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My Biggest Challenges Being A Self-Taught Data Scientist

And How I Overcame Them

Photo by Philippa Rose-Tite on Unsplash
Photo by Philippa Rose-Tite on Unsplash

Alongside the rise of the internet came the growth of self-learning. Self-learning has never been easier than in the 21st Century as a result of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) that are distributed globally via the internet. These courses have grown in popularity to the point where some are even questioning the credibility of the academic system that has influenced many businesses hiring strategies in the corporate world.

I’ve personally taken my fair share of MOOCs – I still do now. Undoubtedly, I would concur that these courses are priceless, well at least some of them. No pun intended.

Courses To Learn Data Science In 2021

For a large majority of the population, like myself, most of the things we do is because we have to;

I did my homework (some of my teachers would beg to differ) when I was at school because I had to.

I got a job because I had to.

I cleaned my football boots after every session because I had too – Dirty boots is a fine at most professional clubs.

We all have to do certain things in life and not doing those things comes with consequences that are detrimental to the things we actually want to do.

Self-learning breaks this trajectory. Nobody is telling us to do anything and there are no consequences if we don’t do it. We typically learn new subjects because we want to, not because we have to. With that comes its own major obstacles that have deterred many from making the jump.

No Sense of Direction

When I first embarked on my journey into Data Science, there were some distinct objectives I knew I wanted to achieve. For instance, I knew I wanted to be a Data Scientist, I knew I wanted to help people using the skills I learned, I knew I wanted to be good at Data Science. In essence, I knew what I wanted, but I never really knew how to get there and how I’d measure if I was getting there.

Think about it…

How on earth does one measure if they are a Data Scientist or not ?— I know some will say "you’re a Data Scientist when you get a job" but does that mean every Data Scientist that was made jobless due to Covid is no longer Data Scientists because they didn’t have a job? Clearly not a good measure.

I didn’t know what a good Data Scientist looked like and it wasn’t taught in any of the courses I was taking. So, I’d spend more hours taking different courses to try and find what I was missing. I’d read book after book and once I’d finish, I’d realize how little I knew hence making me seek out new books.

This became a vicious cycle and I wasn’t getting any practical work done.

Solution: I always find it helps to connect with more senior people doing great things in the field. Fortunately for me, I bumped into Harpreet Sahota, and ever since I’ve been following his work and people in the field that he endorses. He also hosts weekly office hours where a bunch of Data Scientists, of all levels, come together and talk about Data Science which has been revolutionary for me.

Loneliness

Deciding to learn Data Science was a major deviation from what people in my environment and I are accustomed to. Nobody in my family has programming skills, and I’m pretty sure everyone around me would choose a game of Football over Math class.

It’s pretty crazy when nobody understands what you do…

Bob: Hey Man! What are you doing with yourself now?

Me: I’m a Data Scientist.

Bob:

That’s how most conversations tend to go.

Whenever I’m talking to someone outside of the realms of Data Science, I find that most of the time I’m literally explaining what on earth a Data Scientist is and what we do.

To further add, whenever I got stuck on a problem, there was absolutely nobody I could call on to rant to or seek help from that was at least 1 hour away from me (in regards to travel distance). That’s not to say that there aren’t mediums to support you online, but sometimes, I felt like it would have been much better if I just had a friend I could call on and talk to from time to time. The Pandemic didn’t help either.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve made lots of new friends in the Data Science community, but most of them live in different countries, with different time zones. And, it’s not like I could just catch a flight and go see them given the current climate.

Solution: What’s helped me significantly was finding new hobbies that I could use to detach my mind from work and revisit it with a fresh mind. I am completely obsessed with Calisthenics. Last year I began doing freestyle calisthenics and since then I’ve met so many new people – either people who want to learn to do some tricks or some people that are teaching me. Either way, it’s always cool to interact with real humans face to face when it’s possible.

The Fear of Other Data Scientists

This is going to sound so silly… I was scared of getting into technical discussions with other Data Scientists. Especially those that were more senior. I’d always think they were more qualified than I was (to be honest, they actually were) and therefore more entitled…

Besides, have you heard a group of Data Scientists speaking? The first time I heard it, I could have sworn they were speaking Klingon slur.

I guess this insecurity stemmed from some form of imposter syndrome – A feat where you don’t believe you’re as competent as others may perceive you to be. Before I’d always avoid technical interactions with Senior Data Scientists and in events where I couldn’t, I’d always say as little as possible (In other words, nothing) even when I didn’t agree with something they were saying.

Solution: It’s bad enough to doubt yourself, but to compare yourself to others is completely disrespectful to your existence. The best solution I had for this was putting myself in situations where I had to speak to more people that know more than me . Literally, getting comfortable being uncomfortable— Read the article linked below for a more detailed breakdown.

5 Hacks To Overcome Data Science Imposter Syndrome

Final Thoughts

The biggest difficulty of being someone that is self-taught is overcoming the limitations you put on yourself. All the negative self-talk you say in your head. I am a firm believer of "anyone can learn whatever they want if they decide to do it" but that comes by first breaking down the mental barriers that block you from getting to the next level is the first step.

Thank you for reading! Connect with me on LinkedIn and Twitter to stay up to date with my posts about Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, and Freelancing.

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