Office Hours

I spent almost two years at the same job until April, when I "walked" into my remote office and quit my job. The expression on my manager’s face was shock. His eyes bulged a bit, and he didn’t know what to say. The words I do clearly were, "I thought we had more time." And to be honest, so did I. For almost a year, I was planning my career out with him, determining my next move, and learning how to impact the business. So what happened?
The Interviews
Mid-April, I met my soon-to-be manager for the first time. We had an interview after a recruiter reached out to me about a job offering as a Data Science Consultant. I don’t always respond to recruiters, but my gut told me this opportunity was different. The interview with my soon-to-be manager was two stages. The first time we met, we discussed the basics of the role and the company. The second time we met, he gave me a sample business objective and asked how I would approach it with a client.
I found the latter interesting because I had never worked as a consultant before, so I had to think on my feet. Given a brief overview of the objective, I voiced the questions I thought about during this conversation, allowing us to openly discuss what may or may not happen during a client interaction on a similar topic. A sample of questions I asked include:
- What insights are you trying to glean from this information to aid the business?
- Why is this important to yourself or the team?
- What information do I have provided to me in the dataset?
After our discussions, I got to meet a team member for a technical interview as well. This interview was much different than the typical coding interviews some maybe use to. Instead of focusing on coding challenges, fundamentals, and theory, we talked about work. He wanted to know what projects had I been doing the past two years and how I solved them. As we discussed the solutions and technologies used, we got into what-if scenarios and discussed how to resolve them. We realized we were from similar backgrounds working with devices of different kinds in the maintenance management data space.
Once all was said and done, I had an offer by week’s end, but the most challenging part was ahead of me still.
The Decision
Almost two years into my current role, and I had to make a decision. The decision to leave my role was a hard one. One that bothered me for a week straight as I slowly let people know of my departure. The first person was my boss, who, wide-eyed, told me, "I thought we had more time." He was not the only one I expected to get this reaction from that week. One by one, I received similar responses from mentors, colleagues, and friends as I told them this was goodbye.
The hardest part of saying goodbye was deciding to leave a job I came to love. After a few years, this was the first job I enjoyed; I had strong mentors and built up many connections. I learned from my colleagues and watched my skill set grow in data science and engineering. After all the good that had come from this job, maybe that is why it was time to walk away.
As humans, we can fall into a pattern of ease and comfort. No longer facing a challenge at work, but instead, following the same ritual day by day. I don’t want comfort in my role. I like the challenge that will frustrate me until I get an answer. I want the challenge that will force me to learn new skills and understand where I need help. I look for the challenge of knowing I don’t know it all but will need to figure it out anyways.
As I continued to let individuals know that I was leaving, I had some dedicated conversations with the consultants I spent two years working with. These were individuals who developed projects with my team, which I learned from as we collaborated and had insightful conversations on various topics. During my last week, sitting down with them allowed me to express my concerns about consulting and get their feedback. Their advice was to jump in and take advantage of the opportunity.
The Outcome
By May, I had started my new role as a Data Science Consultant. Unlike other jobs I have had, by the end of the first week, I was asked and trusted to produce work to present to clients. Two months in, I realized how much I have learned while working in data science.
My first two weeks felt like an overwhelming sense of imposter syndrome. I was worried that quitting my job was a mistake. I was concerned I couldn’t handle working as a consultant. Mixed with anxiety, this can be a hard feeling to crush and put aside.
What I learned here was I underestimate my skills. Everything I had learned the past two years, coding in Python, working with data engineers, focusing on the collaboration between teams, and more had prepared me for this role. The greatest lessons learned in my last role on preparing my analyses and presenting them to others had transferred well into my new role. It is time to set the imposter syndrome aside and believe in my skills.
What helped me the most in recognizing the imposter syndrome was celebrating the wins, even the small ones. Did you write a notebook that gave you a new insight into the data? Did you find a bug in your code and resolve it? How about building a new visualization in your dashboard? No matter how small or large your wins are each day, celebrate them. And no matter how small or large your failures were, don’t let them tear you down. Instead, take a step back and learn from them. Use them as a tool to get better, not a tool to inflate the imposter syndrome.
Final Thoughts
When all is said in done, that has where I have been for two months. Quitting my job, finding a new one, and learning more about myself in the process. Three lessons learned from this journey:
- The most challenging part can be saying goodbye. Don’t be afraid to walk away to take on a new challenge, new work, or a different role.
- Branch out of your comfort zone. You may not know what to expect, but this is an opportunity to expand your skills and learn from the changes.
- imposter syndrome can make you feel like you are not good enough. Sometimes this feeling overwhelms the actual truth. Shut down the imposter syndrome and believe in your skills. Celebrate the wins and learn from the failures.
If you would like to read more, check out some of my other articles below!
Top 3 Reasons Public Speaking Can Help You in Data Science
Remote Work Can Make it Hard to Stand Out as a Strong Data Scientist
Disappointment on the Job Hunt – How to Handle Rejection of a Position