Ask HN: Am I Falling into a Trap?

I am a self taught programmer (python, sql) who really needed a job last September. I wanted to go into data science but there were very few jobs available.

I'm in evening classes and I'll be graduating in a year or two with a degree in mathematics.

I couldn't find a programming job so I settled for the job of assistant controller for a manufacturing company who's job it was to help the controller generate various financial reports. I started at $15 per hour.

The company implemented netsuite and I ended up learning Netsuite & suitescript from scratch and ended up responsible for the entire implementation and all the maintenance after.

I now make 85k with the title Netsuite Administrator/Developer.

It's not what I want to do though. I consider myself fortunate to have had a job throughout the pandemic but I'm nervous that I'll stay in this position forever.

I can't spin this job as one something with python experience so I'll have to sift through jobs for an introductory position.

What makes more sense long term? Do I stay at my current cushy job where I envision making 150k after another 2-3 years or so I start from scratch again earning $15 at an internship or something ? How is the current market for introductory developers?

If I do stay at my current job for 5-7 years, does that effectively kill my dream of being a data scientist?

> I can't spin this job as one something with python experience

Two points on that:

a) I could be wrong, but I wouldn't expect "professional Python experience" to be the main relevant bit for "Data Science" jobs - sure it's a tool you need, but self-study can cover that.

b) can you use your current job for (or shift it towards) experience with data analysis etc? Really depends on the company if that's possible, but a job in controlling doesn't sound like the worst starting point to be able to play with data. And maybe use a bit more of the usual data science tooling than strictly necessary for that ;)

I see your worry about being shoehorned into a specific technology stack vs more general skills, I'd be somewhat worried about that too. And it's likely easier making the in the next few years than later.

At least having said job means you have time to evaluate options/self-study/... now. Go interview in a few places, see what they offer for your current level from your self-study, what the feedback suggests you should improve, ... At your age "I have this other job but am learning on the side" is not a surprising or uncommon story.

I'd look to make a lateral move. Not sure where you are, but in the USA, 85k is right in the ballpark for a developer with 1-3 years of experience (at least in the Denver metro area).

So I'd do some self study and then look for positions where you are using some of the same skills or domain experience. It could be in manufacturing, it could be in netsuite, it could be implementation/operations of data pipelines (which surely shares some attributes in common with the netsuite integrations, if nothing else dealing with data, documentation and teams across a company). Try some interviews while you have a job because that'll tell you what you need to know.

I'd also start going to some python/data science meetups and ask people you meet there if you can take them to coffee to learn what the job is really like. This will help you learn if "the grass is greener". If not, hey, you might like being a netsuite admin/dev.

    I can't spin this job as one something with python experience 

Probably not, but you CAN accurately depict it as a job where you learned about business financial reporting. That's something that separates you from some rando who read "Babby's First Data Science" book and knows nothing about any real-world problem domains.

You're looking at it the wrong way. What you have is not a liability, but an advantage.

You're building your manufacturing domain expertise. Were you to go and become a data scientist today, odds are you'll find yourself in some form of consultancy trying to sell companies on "AI solutions" without actually having any idea what really matters to insiders. As you have witnessed first hand, many companies prefer building their in-house solutions. Yours does it with Netsuite, some do it with macros and excel...what matters far more than the stack is an understanding of what problems they're trying to solve.

The experience you're getting right now, engaging with stakeholders, seeing their pain points (Why is this report needed? Why do they want to measure that?), building a product for them, selling them onto using the tools you've built...that's worth a lot.

What you want to be doing is definitely not sifting through intro jobs for data science, but using your new knowledge to think up better solutions. Not necessarily implement them in-house - depends what the appetite for this is. But start building your professional persona as someone who knows *both* manufacturing and data science.

Write articles, build in public, post useful insights on LinkedIn, connect with people at the intersection of manufacturing and data. Do that for the couple of years till you finish your math studies, and you'll see the right jobs come chasing after you...