Landing Your First Data Science Job 🚀

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# Wendy Grus and Stacey Williams: Land your First Job in Data Science

## Key Links
- Transcript: https://github.com/data-umbrella/event-transcripts/blob/main/2022/71-wg-sw-career.md
- Meetup Event: https://www.meetup.com/data-umbrella/events/289827603/
- Video: https://youtu.be/qDQ7z7FrG20

## About the Event
Are you looking to land your first job in data science? In this webinar, we'll cover topics related to job searching, interviewing, and networking just for you. Speakers will answer common questions on how to break into the data field from the perspective of a senior industry professional (Wendy) and a relative career newbie (Stacey). Attendees, no matter their level of data experience, will leave with a plan to discover, prepare for, and land their first career role. All career backgrounds are welcome!

## Timestamps
00:00 Data Umbrella introduction
06:45 Stacey & Wendy self-introduce
07:42 Data Science journey depends on these 5 points
09:27 Wendy's journey into data science
12:40 Stacey's journey into data science
15:06 Your starting point (new grad, early career, career transitioner)
18:27 Relevant skills
18:46 Critical skills: soft and hard skills
21:09 How to develop the soft skills
22:06 How to develop the hard skills
23:25 Self-guided learning
25:10 How to demonstrate technical competency
27:55 Your current knowledge
28:11 Make past experience relevant
29:10 Job targets: identifying potential jobs (companies and roles)
33:41 Networking
34:51 Contract vs full-time work
38:32 The interview process
40:40 Your interview process
41:56 Things to consider
43:45 Resources
45:15 Q: Can you talk about career transition for someone with a non-technical background?
48:22 Q: Would you say entry level data science roles are remote or in person?
49:24 Q: Can you talk about technical assessments during the interview process?
52:05 Q: Is a Masters degree worth it?
56:04 Q: What do you mean by knowing Python?
57:19 Q: What are the best strategies for practicing interview questions?
59:50 Q: What is the best strategy for getting an internship for an international student, where visa sponsorship is required?
01:01:00 Q: Is it ok to take a job that uses Excel and then transitions over to R or Python?
01:02:44 Q: What is the average number of job interviews to go through before landing a job?
01:04:28 Q: What are good ways to filter out the Excel vs R/Python jobs?

## About the Speaker(s)
Wendy Grus has worked in data analytics in tech and biotech for over 10 years at Knome, INRIX, Hulu, Ginkgo Bioworks, and Snowflake. Her favorite parts of working in data are Data Quality, Data Catalogs, Data Lineage, and deep-dive analysis. Prior to industry, she was in research and academia. Wendy has been an organizer of PyLadies Seattle since 2014. She has participated in mentorship programs through PyLadies, Women in Analytics, and the Fred Hutch Student/Postdoc group. She has previously presented at PyData Seattle, PyCon US, PyData LA, Women in Data Science Puget Sound, and Data Mishaps Night.

Stacey is a data professional working in big tech. As someone who transitioned into tech, Stacey knows first hand the difficulty that can come when trying to break into tech. Aside from her primary job, she also works as a part-time teaching assistant for a free data program training and guiding others seeking to land their first tech role.

- Wendy Grus LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-grus-8ba1a612/
- Stacy Williams LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/swil-la/

#careeradvice #datascience #africa