost. I've hired and trained lots of people with CS degrees who think they know everything and barely know the basics.

I massively prefer people who flunked university and just got a job writing code because they could. University no longer trains people to think, instead it's about jumping through hoops and dealing with pointless administrative bullshit [0]. source: I have a Master's degree.

And yes, even better are the people who wrote code as a hobby, and then decided to switch career to become professional developers. Some of the best coders I know are in that category (though the best coder I ever hired taught herself to code while getting off heroin in a Glasgow slum).

[0] Ok, so yes if you're hiring for a large corporate I can see how this would appeal.

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

#43

Post by jerf »

A lot of people have given good specific advice, so, let me point out that you are young, and while you may not like your exact specialization right now, you've still got quite a base of skills that can be leveraged into numerous other positions. Try to not feel bad. Try to let the large number of options given in other posts here some time to sink in, and marinate your subconscious in the realization that you are not trapped, but in fact standing in front of a wealth of opportunities.

You have to soak your subconscious in that information because it is slow to realize things like this, and it needs to be reminded many times a day for a long time. This is the core of truth behind the "self-affirmation" self-help movement. As with many other self-help movements it oversells what it can do, but it can do this. You will need to repeat to yourself many times that you have many options. Your conscious mind may feel stupid, but your subconscious needs to hear this many times, so consider doing it.

The first opportunity didn't work out. That's fine. Frankly, it almost never does. Careers often need a few years to get going anyhow. Remember that coming out of school and getting the job you're going to have for the rest of your life is the exception. Even the people going to FAANGS or whatever the acronym is this week often burn out and leave and do other things, after all.

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

#44

Post by rg111 »

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…

To OP:

Good advice.

Listen to this.

Focus on finishing the degree, and if possible, get as good grades as possible.

That will open a lot of doors.

____

To this comment:

I have switched from Physics to Deep Learning. This is more because of "getting to know myself better" than money.

I grew up being good at math (scorewise when little, and later, actually getting and understanding) and science. And I had a lot of biographies and a-little-harder-than pop-sci kind of science articles at home. I thought that I would become a Physicist and become a Professor.

College was a big disappointed. The beaurocracy aside, the college system relies on memorizing numerical problems, proofs, and regurgitating them during test.

And also, the field of Physics is highly saturated. It feels like all the stuff has been done. Need a field where I can contribute, rather than just watch passively.

In college, for the first time, I got to work in a real Electronics lab in my Physics major class. Absolutely loved the experience.

Reading theory by bigshots in books, and applying them with my own hands! Building stuff! That's when I first found out I loved building things and applying things on my own hand rather as much as, or more than I loved the ivory tower of pure theory.

Coupled with my frustration, I decided I will become a programmer because that is where I got to build things and not just regurgitate text.

My metor-friends (older) told me that Data Science was hot. Better get into that. Although they meant analysis type work, I soon transitioned to Deep Learning. Vision particularly.

I am on brink of publishing two research papers independently, and worked in two jobs where I developed Deep Learning systems.

I am very happy that I gave up Physics.

I may not even stay here. This transition has taught me to be less stringent on life's choices.

I have also learned that I don't particularly like Physics or Math or Deep Learning. I like esoteric things that not many can do, pay well, give intellectual kicks, opportunity to work with hands, and are math-y.

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

#45

Post by lytefm »

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…

Agreed.

And honestly, finding an entry-level SWE job with a degree in Mathematics + a background in data science is probably easier than finding an actual data science position.

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

#46

Post by saalweachter »

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?

If you're trying to finish a PhD program, I'd say it depends how much you want to finish. "I did a year or two and academia sucks" is a perfectly normal place to tap out, but full STEM PhD -> SWE is also pretty common. If you just spent three or four years writing specialized code to simulate or analyze your PhD topic it's quite possible to parlay that into an entry level SWE job.

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

#47

Post by boa00 »

vkk8 wrote: post #30

Data science is an oversold profession. When studying it, you learn really cool things; Bayesian models, reinforcement learning, AI, all the trendy stuff. In reality, most of the data scientists end up spending almost all of their time interacting with horribly designed, decade(s) old databases and the analysis part of their job is mostly just plotting the mean as a function of time and doing logistic regression over…

I can relate to this. The process of studying ML algorithms, how and why they work from the mathematical standpoint was really fun. But the process of building models themselves seems quite boring to me

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

#48

Post by orzig »

marcus_holmes wrote: post #42
fortytwo79 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. Speaking as someone who has hired hundreds of software engineers, I can tell you that having a degree at all tells me a lot about your work ethic. Sure, I'd prefer a comp sci background, but your degree is nearly as good. It's an indicator of how you think. You know what other degree I see a LOT of in SWE? Music. I've hired countless music majors.

I have the opposite experience, almost. I've hired and trained lots of people with CS degrees who think they know everything and barely know the basics. I massively prefer people who flunked university and just got a job writing code because they could. University no longer trains people to think, instead it's about jumping through hoops and dealing with pointless administrative bullshit [0]. source: I have a Master'…

To provide a third vote: My midsized company barely considers people without degrees, even if they have extensive technical work experience. Example: I had to battle hard to get somebody considered for an entry-level non-technical role, and they ended up being rapidly promoted within engineering once they got past the recruiting screens.

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

#50

Post by astura »

>How would you recommend me to switch to SWE the fastest way possible?

It's very simple - finish your degree then apply for intro SWE positions. You'll have no problems with your background and skillset. You'll find other people with math degrees working as SWEs in industry.

Just make sure to finish your degree.

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