5 ms·

Need advise on job hunting after a long career gap

15 points by g_murad 3y ago

Hi HN Community, I have been suggested to bug you all for career advice since this community has been extremely helpful to several friends of mine. I have been struggling to re-enter the workforce after a long gap in my career. I have a highly analytical background having finished bachelors degree in Petroleum Engineering and then working few years for prominent energy companies including British Petroleum. My duties involved heavy data operations such as gathering data from sensors, evaluating well performance and generating reports. After a few years in the industry I decided to go back to school for a masters degree. I obtained my Master's Degree from USC in Petroleum Engineering and spent a year after graduating to work for the university as a Research Assistant and a resource employee. As a resource employee we looked into how technology and more specifically AI and Machine Learning can be utilized to improve resource exploration and performance in the energy industry. And then I decided to shift gears to human engineering (cough cough...awkward pause...you know... started expecting) :). We started with one and then followed the other and 8 years flew by in a second. Having promised myself that they will be my primary focus I spent all my time and energy with those little munchkins and this year we finally (whoever judges that "finally" I am watching you :P) sent the youngest one off to the school. So here I am now trying to re-enter THE FORCE (any Obi-Wans out there?). Well, to be honest I didn't completely spend the last 8 years away from the field. I found a new interest in Data Science, likely generated from my previous data heavy job background, and started to explore the field any chance I got. I learned Python, SQL, data analysis tools such as Pandas, Numphy, Scikit-Learn, data visualization tools such as Tableau, Matplotlib, Plotly and Seaborn. I also completed a Data Engineering boot camp offered by Per Scholas and currently in-progress with Google Data Analytics course at Coursera. Looks like most of the positions out there require a substantial or at least few years of experience in data science and I have not been receiving responses from any jobs that I have submitted applications for (I have applied to many). I have been suggested "to make my resume more impressive" which I don't feel comfortable about. I would really appreciate your guidance, suggestions, directions, help (whatever you have to offer). I sincerely appreciate your time!!! email: askinghelpfromhn [at] gmail [dot] com Best, GM

shyn3 3y ago
Try networking and reaching out to organizations that need your assistance. Offer some sort of valuable insight and that will lead to more networking relationships to help you attain a role. You seem way smart. Good luck. Edit: advice not advise to may have your resume checked. Not trying to be rude just an observation.
- g_murad 3y ago
  Thank you so much for your suggestion. I did attend few networking events but did not find them as useful. I might try to look into more data-science specific meetups. Thank you for getting the impression that I am smart :) I am doing my best to project the same impression onto Employers who don't seem to be too impressed thus far :) Fingers Crossed!!!
throaiej21834 3y ago
[dead]
simne 3y ago
I suggest you make some (may be non-profit) ds project, to show as portfolio. Mean, create site, create some ds pipeline from internet data and make something valuable, and add this site to your cv. Try to sell what will output your ds pipeline. Unfortunately, I have not good answer, on how you will pay your life expenses, may be you have to get job of waiter or courier right now, and make your ds project when happen free time.
- g_murad 3y ago
  Thank you for your suggestion. I do have few projects on github and I am looking into adding few more but again that seem to have not yield any results thus far. A lot of employers ignore the application seeing no industry experience.
  - simne 3y ago
    You are welcome! You may need to consider your project not just hobby, but as real business. Business is not easy. Very high probability, you will feel, somebody just use you without your agreement. But this also could be way to got hired. And after you will got hired first time, this could be like make a door in concrete wall - probability of second employment become also high.
  - simne 3y ago
    Also good, to join some commercial open source project. - They are normal way to earn networking of employers. Here, on HN, frequently appear posts, on how to looking for business opportunities and where to find active open source businesses.
tacostakohashi 3y ago
Some BigCo places have "returnship" programs, I'd apply to a few of those for a next job back in the workforce, then try to move on from there.
- g_murad 3y ago
  Thats an awesome suggestion. I will try to look for some of these if they exist. Thanks :)
james-revisoai 3y ago
Good news is, it's a time of change and goldrush, and salaries have significantly increased since 8 years ago. Bad news is, what you have learned seems to represent what is now in declining state, the technology that was more useful before ChatGPT (this may be subjective). Python, sci-kit learn, numpy have been made more and more obsolete by ChatGPT itself taking over many custom model roles (that sci-kit learn, pytorch or spacy would have helped you do), and chatgpt can simply code stats tasks/dashboards so rapidly there is much less employment focused on this than a few years ago. Lots of data engineering is useful, but for analytics rather than predictive (machine learning tasks), since the predictive stuff, you'll probably find you don't need things like feature detection, normalisation etc for depending on how willing you are to try the cutting edge tools coming out. Why don't you considering combining the two at the twine to your advantage - Have a look at ChatGPT and using add ons or other recent technology (e.g. Code Interpreter) - you could be in the prime and ideal position to take advantage of this shift, without preconceptions about exactly what should be the "next generation app".
- bilsbie 3y ago
  You’re completely right but I can’t imagine most employers are going to be interested in chatgpt abilities. I’m not sure what technologies employers are interested in for data science right now.
- g_murad 3y ago
  Thank you James. I appreciate your suggestions. - For the good news: Yes that seems like it bu only if I can get a job :) - For the bad news: I did already start to look at ChatGPT and utilizing it in my projects. That was exactly my thought when I started using it, thinking all that technology it is going to make obsolete.
AugustoCAS 3y ago
I cannot say about the US, but Python & Pandas are quite sought after in Europe. I wonder if the problem is that you have to find the first role in order to show that you have some actual & recent, on-hands experience. I've heard other people coming back to work with similar stories (in wildly different industries). I think the suggestion of working for a non-profit is quite good. I would also suggest you to network; go to meetups in your area as that will potentially put you in front of people who are responsible for hiring.
- g_murad 3y ago
  Thanks for the suggestion. I did go to several networking events but did not yield any positive results. Maybe more specific meet-ups could be more helpful. I will try a few in the coming days.

