My Job Search Journey
I recently started a new job as a Data Scientist at my dream company. A year ago, I was still struggling to get picked for an interview. Never have I ever thought that I will be working at a Fortune 100 company a year later. Honestly, it’s been a roller coaster of a journey, especially as entry-level job postings are down 68% due to the pandemic¹. Now that the job market has opened up a bit, I wanted to share my story, and hopefully, it can help those who are starting their job search journey right now.
A little bit about my background. I received a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Mathematics in 2017 and a Master’s degree in Business Analytics in 2020. After I graduated from college, I worked as a junior data analyst, math instructor, web developer assistant, and data scientist intern. Most of the positions I had were part-time since I was still going to school. I also attended a 12-week Data Science Bootcamp called Metis in 2019 during summer break. Personally, I think it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I’ve learned a lot from the Bootcamp. If you are interested in learning more about my experience, feel free to reach out to me. I’d like to help! 🙂
Last January, I officially started to send out job applications every single day. Although the 12-week study was very helpful to help me get started, it was far from enough to land a full-time data scientist position. I applied, interviewed, failed, studied, interviewed again, failed again, studied again… It was exciting, frustrating, and overwhelming, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. I finally made it to the final round at Visa, but then there was a hiring freeze. Although I was very disappointed, the fact that I had the chance of getting the job interview did help boost my confidence. The best thing about looking for a job when you are still in school is that it gives you more time to prepare for the interview process. The more you interview, the more you know what areas you still need to study and prepare for.
Here are 10 tips I learned throughout the process
1. Start applying early even if you feel like you are not ready
I’ve noticed that a lot of data science openings now require 3+ years of experience in their job descriptions. It can be intimidating to apply for those jobs, but you will miss out on the opportunities if you don’t apply for them. Sometimes, the hiring managers might not even know what kind of experience they want the candidate to have. It’s up to you to show what you can bring to the company and the team. Besides, even if your application is not selected, you’ve got nothing to lose.
2. Know the basics very well
When it comes to interviewing, you need to know all the basics well, such as statistics, probability, Machine Learning, product sense, programming. There are a lot of resources to help you brush up on the basic data science Interview.
- SQL and Python: I mainly used leetcode.com to practice. I found that a lot of companies don’t ask medium-hard level python questions for a data scientist position. They tend to test your ability to clean the data, such as using the lambda function and some data manipulation functions with pandas.
- Udacity A/B testing course by Google: It’s the most popular A/B testing course. If you don’t have time to finish the entire course before your next interview, I recommend checking out the summary of this course written by Kelly Peng.
- Product Sense: When it comes to making an impact on a business, it’s not about how much you can code. Instead, it’s the ability to make the right decisions about what is needed to build for users. Stellarpeers is a great platform that helps professionals prepare for product management interviews. If you are interested in learning more about consulting interview questions, check out my summary here.
- Statistics and Probabilities: If you haven’t touched statistics for a while, you can take a look at STAT 414 or STAT 415 by PennState. Interviewers like asking Bayes’ Theorem, Conditional Probability, Central Limit Theorem, Type I and Type II error, Power, P-value, etc. So make sure you can explain the basic theorems with your own words.
- Machine Learning: There are many courses on Coursera, Udemy, Udacity, etc to learn more about Machine Learning. I found that the best way to learn all the theorems is to summarize them on your own.

3. Networking matters
‘It’s not what you know, it’s who you know’ is not just a cliche. Building a strong network and asking for referrals lead to exciting opportunities. When it comes to landing your first job, it’s about showing employers your willingness to go the extra mile. Despite the temporary sacrifices we’re all having to make, there’s no reason to stop networking. Especially since networking helps us develop and improve our skill sets, stay on top of current industry trends, and most importantly, learn from others’ experiences. There are lots of virtual events and study groups on meetup.com. Don’t be shy and step out of your comfort zone, you’ll be glad you did.
