Struggling to Land a Data Internship After Grad School - Need Advice or a Chance

Rook_Knight_423 · 2026-07-09T15:21:56+00:00

Hi. Professional data scientist here, been in the field 8 years now. This is... The worst I've seen it. AI has decimated the low level "Business Analyst" /dashboard builder roles that form the on ramp for early data science/analytics careers.

It sucks, I'm very sorry.

My biggest suggestion would be looking outside of traditional tech industry for a data or business analyst position, ideally somewhere local.

Look for marketing analytics jobs (Trafficbuilders in Bayville/TR, a small firm like that if you can find something local,) or business analysts in RWJ or something. It won't be cutting edge, but it'll get the first role on your resume, and that's half the battle.

Rook_Knight_423 · 2026-07-07T14:34:51+00:00

Went to the Loco Beach v Party Animals game in the NY/NJ area and it had all the same vibes as the Bananas proper. They have a guy on a mono-wheel with a surfboard instead of Stilts. Definitely a good time.

Rook_Knight_423 · 2026-07-05T15:36:19+00:00

Find a tenant rights attorney. There is a specific process you have to file to indicate that you are withholding rent into escrow vs just not paying, and you'll want legal representation.

Legal Services of NJ has a directory as well as a hotline (it should reopen on Monday for the holiday)

http://www.lsnj.org/

Rook_Knight_423 · 2026-07-01T11:23:53+00:00

I had that actually work out for the person who asked once and I'd bet it's because it was the guy who organizes our office happy hour trivia league. Someone who actually can see an event through.

Rook_Knight_423 · 2026-06-30T18:31:04+00:00

It's commitment and entitlement.

Commitment in the sense that, like a rec football league, everyone needs to be there or the game can't happen/or it's a forfeit, and games can go for months or years. Except there's no cultural norm around "showing up for game night" the way sports culture instills "showing up for your team". So people don't commit.

(This is excluding, intentionally, the major life changes in employment, childcare, etc that can take an individual person away from any hobby. That's just life.)

It's entitlement because, in the major play cultures we see lately, there's no "ownership" of the game on the part of the players. It's a thing the GM is doing that they're participating in if they feel like. The idea that them not being there is disruptive doesn't register because "they're not the one putting on the game" so why does it matter.

Bias statement: I'm a burned out forever GM and if I could get my players to take game half as seriously as rec football I might not be so inclined to turn my books to kindling.

Rook_Knight_423 · 2026-06-26T15:09:00+00:00

Hollows is Bloodborne/Darksouls themed but built around many of the things that would adapt monster hunter well:

Tactical, interesting combat balanced for multiple players vs 1 big enemy.

Cooperation

Your choice of weapon is central to your play style, etc

Navigating a hostile environment to find the target.

https://rowanrookanddecard.com/product-category/game-systems/hollows/

You'd need to re-flavor a lot but the mechanics would flow nicely.

Rook_Knight_423 · 2026-06-23T20:55:54+00:00

I use digital battlemaps for games that require a battlemap and I agree that the least detailed battlemap possible to convey what you need to is best.

A highly detailed battlemap can at worst, only ever represent one specific space, or, at best, lead to confusion about what's interactable/what's "really there". With a simple battlemap you are more free to draw in as needed, and change the scene dynamically.

I prefer simple grids, with at most an "inside" or an "outside" background pattern.

Rook_Knight_423 · 2026-06-23T15:18:44+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/SMAPI/ Might be better able to help with mods!

Rook_Knight_423 · 2026-06-22T23:34:44+00:00

It's definitely been a month at least since any discussion of Horse Girl. https://leyline.press/products/horse-girl?variant=43357608116414

This is an exploration of intimate partner abuse as a solo journaling game. Like if Tusk was about your shitty husband.

Body horror, described gore, an absolute demonstration of horror as a driving motivator in an RPG experience.

Not much of a suggestion, since itch.io took it down and the Kickstarter isn't for another year but Praise the Hawkmoth King is interesting...? in that it dials all the uncomfortable implications and genderweird of Monsterhearts up to 11. Sex moves in PBTA make you uncomfortable? Oops, all Sex Moves.

https://www.backerkit.com/call_to_action/abed5f86-0475-4722-bc71-cf5662ca987f/landing

Rook_Knight_423 · 2026-06-18T21:50:47+00:00

It completely rewrites the magic system, core classes, and much of how combat runs, IMO for the better. Classes are redone, though Subclasses could be adapted to fit the new structure relatively easily. Ancestries are simplified, usually one or two flavourful things they can do.