15 points by g_murad 3y ago

shyn3 3y ago

Try networking and reaching out to organizations that need your assistance. Offer some sort of valuable insight and that will lead to more networking relationships to help you attain a role. You seem way smart. Good luck. Edit: advice not advise to may have your resume checked. Not trying to be rude just an observation.

g_murad 3y ago
Thank you so much for your suggestion. I did attend few networking events but did not find them as useful. I might try to look into more data-science specific meetups. Thank you for getting the impression that I am smart :) I am doing my best to project the same impression onto Employers who don't seem to be too impressed thus far :) Fingers Crossed!!!

throaiej21834 3y ago

[dead]

simne 3y ago

I suggest you make some (may be non-profit) ds project, to show as portfolio. Mean, create site, create some ds pipeline from internet data and make something valuable, and add this site to your cv. Try to sell what will output your ds pipeline. Unfortunately, I have not good answer, on how you will pay your life expenses, may be you have to get job of waiter or courier right now, and make your ds project when happen free time.

g_murad 3y ago
Thank you for your suggestion. I do have few projects on github and I am looking into adding few more but again that seem to have not yield any results thus far. A lot of employers ignore the application seeing no industry experience.
- simne 3y ago
  You are welcome! You may need to consider your project not just hobby, but as real business. Business is not easy. Very high probability, you will feel, somebody just use you without your agreement. But this also could be way to got hired. And after you will got hired first time, this could be like make a door in concrete wall - probability of second employment become also high.
- simne 3y ago
  Also good, to join some commercial open source project. - They are normal way to earn networking of employers. Here, on HN, frequently appear posts, on how to looking for business opportunities and where to find active open source businesses.

tacostakohashi 3y ago

Some BigCo places have "returnship" programs, I'd apply to a few of those for a next job back in the workforce, then try to move on from there.

g_murad 3y ago
Thats an awesome suggestion. I will try to look for some of these if they exist. Thanks :)

james-revisoai 3y ago

Good news is, it's a time of change and goldrush, and salaries have significantly increased since 8 years ago. Bad news is, what you have learned seems to represent what is now in declining state, the technology that was more useful before ChatGPT (this may be subjective). Python, sci-kit learn, numpy have been made more and more obsolete by ChatGPT itself taking over many custom model roles (that sci-kit learn, pytorch or spacy would have helped you do), and chatgpt can simply code stats tasks/dashboards so rapidly there is much less employment focused on this than a few years ago. Lots of data engineering is useful, but for analytics rather than predictive (machine learning tasks), since the predictive stuff, you'll probably find you don't need things like feature detection, normalisation etc for depending on how willing you are to try the cutting edge tools coming out. Why don't you considering combining the two at the twine to your advantage - Have a look at ChatGPT and using add ons or other recent technology (e.g. Code Interpreter) - you could be in the prime and ideal position to take advantage of this shift, without preconceptions about exactly what should be the "next generation app".

bilsbie 3y ago
You’re completely right but I can’t imagine most employers are going to be interested in chatgpt abilities. I’m not sure what technologies employers are interested in for data science right now.
g_murad 3y ago
Thank you James. I appreciate your suggestions. - For the good news: Yes that seems like it bu only if I can get a job :) - For the bad news: I did already start to look at ChatGPT and utilizing it in my projects. That was exactly my thought when I started using it, thinking all that technology it is going to make obsolete.

AugustoCAS 3y ago

I cannot say about the US, but Python & Pandas are quite sought after in Europe. I wonder if the problem is that you have to find the first role in order to show that you have some actual & recent, on-hands experience. I've heard other people coming back to work with similar stories (in wildly different industries). I think the suggestion of working for a non-profit is quite good. I would also suggest you to network; go to meetups in your area as that will potentially put you in front of people who are responsible for hiring.

g_murad 3y ago
Thanks for the suggestion. I did go to several networking events but did not yield any positive results. Maybe more specific meet-ups could be more helpful. I will try a few in the coming days.