tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374266320411149509.post6515306018107140281..comments2024-03-25T10:22:36.277-04:00Comments on Women In Astronomy: Astronomer to Data ScientistAmanpreet Kaurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08734178178113146899noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374266320411149509.post-49915130102165707932017-05-26T11:57:03.178-04:002017-05-26T11:57:03.178-04:00Hi Jessica
I wanted to know did you take up any ...Hi Jessica <br /><br />I wanted to know did you take up any data science or computing course in a university.<br /><br />Many thanks<br />MeghaAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05841721151805308852noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374266320411149509.post-37582630798770169272014-07-08T20:35:43.157-04:002014-07-08T20:35:43.157-04:00There isn't one 'right' path to becomi...There isn't one 'right' path to becoming a data scientist. The field is competitive, and I have found that it is hard to break in without some technical masters or PhD degree, or significant experience working with data, stats, and analytics toolsets. <br /><br />Working at a tech company as an analyst or software engineer or doing an internship is one way to gain experience and get your foot in the door. Another way is to get a graduate degree. I don't think one is better or worse, it just depends on what you want to spend your time doing. I enjoyed graduate school, and I am glad I did it, but I don't think it was necessary to become a data scientist (at least not all of it).<br /><br />A PhD will give you a higher starting salary, but not as high as you will get by entering the field earlier and working for the same amount of time. For instance at Yammer I had a coworker who was 5 years younger than me, and start working in tech right out of undergrad. He was at a more senior level and made more money than me even though I had more degrees than him. Experience > degrees in the tech field, I find.<br /><br />People ask me frequently what I think about the 'data science masters' programs that are popping up recently. I honestly don't know much about them. I've never hired anyone out of one of those programs. I have mostly hired people from PhD programs or who are already data scientists/engineers/analysts. I do not know if students will learn something in those programs that they couldn't teach themselves. A lot of them are very new, and so it's hard to even know how effective they'll be at ultimately placing students in a job. Sometimes the main benefit of these types of programs is networking and connecting with companies that you wouldn't otherwise get access to, not the actually skill-sets being taught.berkeleyjesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00255252868558666987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374266320411149509.post-7596450337748009602014-07-08T20:21:24.761-04:002014-07-08T20:21:24.761-04:00Thank you for the encouragement! As a current astr...Thank you for the encouragement! As a current astrophysics researcher hoping to eventually crossover into data science, this post makes the process feel less daunting. Quick question though: how valuable is it to complete a PhD before the transition? I've heard contesting opinions. Some say I should definitely complete the PhD because it will boost my entry-level (and overall) salary. Others say it's really not worth the time and I could instead be training (or finding an internship like you mentioned) instead. What are your thoughts? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374266320411149509.post-43745047067816784112014-03-29T14:41:27.546-04:002014-03-29T14:41:27.546-04:00I would suggest some reading on Machine Learning (...I would suggest some reading on Machine Learning (an online course would be better). Chances are you already manipulated a large part of the concepts formalized in Machine Learning through data reduction analysis without ever noticing or being told so. Machine Learning is a great skill to sell for a job in data science as well.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16810536805833729729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374266320411149509.post-18424877960399723392013-01-06T14:02:58.666-05:002013-01-06T14:02:58.666-05:00Johanna Teske, the Coursera course on databases is...Johanna Teske, <a href="https://www.coursera.org/course/db" rel="nofollow">the Coursera course on databases</a> is a good introduction for a pretty solid foundation in databases.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374266320411149509.post-48769095800934429422013-01-06T03:37:08.640-05:002013-01-06T03:37:08.640-05:00You also have to learn a lot about text processing...You also have to learn a lot about text processings, that is, regular expressions, character sets, encodings, etcAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374266320411149509.post-17181926089681940162013-01-06T03:10:41.693-05:002013-01-06T03:10:41.693-05:00@Anonymous data scientist:
Sorry, but for the most...@Anonymous data scientist:<br />Sorry, but for the most part it does require an advanced degree. A masters does it for some low-level jobs in astronomy, a PhD is needed for most. And there are already too many people with PhDs competing for these jobs (hence this post), so no one will consider someone without.<br /><br />The one exception is some groups/collaborations hire specialty programmers and the like. We can all program, but most of us do it haphazardly as a means to an end, and for high-performance applications it can really pay to hire a professional programmer.<br /><br />Other than that, I think you're out of luck. Every job I know that doesn't require an advanced degree is open just to students, and in addition pays crap (undergrads will work for minimum wage).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374266320411149509.post-42070207761322406762013-01-05T05:36:24.055-05:002013-01-05T05:36:24.055-05:00It's exciting to see 'hard' scientists...It's exciting to see 'hard' scientists migrating over to computer science!