PsychologyData Scientist
Unverified. Submitted, nothing checked.Starting conditions
- Institution
- State University
- Major
- Psychology
- GPA band
- 3.0-3.4
- Graduated
- 2018
- Location
- United Kingdom
- No professional network
- Non-target school
- No relevant experience
Limited exposure to the destination field at the start.
The sequence6 steps
- Coursework11 mo
Took statistics and programming courses as electives
Evidence for this stepObstacle
Took too heavy a load and the grades showed it.
How it was resolved
Retook the course that mattered most rather than trying to offset it elsewhere.
- Research11 moPivotal
Ran quantitative analysis for a faculty research lab
Ran quantitative analysis for a faculty research lab. This took 11 months and was harder than expected.
- Project5 mo
Published three analysis write-ups publicly
Published three analysis write-ups publicly. This took 5 months and was slower than expected.
Start this earlier than feels necessary.
Evidence for this step - Application3 mo
Applied to analyst roles as an entry point
Applied to analyst roles as an entry point. This took 3 months and was harder than expected.
Evidence for this step - Setback6 moPivotal
Rejected from every data science role for lacking engineering depth
Rejected from every data science role for lacking engineering depth. This took 6 months and was slower than expected.
Obstacle
The plan stalled here, and it was not obvious it would recover.
How it was resolved
Asked the people who rejected me what the specific disqualifier was, then fixed exactly that instead of everything at once.
Start this earlier than feels necessary.
- Job1 yr 6 moPivotal
Took a data analyst role deliberately as a stepping stone
Took a data analyst role deliberately as a stepping stone. This took 18 months and was slower than expected.
Start this earlier than feels necessary.
Outcome
Analytics role converted to data science
Reflection
Would repeat
- Starting the outreach earlier than felt comfortable.
Would skip
- The first application cycle, which I entered underprepared.
Biggest obstacle
Having no contacts in the field, which made every early step slower than it needed to be.
What was luck
- One person answered a cold email who did not have to.