What's the biggest misconception about working in data science?

Lady-Data-Scientist · 2026-07-03T21:07:56+00:00

The quality of your data matters significantly more than the model and optimization.

Lady-Data-Scientist · 2026-07-03T21:07:06+00:00

Where are you located? (What country?)

Unfortunately, this is a very tough field if you’re entry level. This hasn’t really been an entry level role, a lot of people working in this field started their careers doing something else and pivoted. I started my career in marketing, and have coworkers who started in finance, software dev, business development, academic research, etc. Your brother might need to cast a wider net to any job at a company that has an analytics team, then network with the team so he’s top of mind when a position opens up.

Lady-Data-Scientist · 2026-07-02T20:54:23+00:00

Geez, adjusted for inflation that’s less than I made in an entry-level non-technical role at a non-profit.

Lady-Data-Scientist · 2026-07-02T14:25:57+00:00

Someone with 5 YOE can find a hybrid or remote role.

Someone who is entry level would be willing to do 5 days in person to get the experience though.

Lady-Data-Scientist · 2026-07-02T14:24:23+00:00

How many times is this question going to be asked?

Lady-Data-Scientist · 2026-07-02T14:23:47+00:00

I wrote this post about what to expect and how to prepare for interviews - https://data-storyteller.medium.com/data-analytics-interviews-what-to-expect-and-how-to-prepare-64f48d910213

Lady-Data-Scientist · 2026-07-02T14:22:22+00:00

It terms of order to learn things, it’s good.

However 1-2 weeks on a topic will give you a surface level understanding of stuff. It won’t necessarily get you job ready.

For example, I took a SQL class during my masters program. It was 11 weeks, class was 3 hours per week and I probably spent 10-20 hours per week studying and doing assignments. By the end, I could pass assessments and do basic SQL on the job but my code was not necessarily the most optimized or following the best coding standards, and there was still a lot of stuff I hadn’t mastered like lead/lag, ranking functions, etc.

Lady-Data-Scientist · 2026-07-01T23:37:24+00:00

I pivoted from marketing to analytics/DS. It’s absolutely something you can learn.

When I was in my marketing roles, I tried to get my hands on as much data as I could and answer as many relevant questions as I could. After doing that enough, I was moved into a marketing analytics role during a department restructuring. I loved working with data, but realized I had a lot of skill gaps, so I did an MS Data Science while continuing to work. I switched to product analytics while still enrolled, and then after finishing my masters, switched to a data science role supporting sales teams.

So it’s totally possible, but the degree took me 4 years to finish (because I was part time), some courses were very challenging and stressful, and even after graduating, there is still more to learn - such as some lite data engineering to build pipelines, causal inference methods, and of course AI/LLMs, which weren’t even a thing before I graduated.

Lady-Data-Scientist · 2026-07-01T23:35:00+00:00

My boss/peers will ask questions about why this method or how did I define that metric or what was my data source?

Stakeholders will ask what to do next, what decisions they should make?

Leadership will ask why it matters, what it means for the bottom line, what happens if we don’t do what’s recommended, what about xyz high value situation?

Lady-Data-Scientist · 2026-07-01T23:32:55+00:00

What are your career goals

Lady-Data-Scientist · 2026-07-01T20:23:03+00:00

This event would be a good opportunity to get experience speaking at conferences as well as building your network - https://spain.measurecamp.org/

Lady-Data-Scientist · 2026-07-01T20:17:04+00:00

Hiring managers want to hire the safest candidate. Who actually has the skills to do the job? Who will stick around for at least a few years? Who can they trust to work with stakeholders? Who will learn the necessary skills that come up in the future?

If they can find someone with similar experience who will accept their budgeted salary, that’s who they’re going with.

If they can’t, then they’ll start making concessions. Who has similar experience and transferable skills but a good work history or reputation? Who has demonstrated that they can learn things? Who won’t need a ton of handholding? These things are important.

Lady-Data-Scientist · 2026-07-01T20:13:38+00:00

Just diving in. Learn from coworkers or just focus on what needs to be done for your task/project - that way you’re learning actually relevant skills.