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02472669718981822502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374266320411149509.post-3391738230092787122013-01-05T05:32:41.987-05:002013-01-05T05:32:41.987-05:00How might someone go in the opposite direction: fr...How might someone go in the opposite direction: from data scientist to astronomy research? From here it looks like the only path is grad school. What does it take to get involved without an advanced degree in physics?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374266320411149509.post-34323739076353470672013-01-05T01:44:18.566-05:002013-01-05T01:44:18.566-05:00This is a pretty awesome article even for a statis...This is a pretty awesome article even for a statistician that wants to transfer into "Data Science" :)<br />Thank you madam!emil.rehnberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13485033355870862164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374266320411149509.post-35143484392126152882013-01-04T21:10:44.836-05:002013-01-04T21:10:44.836-05:00This is spot on! I'm also a former astronomer...This is spot on! I'm also a former astronomer turned data scientist. We learn a lot of skills in astronomy that can translate. The observational nature of astronomy lends itself well to the types of messy data you'll encounter in the real world. And astronomy's hands-on bottom-up analysis is a boon when you're able to code your own statistical procedures. But like you say, there is definitely a lot more to know. Luckily all these things can be learned for free online at places like Coursera in our free (ha!) time.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12527829705431866975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374266320411149509.post-2796584987116937112013-01-04T14:38:10.442-05:002013-01-04T14:38:10.442-05:00Great article Jess!
Regarding #1, for any astrono...Great article Jess!<br /><br />Regarding #1, for any astronomers still using IDL, it is getting easier and easier to switch to python. The astronomy python library <a href="http://astropy.readthedocs.org/en/latest/" rel="nofollow">astropy</a> is quickly gaining functionality and is nearing a new release.<br /><br />Even better, contributing to it is easy and is a good way to learn new skills (with python, git, and other tools) from a community of helpful people.Kylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09144043555489199995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374266320411149509.post-82099187396940345512013-01-03T13:17:44.110-05:002013-01-03T13:17:44.110-05:00I moved from high energy physics to data science s...I moved from high energy physics to data science several years ago, and I'm surprised how difficult it is to recruit data scientists. It's a seller's market (in the Bay Area at least), even for those without industry experience. Our top candidates are getting multiple offers. The trick, from a job seeker perspective, is to realize how valuable your skill set is. I recently wrote a blog post to help people recruit from academia -- this gives you an idea what it is like from the other side: <a href="http://www.bright.com/recruiter/blog/how-to-hire-a-data-scientist" rel="nofollow"> How to Hire A Data Scientist</a>hardtkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03603509857642409673noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374266320411149509.post-78493109171879847132013-01-03T11:29:54.948-05:002013-01-03T11:29:54.948-05:00Johanna, there are many (free) courses online whic...Johanna, there are many (free) courses online which can be helpful for learning some of these skills, but I would highly recommend doing a project or internship over simply reading a book or doing a course. <br /><br />Some good online sources for introducing you to these skills are outlined in <a href="http://thenextweb.com/dd/2012/10/21/so-you-want-to-be-a-programmer-huh-heres-25-ways-to-learn-online/" rel="nofollow">this article</a>.<br /><br />I agree with Chris that you need to demonstrate an interest in whatever job you are applying for. This is why I suggested reading tech blogs if you want to go into tech. You should also have a clear and convincing answer to the question: "Why do you want to leave astronomy (or whatever your current field is)?"<br /><br />I plan to follow up this post with another blog entry about the pros and cons of tech versus academia (in my experience). Watch this space.<br /><br />Jessicaberkeleyjesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00255252868558666987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374266320411149509.post-90594688300107072992013-01-03T08:45:00.320-05:002013-01-03T08:45:00.320-05:00I'm a recruiter for a hedge fund that employs ...I'm a recruiter for a hedge fund that employs dozens of physicist researchers (we're data driven) and this is very good advice. The only thing I would add is come prepared to explain your motivations for wanting to move to industry. It's important you can convince your future employer that you are moving for the right reasons.Chrishttp://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherreadlonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374266320411149509.post-78620320575043492002013-01-03T08:41:44.149-05:002013-01-03T08:41:44.149-05:00What is the recommended course of action for meeti...What is the recommended course of action for meeting some of these recommendations? Just read books? Are there good online courses (I'm thinking for SQL in particular)? Thanks for a very helpful post!Johanna Teskenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374266320411149509.post-84396336086458836332013-01-02T11:09:59.276-05:002013-01-02T11:09:59.276-05:00This is awesome btw. Concise, clear, and pure awes...This is awesome btw. Concise, clear, and pure awesome. (Comment ported from Astrobetter).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com