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A data scientist spends a significant amount of time and money preparing to join a firm where s/he would get a chance to show the skills they possess. And when they join a firm, they want their first day to be a memorable one and the expectations are high — whether it’s about getting to know the work process or even the office ‘vibe’. It’s nerve-wracking and exciting all at once. But how do you know what a data scientist feels on the first day of his/her job?
For this very reason, Analytics India Magazine reached out to five data scientists from different industries and asked them about their experiences. And we understood that, unlike any other job, data scientists are more focused towards what they have to do. When it’s a data science job, whether it’s the company of the newcomer, even the first day at the job is about work (if not an in-depth introduction to the process, then at least a blueprint of the process).
Here are the five responses that we got when we asked them what to expect from your first day at your data science job:
Manavi Agrawal, Data Scientist
Manavi, who is working as a data scientist with a digital solutions provider, says that it depends on the individual. However, she feels that if the company is about to start a new project, then it would let the new folks know about that.
“The company I work for started its new project with us. So, if the team is new, the company might want to give you area which needs improvements and you have to research and come up with some real-life case studies, data points for that etc.,” she said.
Further, she also said that if there is already a project that is going on then the company may give you some small tasks to begin with, such as data crunching.
Vivek Chaudhary, Data Scientist at iNeuron.ai
Vivek Chaudhary is an engineering dropout turned data scientist. He has worked with various companies till date — both as a freelancer and a full-time employee without a degree.
According to Chaudhary, on the first-day work as a data scientist, he would expect to deal with some problems which he hasn't tried till now. “I will be happy to have seniors who can make me learn, guide me for my mistakes and give me a chance to explore,” said Chaudhary.
Further, he would also expect to have an interaction with the team and exchange ideas. “Data science is a teamwork game. It can lead to success if worked hard by dividing responsibilities among individual to handle things more accurately,” Chaudhary concluded.
Sujit Mishra, Sr. Data Scientist at Jio
The scenario of data science till a few years was completely different compared to what it is today, people are becoming more and more curious and because of some genuine reasons. There are a lot of companies that do software engineering under the umbrella of AI. And even though software engineering is a must-know skill, when it comes to data science job, there are things beyond that.
Therefore, according to Mishra, the first day as a data scientist would definitely be about some data science work. It is important for the candidate to know where and on what s/he is going to work. Mishra also feels that data analysis is one of the important things to know about on the first day. “Most freshers in this field are reluctant towards it. Then comes another part where u need to understand the algorithms and at least a little bit of explainable mathematics behind it,” said Mishra.
Sonia Rajput, Data Scientist at Willis Towers Watson
While there are people who think that it has to be about work even on your first day, we have Rajput from the Willis Towers Watson who doesn’t feel the same way and to a great extent, it's actually true.
She has shared her views about the first-day feels and expectations at work and this is what she said, “Well, not only about a Data Scientist, but generally also, any candidate when they join a firm, on their first day they just get to know the team and some setups to be done for them as a new employee.” And she believes that this is a general scenario and no new-joinee would expect to start working from Day 1.
Rishikant Rajan, Sr. Data Scientist
As most of the respondents have mentioned that the first is mostly about the work, even for a new data scientist joinee, Rajan also believes the same. According to him, the first day at work is about getting to know about the process and the things that are going to play a vital role at the new-joinee’s job role such as existing system, databases etc.
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