[ETR Vol. 12] Solve Data Science Unemployment With 1 Email


Extract. Transform. Read.

A newsletter from Pipeline: Your Data Engineering Resource

Hi past, present or future data professional!

Browsing through files recently, I found 100+ old resumes I used to apply for data jobs in 2021. While data science is sold as a “good career”, the truth is it’s always been tough to break in.

Those looking for jobs need to do more than ever to distinguish themselves. For anyone looking for a job you may have been taught to network with recruiters and hiring managers.

But there is a type of connection who might help you even more than a job poster: An early career data (ideally between years 1-3) professional.

Folks like me, who have a few years of industry experience but no hiring authority, often get bombarded with “recruiter spam”, broad messages sent to hundreds of candidates with the hope that a handful will respond. While it’s tempting to delete these messages, you’d be missing a crucial line: “Forward this to anyone you know who might be looking for a role.”

As an added incentive, many of these cold messages include referral bonuses.

When forwarding a connection to recruiters or when asking for a referral, remember:

  • Concisely summarize your peer’s qualifications (1-2 sentences)
  • Tailor your referral to the role sent, not just a general “this person might be good”
  • Emphasize your peer’s domain experience and don’t dwell too much on common technical skills

If you're interested in going deeper, I cover this kind of referral advocacy more in-depth here.

Just because you were lucky to break in doesn’t mean you should be a gatekeeper.

If anything, you should be the first one to answer the door.

Here are this week’s links:

And if you're looking to explore development in virtual environments, check out this week's story.

Set Up A Virtual Environment In A Compute Engine VM In 5 Min.

Thanks for ingesting,

-Zach

Extract. Transform. Read.

Reaching 20k+ readers on Medium and nearly 3k learners by email, I draw on my 4 years of experience as a Senior Data Engineer to demystify data science, cloud and programming concepts while sharing job hunt strategies so you can land and excel in data-driven roles. Subscribe for 500 words of actionable advice every Thursday.

Read more from Extract. Transform. Read.

Extract. Transform. Read. A newsletter from PipelineToDE Hi past, present or future data professional! I want to share the single most important realization I had back in the summer of 2021. I was burned out, juggling two part-time jobs, trying to plan a wedding, and drowning in full-time job applications. I felt overwhelmed and underprepared as I plunged into a sea of candidates I perceived to be more intelligent and better "fits" than me. My portfolio was full of the usual Titanic, Iris,...

Extract. Transform. Read. A newsletter from PipelineToDE Hi past, present or future data professional! One of the most validating and terrifying professional moments is reaching the final interview round. It is in this context that you meet candidacy’s final boss, who incidentally, usually ends up being your boss' boss. Specifically I’m referring to the department executive responsible for bringing in additional headcount, i.e. you. While this may sound intimidating, the role of the executive...

Extract. Transform. Read. A newsletter from PipelineToDE Hi past, present or future data professional! If you’re a job seeker in the data space, your GitHub portfolio has only one job: To act as a calling card that gets you to the next step of the hiring process. Too often, I review portfolios for potential referrals and see brilliant code buried under structural mistakes that have nothing to do with programming skill. Your GitHub is not just cloud storage for your code; it’s a public display...