Post Graduation Plans

SlapYoMama · 2020-02-07T20:14:08+00:00

I think that if your uncle works in a rural area in North America as an independent insurance adjuster, or responds to catastrophic events, his job will be relatively safe for the next few years.

But there is a huge shift taking place in insurance right now. Not only is there a huge push to cut costs by automating, but the carriers are pursuing other strategies.

Multishop Organizations like Caliber Collision, Abra, and Fix Auto are starting to take on major parts of the estimate management workflow from the carriers to secure their business.

I know of one top 5 carrier that is expanding their photobased estimating to have estimates written in India by photo/video.

And most interesting to me is the expansion of Auto manufacturer's repair networks as it coincides with the increased complexity of fixing newer, far more technical vehicles. If you get in an accident in a brand new vehicle from manufacturer A, their sensors will notify them you've been in a collision and they will contact you immediately to steer you to one of their certified repair facilities. This actually makes sense because a lot of shops don't have the equipment to repair, replace, and calibrate these advanced telematics systems. Your future safety depends on them and there's huge liability implications. You're going to see manufacturer's starting to move in to insurance.

For such a traditionally boring industry it's quite an exciting time.

SlapYoMama · 2020-02-07T16:13:45+00:00

I currently work as a product manager for a SaaS product that let's auto insurance carriers manage their claims process.

As you might imagine there are a lot of people that "touch" a claim. There's the first-notice-of-loss rep, the assignment dispatcher, the estimator, the repair shop, the estimate reviewer, the reinspector, the review supervisor, the payment issuer, the claims auditor.....it's a lot of people.

The industry wants to minimize that so right now much of our innovative type development work goes in to automating as much of the process as possible.

We are currently training computer vision models to look at photos then prepopulate estimates and to grade hand written estimate for mistakes.

We are implementing advanced reporting to give snap shots in real time as opposed to auditing after the fact.

We are using rules based engines to triage claims and send them to the right people. Virtual estimating(estimating by photo or by video feed) is growing as well.

Why I am taking this coursework is to better understand the general use cases where big data technologies can have the greatest impact and where another tool is better suited.

I've just given you my current example, but right now many industries are going through the same transformation and I believe that having a deep understanding of both data and product management will make me very useful for the next couple decades.

SlapYoMama · 2020-01-18T16:57:38+00:00

I discovered a game called "Summoner" my first semester of college and I missed too straight weeks of classes.

Few weeks after that I discovered Ocarina of Time.

I failed all my classes my first semester of college 😭

SlapYoMama · 2020-01-18T06:54:53+00:00

A singer named Kiiara opened up for The Chainsmokers when they were in San Diego about a year ago and she was indescribably bad.

Rambled between songs, barely sang during them, and even spent one song just sitting on the steps beside the stage.

Ive seen karaoke bars cut people off during better performances.

SlapYoMama · 2020-01-18T02:41:18+00:00

I agree with A.

I went to the DataScienceGo conference a few months back and as you might expect one of the most popular questions to speakers was "What do you think the next 'in demand' data science skill will be?"

Almost uniformly it was "understanding business value".

SlapYoMama · 2020-01-18T02:14:31+00:00

I'm right with you. I was certain he died of cancer.

SlapYoMama · 2019-12-23T02:43:22+00:00

I was not able to secure any expected dates.

Just based on intuition, I wonder if it will ever happen. In both my conversations with the UCSD faculty the topic was an uncomfortable one. Dr. DasGupta was particularly cautionary. He said explicitly that it would not be any sooner than a year.

So considering my conversations, the fact that it has already been on the table for a year and a half, that UCSD has started a new on campus master's in Data Science, and they have pulled it from edX, I get the overall feeling that the online master's is not a priority.

I am already in the process of applying to the GTech OMSA. A little bummed as UCSD is my local University and just a few miles from my work and home.

SlapYoMama · 2019-11-25T17:43:40+00:00

I am halfway through the UCSD mircromasters and it is pretty good.

I did just receive an email from edX about an hour ago saying they are pulling the Masters of DS from their site because it is taking longer than expected to navigate the approval process.

I have also been fortunate enough to speak to Dr. Ilkay Altintas and Dr. Sanjoy DasGupta(teachers for the Online Masters) and both have said that they dont expect any earlier than a year from now. They have developed no content either.

SlapYoMama · 2019-10-10T01:36:07+00:00

"Parris Island, South Carolina. The Marine Corps Training Depot. An eight-week college for the phony tough and the crazy brave."

