The job of a data scientist has always been intriguing to a lot of people. We all have heard ad nauseam about how data science is the sexiest job of the 21st century. A handsome paycheck doesn’t necessarily mean that every data scientist is happy with his/her employer or want to spend his/her entire career in a single company.

No matter how much money you make or no matter what your designation is, when it comes to the career, most data scientists take the decision to change their jobs. 

In this article, we are going to look at five such reasons that influence a data scientist to make a job change move:

If There Is Nothing  New To Do

There may not be many new things under the sun, but you can always tweak the existing ones!  There are many companies who don’t want to do anything that is out of the box and they always stick to something specific and mundane. A data scientist is a curiosity-driven person and he/she can’t always stick to extracting insights out of cluttered. Sometimes, even the extractions are limited because companies don’t want anything else apart from that.

If you are a data scientist who has been working for a company for a significantly long time, and there is nothing left that you are getting to do expect what was assigned to you initially, its high time that you consider making a switch.

Working on the same projects for years would limit your skills and knowledge. You would struggle to learn more things in the domain. Also, in terms of a paycheck, there might be other domains or line of work that would pay you more compared to your existing job. But, if you don’t have that knowledge and skill, you are going to miss out on a lot of opportunities.

There Is Always A Saturation Point

Just like a company, even an employee has his/her limitations. There are many employees who after working for a couple of years reach their saturation point and not able to deliver any more value. If you as a data scientist feel that you have given everything you could to deliver value to your employer and there nothing left you can do apart from doing the same, then it’s better you switch a job.

Many might think that this is not a practical solution — the employee can opt a course, learn new things and keep working. However, that doesn’t work every time. Even though the upskilling trend is high, not every company is playing that game.  Therefore, it’s good you make a job change and serve another company that needs your skills and talent.

Not Getting Recognition Even After Performing Well

Feeling unseen and unheard in the workplace is definitely one of the worst feelings for a data scientist. Being one of the most important professionals in a company, when your work and efforts go unnoticed, there is no fun in toiling at the workplace. What should you then you as a data scientist face this scenario? Should you highlight your achievements, or should you talk to the manager about feeling underappreciated? It all depends on the company.

While many companies take a little bit of time to recognize their best employees, many companies don’t even bother to do so.

If you are working in such a where your work is not getting appreciated — even after talking to the concerned person, then it’s perhaps time for you to make a change. It’s not the handsome salary that matters all the time, sometimes it’s just a few lines of appreciation that drives a data scientist to become more productive at work.

Not Getting A Hike For A Long Time

When you are a data scientist, the most intriguing things are the designation and the paycheck. Being the sexiest job of the 21st century, the data science domain pay its professionals a high sum of salary. Also, the hikes are significantly high compared to other job profiles. But there are cases where companies don’t provide its data scientist that much-anticipated salary hike for a long time — either they fall short on their budget or they live in denial.

If you have been working for a company for a couple of years, and still haven’t got the salary hike email, the first thing you need to do is get the thing noticed. You have to let your boss know that you deserve a hike. However, you cannot do that directly going to the boss and asking for it — there is a way to do it. You can refer to our article, “8 Tips Data Scientists Can Use While Asking For A Hike.”

But even after that, the company ignores your request and you don’t get that salary hike, it’s perhaps time for you to lookout for a new employer to join. It might be a little hard to digest, but working on a salary which is low compared to other data scientist in the industry, affects your next salary. However, you might get a significantly higher paycheck if your portfolio, your knowledge and your skills are top-notch.

Toxic Work Environment

It is hard and takes a little bit of time to figure out whether the work environment is toxic. Many companies are really good when it’s about the paycheck, work, growth and every other thing, but lacks when it comes to maintaining a work environment that makes the employees feel better.

There are instances when employees have left jobs just because the office ambience wasn’t feel-good, and many have left because of office politics and policies.

However, it completely depends on the employee whether s/he can adapt to that or would like to change. If you are someone who doesn’t like office politics and needs a workplace where even the smallest things make you feel good, then definitely don’t give a second thought about making that job change. Because mental peace is as important as that handsome paycheck.