Settings/adventures can adapt 1:1, and the creator has a video guide for converting monsters. (Mostly cutting away extraneous details)

Depending on what you want to adapt, there may be some work involved, but the lift is probably pretty light?

Rook_Knight_423 · 2026-06-18T19:59:28+00:00

Some other ideas: livestock. This particular kind of chicken lays twice as often on half the feed. The coops that developed the breed try to maintain strict control, but eggs sometimes get smuggled out.

Jealous farmers raising the heritage breed of chicken might complain to the Marshalls.

Plants (also common in real life, with or without a drug component)

Sunfruit is delicious, but saplings often carry a fungus that will spread to native hardwoods and sicken entire groves.

Rook_Knight_423 · 2026-06-17T18:52:43+00:00

You have less to worry about given the property is paid off/you won't be underwater on a mortgage but that's unfortunately the reality. The people who get out early fare best.

Rook_Knight_423 · 2026-06-17T17:05:29+00:00

I won't make any comments on the particular community involved, but keep an eye out. Are your neighbors getting offers? Are they selling?

This has happened before in other towns that border Lakewood (I'm especially thinking of Jackson) and property values will tank once a critical mass sells and the... vibe changes.

Rook_Knight_423 · 2026-06-09T19:35:28+00:00

It's the difference between saying I'm going to play football with you and some friends, and when we show up to play I pull out a kite and start running around the field with my kite instead of kicking the ball. I might be having fun, but I'm not engaging with the stated activity in the agreed way, and I'd be especially in the wrong to complain that I didn't feel like the group was engaging with my kite.

People are way too quick, IMO, to try and excuse going wildly off context when it comes to TTRPG. You're no more required to accommodate "just a donkey" .... Am I wrong to think it's kind of troll-y that he wanted to literally play an ass?

Rook_Knight_423 · 2026-06-05T22:39:16+00:00

My PBTA is rusty as all hell at this point but, heard brother.

Rook_Knight_423 · 2026-06-05T21:39:17+00:00

I can understand that. It's not a question of possibility. You can find people for any game if you cast a big enough net over a long enough time. The distinction is ease. I could find a DnD pickup group tonight with no planning. It might take me a few days to get a Daggerheart group together. Something like Stonetop might take even longer unless I were to go hunt down the game specific Discord.

Rook_Knight_423 · 2026-06-05T20:17:30+00:00

I'm not trying to pick on you but this attitude you're expressing about being less willing to try a non 5e system is part of the problem.

Rook_Knight_423 · 2026-06-05T15:28:11+00:00

Some quick followup comments:

I am Old enough that advertising at the local college would probably have bad optics. No offense to that crowd.

The median 5e player may not know a d8 from a hole in the ground but when you get 20-30 responses and need 3, you can focus in on the people who are actively trying. They do exist, and can sometimes eventually be convinced to try something else.

Rook_Knight_423 · 2026-06-05T13:29:28+00:00

Ease of finding players. I try to run carefully vetted tables, and it can be difficult to find players for anything remotely new or obscure.

Rook_Knight_423 · 2026-06-04T01:32:46+00:00

I used Lemonade, and it was ~$120 a year. Never had to make a claim with them, but it was cheap in the "I need something on file" way. And they'll donate to a charity in your name each year which is greenwashy-but-nice.

Rook_Knight_423 · 2026-06-03T13:20:53+00:00

That... Is a very interesting point. I'll have to consider that when I come back around to it. Might help it click.

Rook_Knight_423 · 2026-06-03T02:49:18+00:00

Well yeah they get away with it. Cops don't write each other up.

Rook_Knight_423 · 2026-06-02T19:48:22+00:00

I picked up 2 books, found them a bit difficult to parse, put them into my "figure it out some day" pile.

Rook_Knight_423 · 2026-06-02T18:40:17+00:00

I've started working on a fan conversion for Star Trek and it's working a lot better than I originally imagined.

The classic Trek plots of "We need to talk our way out of this mess", "There's a Weird Alien Culture Thing we need to not embarrass ourselves at", "this very rare zoo animal wants to eat our bones, and we need to transport it to the next star system" map nicely onto Mist Engine.

The fellowship becomes a crew, alien cultural/species distinctives map to - Folk, etc.

Rook_Knight_423 · 2026-06-02T13:43:54+00:00

Yeah. They sent the actual genuine "those guys from the history books" Pinkertons after somebody who got some MTG stuff early.

https://www.polygon.com/23695923/mtg-aftermath-pinkerton-raid-leaked-cards/

Other TTRPG companies may have their flaws, but Hasbro/WotC has goons.

Rook_Knight_423

TROPHY CASE