11
votes
Advice on sharpening skills for career pivot
After spending a couple years in management I want to get back into more individual contributor roles. It's where I can apply the skills I actually enjoy. Preferably I'd work as a dev or data scientist, but what I want is to spend time solving technical/mathematical problems and less herding cats and politicking.
EDIT: US with ability to relocate; willing to take a paycut.
Background
- About 9 years as lead dev in a start up (2004-2013). It was the golden era of 2005 when we started and I got the role strictly on skills I developed as a teenager. The start up failed shortly after I left but an associated passion project has lived on. In this role I built video streaming software client side, server side, web apps, and iOS apps. I used C#, javascript/node, mongodb, redis, SQL, PHP, objective-c, and C++ as well as functioning as sys admin and webmaster. Pretty much solo dev except for a contractor or intern occasionally.
- Went back to school (homeschooled, no high school so I needed some pieces of paper), BS-MS-PHD, in mathematics (number theory) and published several papers. One of which launched a bit of a cottage industry for my collaborators. I haven't been involved post graduation but get updates when friends see me cited at conferences, etc. Wrote more domain specific stuff (Python, MAGMA, GAP).
- During my last year of grad school I got very jaded towards the grind I saw before me that more that likely ended with a job at a teaching school making less than I wanted. Pretty much as soon as I made my intentions public covid happened so I was job searching during 2020 while finishing my doctorate.
- Got my break early 2021, an entry level data analyst role for a major corpo. In this role I had a lot of time to just explore data, find patterns, test out some of the ideas friend in topological data analysis were thinking about, tested early ML models. Pretty much strictly Python and SQL. Went to manager in 2022 and then People Analytics Director in 2023.
Current plans:
- Attend more meet ups, there are a couple about an hour south of me. Hoping to build some connections with the local industry.
- Private server and website stood up, plan to host projects etc here for interested parties.
- Runs through exercism.io to refresh on some stuff.
- Find some open source projects to contribute on? There is also a local group of indie game devs, perhaps offer my services where possible.
So my question to you all is how would you go about sharpening skills and building up a portfolio?
As a data professional, I can say that the need for soft skills and cat herding definitely doesn't go away in this field, so just be aware.
As far as pivots go, actual experience in the role is far more desirable to future employers than even dedicated evidence of training, so if there's any way you can start finagling data work into your current role, it's going to help you present as a much more serious candidate than if you just had some data certs and an unrelated managerial position. Companies are unimaginative these days in regards to hiring, (partially due to ML-powered resume scanning) and are basically looking for folks who have prior roles that match their job descriptions as much as possible.
This is the part that confuses me. I have those types of titles on my resume, lead dev, data analyst, data scientist. And I'm not planning on adding certs or anything like that, I'm curious how to bolster the stuff already on my resume. If you look at the background it's only been 2 years in management, the previous 20 years of my career is programming and data science.
If I was interviewing you, I would have the feeling something’s not adding up. You already seem plenty qualified for the roles you’re interested in, why would you need to sharpen skills or a portfolio?
Maybe I’m just not thinking of the right roles or companies. The way you describe your career so far, it sounds like you’ll be bored in a regular company and role. What would be your dream job and a what exactly company?
I guess I feel that I'm in this grey area where one set of businesses look at my resume and think I'm too expensive and the other set of businesses want to see more dedicated time employing the skills they are looking for. Like I'm a bit of a generalist with some expensive specialization that is hard to understand. I'm hoping by sharpening skills it will at least demonstrate that I won't have too much of a spin-up time.
You're right that a regular job is boring me (though I am treated very well so I feel bad about being unhappy). But I struggle to name a dream job or company. I want difficult and varied technical challenges with a decent dose of math and space to cook. If I were to describe a dream job it'd be some type of small team that prototypes and builds systems/software and then hands them off for deployment and post-production support. I have my most fun when projects come my way that other teams have struggled with and needed specialized support usually it comes down to some type of algorithmic design. Maybe a consultant or freelance type role fits that style of work?
Anyway, thanks for your question, it's given me some good stuff to think through.
The country is extremely relevant here, what I'd advise for a fellow Dutch person does not really translate to what an American might find useful I'm afraid.
Where are you looking?
This is in the US with geographic mobility for the right role. If I was willing to burn some political bridges I have opportunities in AU and UK.
Honestly, I think you're already plenty qualified for a mid-level data science role based on your experience here. How much cat herding that entails is going to depend on the company in question and your seniority, but I will say that your knowledge of stuff other than Python/SQL may be seen as a bonus even if most of the data science work is using those -- at my company it's been super useful to have data scientists who can also do some other development and MLOps work when they're needed for our team.
I honestly would start by ensuring that your existing technical and data science experience as sufficiently highlighted on your resume, and that you're coming off the right way in interviews. You can use your management background to sell your soft skills -- even as an engineer, soft skills are a plus. Your technical skills and experience already seem fine to me, so I don't think focusing on improving them by adding extracurriculars and certifications is necessary unless you want to do those things anyway.