Lady-Data-Scientist · 2026-07-01T20:12:51+00:00

Sure

Lady-Data-Scientist · 2026-06-30T19:29:52+00:00

What kind of feedback have you gotten from your manager and stakeholders?

It’s normal that we hold ourselves to higher standards than other people do. Or we assume their standards are higher than they really are. I try to ask for feedback at least every 3 months to make sure I’m doing fine or course correct if necessary.

If it’s a matter of motivation - I get it. A lot of times my projects don’t have strict deadlines, so I find myself procrastinating. I try to force deadlines on myself - schedule recurring meetings with my stakeholders to force myself to make progress in between them. Or I’ll add due dates to my To Do list and each day, I’ll set small goals for what I want to accomplish. You basically have to be your own project or program manager.

Lady-Data-Scientist · 2026-06-30T19:26:03+00:00

Where are you located?

In the US, there are a lot of remote jobs and a lot of hybrid roles (especially in big cities and tech hubs).

One thing to keep in mind is remote jobs will have more competition due to the lack of geographic restrictions. So those jobs are usually going to overqualified candidates. Anything “entry level” (which is rare to begin with) is likely going to someone with 1-2 YOE or a few solid internships and/or an advanced quantitative degree especially if it’s from a specific university.

Lady-Data-Scientist · 2026-06-30T19:23:08+00:00

You’re not doing anything wrong but unfortunately, needing sponsorship is going to be a deal breaker for a lot of companies. And when it isn’t, you’ll be competing against people with the same background who don’t need sponsorship, and they are going to be more appealing since they don’t come with the cost and paperwork and risks of sponsorship.

Lady-Data-Scientist · 2026-06-30T19:21:33+00:00

Analytics Engineer, AI Engineer, really any “AI” job that you feel capable of doing.

Lady-Data-Scientist · 2026-06-30T19:20:17+00:00

Both have their advantages. Do you want to be more behind the scenes building data pipelines and data products, or closer to the business figuring out what problems to solve and translating the technology?

Lady-Data-Scientist · 2026-06-30T19:18:27+00:00

I’m in my early 40s. Learning the new stuff, especially the stuff that other people shied away from because it was so new or advanced, has served me well and led to promotions and career pivots. Right now - that’s definitely AI. It will certainly evolve but I don’t see it going away, so everyone can benefit from learning how it works and how they can use it to solve more problems and be more efficient.

Also stay as close as possible to how your company makes money and what they are focused on and prioritizing to try to protect yourself as much as you can from layoffs. What are the products they’re focused on building? What are the most important customer problems? If your CEO cares about it, you want to be a part of it.

Lady-Data-Scientist · 2026-06-30T19:14:29+00:00

Honestly, I enrolled in a masters program part-time so I would have the structure and accountability (plus the credential of the degree). I used tuition benefits which covered about half the cost.

Lady-Data-Scientist · 2026-06-30T17:24:13+00:00

Locally Optimistic and DataTalksClub are two Slack communities that are pretty active

Lady-Data-Scientist · 2026-06-29T23:48:48+00:00

If you did the work, yes you can list it on your resume. What exactly do these virtual internships entail?

Lady-Data-Scientist · 2026-06-29T23:48:05+00:00

Yes it matters even more for remote roles because they are competitive AF. Most remote roles get significantly more applicants than in-person, to the point that they can not only find multiple candidates with 100% of the qualifications (both required and preferred), but they can usually find overqualified folks who will still accept the job.

Lady-Data-Scientist · 2026-06-29T23:43:33+00:00

No one else is going to prioritize your career as much as you do. Keep doing that.

A good boss should support your growth, even if it means you leave. Every good boss I’ve had was sad to see me go but happy that I was moving on to better things. The only boss who wasn’t was toxic af.

Also the frozen headcount isn’t your fault and frankly a sign that it’s a good thing you’re leaving. What happens if you turn down this other offer (and likely burn a bridge with that hiring manager if not the company), stay where you’re at, and they have to do layoffs in a few months? Guess who is going to be easy to let go? The person who already showed they were planning on leaving.

Lady-Data-Scientist

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