4. Show your Work
Now that we’re living in a digital world, if you haven’t put your work on the internet, nobody knows how amazing you are. Employers want to see what you are capable of doing beyond your resume. Building a strong data science portfolio that showcases your skills will increase your chance of getting an interview. If you don’t know where to start, check out my other blog for some inspiration!
5. Know your project well
It’s easy to copy and paste code from open source projects directly into your project, but do you actually know the business impact of the project, and are you able to explain everything. It’s never ok to steal someone’s work! Interviewers can tell whether you actually worked on the project by asking several in-depth questions. As a result, it’s important to know all the details of your project and be ready to explain complex machine learning concepts, such as why a certain machine learning algorithm had a better predictive performance, how to interpret the predictive result. This also shows that not only did you understand the concepts, you can also explain your analysis clearly to other team members and stakeholders.
6. Prepare for Behavioral Interview questions
Believe it or not, a lot of employers ask behavioral questions because they want to better assess if the candidate is a right fit for the job, the team, and company culture.
Here are a few common behavioral interview questions suggested by Akshay Sachdeva:
- Describe a time when you disagreed with a team member. How did you resolve the problem?
- Tell me about a time when you disagreed with a supervisor.
- Tell me about a time when you failed in a team project, and how you overcame it.
- Tell me about a big mistake you’ve made on the job and how you handled it.
- What is the most difficult/ challenging situation you’ve ever had to resolve in the workplace?
- How do you handle unexpected changes or challenges?
When answering this type of question, focus on providing examples of how you handled a certain kind of situation in the past. If you tend to blackout when you are nervous during an interview, you can prepare and practice your answers beforehand. I found it helpful to study the job descriptions and think about what qualities the employers might be looking for and how you would be an asset to them.
7. Prepare a list of questions to ask the Interviewer
Asking questions during an interview shows that you’re very interested in them and you have done your homework. While it’s important to ask questions at the end of the interview, don’t ask the same questions to all interviewers regardless of their roles. Instead, try asking HR/recruiter for the hiring manager’s expectations or the entire hiring process, and asking the hiring manager for more details about the role and share how you can help. Remember that interview is also a conversation, and you are asking questions because you are genuinely interested in the position.
8. Set Daily Goals
Setting goals on a daily basis has helped me better focus and hold myself accountable. During the job search, rejection is inevitable but don’t let it define you or dictate your worth! By achieving and celebrating small daily goals, I started to acknowledge and appreciate myself more for everything I’ve accomplished.
9. Be confident
The biggest difference I’ve noticed between successful people and unsuccessful people isn’t intelligence or opportunity or resources. It’s the belief that they can make their goals happen. – James Clear
If you don’t believe in yourself, how can you convince the employers that you are the one? Almost everyone struggles with self-doubt or imposter syndrome at some point or another, so don’t let it derail you! I was told that I could never land a data scientist job by a CEO during an interview just because I didn’t graduate from an Ivy League school. But in the end, he still gave me an offer. Of course, I turned it down. We don’t need someone’s praise to know our values. So, stop worrying about being good enough, and focus more on learning from your mistakes.
10. Cross your fingers now
Luck may play a part in a job search. Sometimes, it’s just not meant to be no matter how hard you’ve tried. Remember, don’t take rejection too personally. Instead, be grateful for the opportunities you had to know more about the company and improve your interview skills. The perfect position for you is out there waiting for you, and now you are more prepared to ace the interview when it comes!
Final Thought
Job searching during the pandemic can be very stressful and overwhelming, but hey, you got this! You have already learned so much. I know it’s very difficult to land your first data science job without prior experience, but it’s not impossible! If I can do it, you can do it too! After all, success takes hard work, time, and patience. So don’t give up now!
Reference
- https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/26/entry-level-jobs-are-down-68percentwhat-new-grads-can-do-to-stand-out.html
- https://leetcode.com/
- https://www.udacity.com/course/ab-testing–ud257
- https://stellarpeers.com/
- https://online.stat.psu.edu/stat414/
- https://www.themartec.com/insidelook/behavioral-interview-questions
If you find this helpful, please follow me and check out my other blogs. Stay tuned for more! ❤
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