Engineering Still Struggling finding a data science job

[analogdesign]

If by "don't have time" you mean, "choose not to prioritize it", then yes, I would say yes. I think that is astonishingly short sighted. I can screen a technical resume (in my narrow area) in less than a minute. Then, I know whether to email for more info or set up a phone interview. I think it is stupid to let HR filter because they may eliminate someone really strong or who has potential because you said "5 years experience" and this person has 4. Or you said "experience with a certain technology" and they have experience with a similar, but not exactly the same technology and HR doesn't know. (e.g. MATLAB vs. Octave vs. SciPy). Or you said MS or PhD and you have an amazing experienced genius without a college degree apply.

For example, if I had a resume from an experienced PhD physicist who said he or she wanted to move into mixed-signal design and while didn't have formal training had done self-study and a personal project, then YES, I would want to at least chat with that person. Such a person would never get through HR.

It is worth the investment for a manager to try their hardest to get good employees. A strong team member makes everything better. Nothing is more important in technical management than the quality of your team.

This is probably why you're doing better in small companies. Networking (although hard) may end up being your best bet.

 

[EngWiPy]

Interesting. The HR probably is afraid to forward a not-so-good applicant to the manager, because they want to look good themselves. So, I understand why they play it safe with the word matching technique. But that is why, I think, someone technical should be involved in the filtering process, and who can make a decision on the potentials rather than the exact requirements and experiences.

 

[symbolipoint]

Interesting. The HR probably is afraid to forward a not-so-good applicant to the manager, because they want to look good themselves. So, I understand why they play it safe with the word matching technique. But that is why, I think, someone technical should be involved in the filtering process, and who can make a decision on the potentials rather than the exact requirements and experiences.

 

[EngWiPy]

Once I expanded my search to the US, I started to get responses for R&D positions in wireless communication, even from the big companies. There are many more positions in the US than in Canada in R&D. However, the sponsorship thing is an obstacle. One company decided not to continue the process only because I am not Canadian, and they cannot sponsor me from outside the US. Otherwise, I think I did well in the first interview. I have the same problem in Europe. I recently got a message from the founder of a company in Europe to see if I am interested in a position, but when I read the description, I found out that to be eligible I need EU citizenship, or a valid work permit in the EU.

So, finding a position in academia is not possible, R&D positions in the industry in Canada are very few, and in anywhere else I need a sponsorship, which is a stumbling block. The only options I left with is to take on engineer positions, which in my experience won't work either because I am overqualified (and don't have experience), and switching to another field like data science isn't easy without any experience.

 

[symbolipoint]

EngWiPy comments:

... which in my experience won't work either because I am overqualified (and don't have experience), and ...

That's an interesting problem. Those two should not be taken as if to be in conflict.

 

[EngWiPy]

EngWiPy comments:
That's an interesting problem. Those two should not be taken as if to be in conflict.

What do you mean?

 

[symbolipoint]

What do you mean?

which in my experience won't work either because I am overqualified (and don't have experience),

If you are overqualified, then you have the education and experience for the job in question. If you don't have the experience then you are underqualified for the job in question. One cannot be both underqualified and overqualified for the job at the same time. Try to look at the logic there. At times, some employers might give comments or messages to you - saying you are overqualified because of having a degree or having advanced degree in desired subject; but they may be both more interested in experience in the field and are afraid your level of education would allow you to change to different company too fast ...

(internet interrup problems...)
(EDITED: during brief period of stable internet connection)

 

[EngWiPy]

You have a point, but what I meant is that engineer positions don't require advanced degrees. In that sense, I am overqualified. If I apply to positions that require Bachelor's degree, employers won't consider a PhD, because it is not required. But I don't have practical experience, even if I tried to downgrade my credentials. To me there is no conflict between the two the way I wanted to convey it.

 

[Anachronist]

Can I ask you how they need to answer these questions in their resumes? Can you give an example of this, because I am not sure how applicants should know what problems are facing employers? All they know is the job description, and a background about the company.

I know this is an old thread. This question was directed to me and I missed seeing it. In my experience as a hiring manager, if you're trying for a job in which your skills may not be a match, I would want to know how you approach and solve problems, but even more, I would want to know if you can even identify problems that you solved.

A good way to do this is phrase your bullet points as result-solution. That is, state the outcome of a challenge you tried to solve and what you did, without stating the problem. An example from one of my old resumes "Flattened workload among project management and engineering staff by developing a capacity planning tool for the PMO director." I stated the result, followed by how I achieved it. An aspiring data scientist might have a statement pertaining to data analysis: "Optimized profit margin and market share by developing a pricing model based on analysis of publicly available historical data on competing products." An academic would have similar statements about research problems: "Expanded university's patent portfolio by developing an innovative technique to <fill in the blank>" or "Improved university's academic reputation by publishing a paper on XYZ that generated over 1,000 citations".

If your resume is full of statements like this, then you have some control over the interview, because this sort of statement leads an interviewer to ask about it, and then in the interview you tell the story in the form problem-solution-result. State the problem, explain your approach to the problem, and conclude with the outcome. Everyone likes to hear stories. If you can tell a story in the problem-solution-result format as an answer to every interview question, you will have a good interview.