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Work as a data scientist in AI. Have seen absolutely no evidence (either from my own personal observations, or from others) that PhD/masters are quantitatively

Work as a data scientist in AI. Have seen absolutely no evidence (either from my own personal observations, or from others) that PhD/masters are quantitatively or qualitatively better than folks without, outside of very specific scenarios (materials sciences, or very deep specific applied statistics - and even then, stats BS majors can generally knock balls out of the park).

minimaxir 8y ago
Unfortunately, hiring for data science is now pretty much exclusive to having a Masters/PhD beforehand as a filter. (it wasn't as bad a year ago, but data science now is at a point where candidate supply is outstripping demand)
- quotemstr 8y ago
  Yes: we now have a glut at the low end, and tech is going the way of law. That's what happens when you spend years arguing that we should turn every molecule of biomass on the planet into a tech company employee.
- stakhanov 8y ago
  Honestly, I don't think that it's a bad thing at all to require a Masters/PhD as a prerequisite for being a data scientist. There are too many people in this field who just run data through a library in the most obvious way and when it doesn't work they're out of ideas because they don't understand what happens inside the library. They're ruining it for the rest of us, because they're undermining the credibility of the whole field. Using a library is something you can learn over the course of a vacation by working through a book or tutorial. But understanding what happens inside the library is something that you will never just pick up on the job. You do need actual time, actual training, and interaction with people who already understand this sort of thing very well over the course of many months or years.
  - minimaxir 8y ago
    Of course there's more to data science than just running models. However, those are typically things not discussed in Masters/PhD programs.
  - king_magic 8y ago
    I don’t disagree with the overall sentiment, I just haven’t seen evidence that folks with masters/PhDs are actually any better at the above than folks without, outside of exceptional scenarios.
DeonPenny 8y ago
Yeh I found in the valley this is becoming more normal. Most of the big guys don't require it anymore. either.

minimaxir 8y ago

Unfortunately, hiring for data science is now pretty much exclusive to having a Masters/PhD beforehand as a filter. (it wasn't as bad a year ago, but data science now is at a point where candidate supply is outstripping demand)

quotemstr 8y ago
Yes: we now have a glut at the low end, and tech is going the way of law. That's what happens when you spend years arguing that we should turn every molecule of biomass on the planet into a tech company employee.
stakhanov 8y ago
Honestly, I don't think that it's a bad thing at all to require a Masters/PhD as a prerequisite for being a data scientist. There are too many people in this field who just run data through a library in the most obvious way and when it doesn't work they're out of ideas because they don't understand what happens inside the library. They're ruining it for the rest of us, because they're undermining the credibility of the whole field. Using a library is something you can learn over the course of a vacation by working through a book or tutorial. But understanding what happens inside the library is something that you will never just pick up on the job. You do need actual time, actual training, and interaction with people who already understand this sort of thing very well over the course of many months or years.
- minimaxir 8y ago
  Of course there's more to data science than just running models. However, those are typically things not discussed in Masters/PhD programs.
- king_magic 8y ago
  I don’t disagree with the overall sentiment, I just haven’t seen evidence that folks with masters/PhDs are actually any better at the above than folks without, outside of exceptional scenarios.

DeonPenny 8y ago

Yeh I found in the valley this is becoming more normal. Most of the big guys don't require it anymore. either.