There are many reasons why a tech career is attractive to so many people considering a career change or those just starting their professional lives. Regardless of the branch of tech, whether it be data science, web dev, app dev, or any other branch, all tech fields share some common advantages.
All tech fields are essential for our lives today. Technology is a massive part of our daily lives, and without it, the world would look very different than it is today. Moreover, jobs in tech tend to have higher pay for doing influential work and having location freedom. These reasons and a few more are some of the reasons I decided to get into different tech branches.
But, getting into tech, especially data science or programming, is not always easy. Because of how appealing these fields may look, the supply for data scientists and programmers increased rapidly over the past decade, along with the demand for solid and qualified applicants. Due to that increase, the ability to land an excellent job in these fields became a challenge of its own.
Today, to get a job in data science or as a programmer, you will need to go through many hoops and obstacles that didn’t exist a few years ago. However, one of the critical things that you can do to help yourself build a successful career and land the job of your dreams is building an online presence. Online presence is just a way of building your brand and making it public.
It’s a way of telling your own professional story the way you want it to be said. It’s essentially you, marketing your skills, your aspirations, and your individuality in the field. Today, having an online presence can make or break your career. This article will go through how having an online presence can help you succeed as a data scientist.
№1: A proof of your skills and credibility
The main reason why building an online presence is essential is because it showcases your skills. Not just your current ones, but ones you worked on before, and how your skill-level progressed over time. There are different ways to build an online presence, and you can either start blogging or start making videos. Regardless of the method and platform you choose, looking through your content will help employers see how far you came in your learning journey.
№2: Connect to the community
One of the things that I benefited from building and maintaining an online presence is, it gave me the ability to be an active part of the Community. It allowed me to meet other programmers and data scientists from the world who shared my learning journey and learned from more than I learned from any book. It also allowed me to give back to the community and support others in their journey.
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№3: Find new job offers
When you build a strong, concise online presence, it will help you attract employers and land new roles. It especially helps if you’re a freelance data scientist or programmer; through your presence, clients will reach out to you asking for your knowledge and expertise in solving their problems. This presence will also assist when you apply for jobs and the companies you used to look you up to verify your skills.
№4: Build a professional network
This point is very connected to being a part of the community. But, the difference between building a professional network and being a part of the community is, sometimes we get involved in communities to make friends who share our passion for a specific topic. But, a professional network is a group of people who help each other professional careers. So, the way I see it is, friends can be a professional network to an extent, but the opposite is not always true.
№5: Build an audience
Finally, this is also connected to getting a job, and being a part of the community builds an audience. Sometimes we start blogging or making videos to document our learning journey, not thinking that our style may help others better understand the field and succeed in their own careers. Having an audience also provides accountability to you and can motivate you to never give up on yourself.
Takeaways
A few years ago, when I started looking for jobs outside the university, I felt that I lacked many practical skills that I wasn’t taught in school. But those practical skills are not very hard to obtain; I did so by building projects with my colleagues, friends, and sometimes by myself. So onceSo once I was a little comfortable about my skills, I decided to apply for some internships and part-time positions.
Needless to say, at first, I didn’t succeed, although I had advanced degrees and some skills-specific certificates. Finally, in one of the internships I failed to land, I reached out to the recruiter, and I politely asked for some feedback on why I was rejected. I didn’t expect her to get back to me, but I am glad she did. She basically said that having a solid academic record is not enough to land a job; the company needed to see my individuality and what I bring to the field.
She suggested that I start building an online presence that tells my story. I took her advice to heart, and I started making a presence in different directions. Today, this presence helped me give webinars in great conferences, have multiple freelance roles, connect with amazing people, and work in a company that rejected me before.
Having an online presence is essential because we went over it in this article and more, and building one requires patience, vision, and resistance. My next article will walk you through how to build a solid online presence that will help you create the career of your dreams.