On June 11th, 2021, over 260 data science enthusiasts gathered for the Northeast Student Data Corps (NSDC)’s third Data Science Career Panel in its Data Science Career Panel Series. The panel once again featured data scientists from a wide range of backgrounds.
The panel was the first in the series to be moderated alone by students. To kick off the session, one of the moderators, Haleigh Stewart, Columbia University undergraduate student and project coordinator for the NSDC, introduced herself along with Abhishek Sinha, Columbia University graduate student and also a project coordinator for the NSDC.
The moderators then introduced the Hub and the NSDC, highlighting the NSDC’s Learner Central and Educator Central, a collection of accessible resources for anyone interested in learning data science and for educators looking to introduce data science to their classrooms. They also noted the NSDC’s other resources, such as the NSDC’s Career Central, Chapter Central, and Volunteer Central.
Next, the moderators introduced the panelists, Edwood Brice, Junior Data Scientist at MassMutual, Julia Stoyanovich, Professor Computer Science & Engineering at NYU Tandon, and Shane Chang, Director of Data Science & Artificial Intelligence at Novartis.
After talking about their journeys in data science, the panelists discussed ways in which people seeking a data science career can make themselves a more competitive and successful candidate. Dr. Chang emphasized the need to be a well-rounded applicant, from having the necessary programming, mathematical, to presentation skills. Brice stressed the importance of taking a close look at job postings and learning the skills that employers are seeking. Dr. Stoyanovich added that while knowing the skills employers are seeking is important, it is indispensable to have a strong foundation in subjects such as Data Structures and Algorithms, Statistics, and Mathematics.
To conclude the panel, the panelists took questions from the audience, with the help of our NSDC Volunteers from Queensborough Community College, Flavio and Gary. The conversation branched from topics such as ethics and responsibility in data science, the differences between data science in academia and industry, to actions a high school student could take to begin their journey in data science.
You can find the full video of the event on our YouTube channel here, along with recordings of our April Career Panel and February Career Panel– don’t forget to subscribe and hit the bell icon for notifications on further videos.
How to stay engaged with the NSDC:
To connect with us and fellow data science enthusiasts, please join our NSDC Slack community.
More information about the Northeast Student Data Corps is available on our NSDC web page. Follow the Hub on Twitter at @nebigdatahub and the Northeast Student Data Corps at @data_corps and sign up for our mailing list at https://tinyurl.com/NEBDHubList.
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