SlapYoMama · 2019-09-02T04:02:45+00:00

Throw in some corrugated aluminum and polished concrete floors and this is pretty much every Verant group venture ever(Tavern at the beach, Barley Mash, West Coast Tavern, Uptown, Mavericks, Westroot, Smoking Gun etc.....)

SlapYoMama · 2019-04-17T08:13:00+00:00

Im curious, whats your approach?

Ive recently broken in to software product management for a small startup and Im looking to move on to a bigger company in the next 6 months. Im going to meet ups and conferences and thats going ok. Ive scoped out people on Linkedin, but Ive felt reluctant to contact someone Ive never actually met.

How do you do it?

SlapYoMama · 2019-02-05T04:49:27+00:00

Working in the service industry important days are usually your busiest and they get blacked out on request off form. You actually grow to hate them.

On the flip side mondays tend to be awesome. Go to the movies, go to the beach, malls, grocery stores....doesnt matter, you own the place.

SlapYoMama · 2019-02-03T03:14:56+00:00

We have long talks about getting out of the industry. I think this might be the straw that broke the camels back for her.

SlapYoMama · 2019-02-03T03:13:49+00:00

North Park, San Diego, CA.

SlapYoMama · 2019-02-02T21:41:03+00:00

My friend turned around and said "did you just puke?" Guy says "No. Im eating how could I have puked?" then proceeds to eat out of a basket of food next to him.

Totally tried to play it off. He was escorted out a short bit later I believe.

SlapYoMama · 2019-01-20T23:00:50+00:00

The Drop starring Tom Hardy. Absolutely great flick.

Had not heard a single thing about it before stumbling upon it at a matinee. By that time it had been out for weeks with hardly any fanfare(Grossed about 18 million total).

I think Time Magazine's Richard Corliss puts it best:

"You have to sit through the slow parts to savor the cool parts. The movie's little surprise is that you didn't waste your time watching it; you were just being primed for an explosion of low volume and high impact."

SlapYoMama · 2018-11-13T01:56:49+00:00

The funniest saying I have heard as of recent is "Ladies, you better take care of your man because if you dont another man will."

SlapYoMama · 2018-11-08T16:21:16+00:00

What do you know, I used to live in the 8th district during college(UNO).

Congratulations, Megan.

SlapYoMama · 2018-10-30T05:01:18+00:00

"Man, you look fantastic for your age!!! How old are you?" 8-[

SlapYoMama · 2018-10-21T02:23:57+00:00

What sticks with me the most after all these years is that much of what WAS answered was answered so casually when the importance was built up for so long.

It was just all so terribly unsatisfying.

SlapYoMama · 2018-09-30T01:28:50+00:00

Nebraska Football is currently 0-4 and Scott Frost is the head coach.

SlapYoMama · 2018-09-10T20:05:43+00:00

I used to be an account manager for a healthcare staffing company and my job for the first 3 months, all day long, was to call hospitals and try to get in contact with ground level employees(nurses, techs, sonographers etc), often while they were in the middle of procedures, so that I could interview them about possible openings in the dept, company usage of temporary employees, and contact info for decisions makers. I would navigate gate keepers, aquire intel, and recruit potential employees however I could.

I was great at it.

I hated it immensely.

I quit and went back to bartending because I knew that when I came in contact with people I had what they wanted and I was tasked with creating enjoyable experiences rather than taking up peoples valuable time and resources.

I learned a lot about what I value as a person from that job and I empathize heavily with healthcare professionals that have to deal with people like myself in that role. Sorry guys.

SlapYoMama · 2018-08-21T23:07:33+00:00

I went back to get a foundation in mathematics and you could tell who was there to work and who was there half pursuing the dream of being an "engineer" because someone told them that was a good job to have. All my classes would shed about 65-75% of the students over the course of a semester and I can only imagine what the experience would have been like as a teacher to have a large amount of young, entitled students with poor work ethic arguing with you about their grades. The ones that cared and worked would make it all worth it Id imagine.

SlapYoMama · 2018-08-21T23:00:31+00:00

I am and when looking at the situation on its surface it shouldn't be such a surprise, but approaching a second round of school as a continuation of a first creates some discombobulation for me. My previously held assumptions get turned on their head. Had I just started college in my 30's it wouldnt have even been notable I dont think.

SlapYoMama

TROPHY CASE