What can I learn to be a more employable data scientist?

Data Science is such an all-encompassing term that it is difficult to give specific advice. A lot depends on the type of employer you want to work for, whether your analyses are basic, applied or operational research (or some blend of those), your skill level with different types of coding and math, communications skills and so forth. That said, here are a few general observations:

· Good communications skills really help in any career. One of the best ways to develop those skills outside of school is to read a lot and write a lot. If you have a choice between reading a book or watching a video, go for the book. As for writing, journals or blogging are good - short form texting and Twitter don’t really count as writing for this purpose. You have to practice on a longer communication than 280 characters to learn how to develop an idea.

· I was recently involved in interviewing a number of people for a data science job. This job was more along the traditional statistical modelling line than machine learning line, though it could involve either at different times. I noticed that a lot of recent graduates were much more inclined towards the ML way of doing things and seemed to have knowledge gaps when it came to SM. I think a balance between the two is very helpful, so try not to focus excessively on one or the other.

· In real world jobs a lot of time is spent obtaining and cleaning data. So, a working knowledge of SQL is always useful. In an interview, it is a good idea to let the employer know that you are flexible and realize that any job has a certain amount of non-exciting operational tasks that need to be done and you are willing to do your share.

· The same applies to visualization. Learn what graph types best convey the type of information you need to explain. Often, that one-page graph you did will have more traction with the higher-ups than that exhaustive data modelling and associated report. That’s life.

· Always keep in mind that data science is about solving actual problems, not just writing awesome code or doing cool intricate modelling. Once you have a job, spend time learning about the subject matter of the field that you are employed in. The more you know about the underlying business, the better your analyses will be, and the more employable you will be.

· Lastly, once on the job, remember that you will be partially judged on how well you interact with other people, whether on your team and outside of that team. So treat people the way that you would want them to treat you - default to good manners and respect, even for people that you don’t really connect with. Within reasonable bounds, try to tolerate the idiosyncrasies of others and they will tolerate yours (odds are you have some and don’t even know it). Dilbert is funny to read, but don’t actually be like him (the cartoon behavior below is funny but bad on the job):

· And always remember, you are employed to make your boss’s life easier, not harder, so try to act accordingly (again within reasonable bounds).

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One way to read widely it to read one of my books : 😀

On the Road with Bronco Billy

What follows is an account of a ten day journey through western North America during a working trip, delivering lumber from Edmonton Alberta to Dallas Texas, and returning with oilfield equipment. The writer had the opportunity to accompany a friend who is a professional truck driver, which he eagerly accepted. He works as a statistician for the University of Alberta, and is therefore is generally confined to desk, chair, and computer. The chance to see the world from the cab of a truck, and be immersed in the truck driving culture was intriguing. In early May 1997 they hit the road.

Some time has passed since this journal was written and many things have changed since the late 1990’s. That renders the journey as not just a geographical one, but also a historical account, which I think only increases its interest.

We were fortunate to have an eventful trip - a mechanical breakdown, a near miss from a tornado, and a large-scale flood were among these events. But even without these turns of fate, the drama of the landscape, the close-up view of the trucking lifestyle, and the opportunity to observe the cultural habits of a wide swath of western North America would have been sufficient to fill up an interesting journal.

The travelogue is about 20,000 words, about 60 to 90 minutes of reading, at typical reading speeds.

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