
I'm a Data Scientist and It's Not My Passion - sk0g
https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/six-figure-paycheck-data-scientist-nyc
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baron816
The media's constant reporting on college debt and low paying majors has
actually had a large impact on what the next generation is studying.
[https://qz.com/1370922/the-2008-financial-crisis-
completely-...](https://qz.com/1370922/the-2008-financial-crisis-completely-
changed-what-majors-students-choose/)

The humanities and social sciences have fallen off a cliff, heath care and
STEM has soared. I'm skeptical that this is a good thing.

~~~
pawelmurias
Less bullshit majors seems like a very good thing.

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meesles
Science gives us answers. Culture gives us meaning.

~~~
motogpjimbo
Is that what the arts and humanities graduates serving my coffee in Starbucks
are generating - culture?

Don't conflate culture with those who study it. The vast majority of non-STEM
graduates generate no activity of either cultural or economic significance.
All such degree programmes could be dropped tomorrow with no detriment to
society.

~~~
mythrwy
And possibly even a net benefit to society as many of these degree programs
have become little more than people believing they are highly educated because
they have been trained to hold certain cultural and political opinions.

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minimaxir
Link to original post: [https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/six-figure-paycheck-
data-sc...](https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/six-figure-paycheck-data-
scientist-nyc) (Edit: URL fixed)

The real question is that $125k as a _Senior_ Data Analyst in NYC seems low.

> I have this creative side, which comes in handy when thinking through
> challenging problems, but there is only so much creativity that I can use
> when in data analysis.

This I disagree with; in data analysis/science, there's more than way to
highlight/analyze a problem, and more than one way to solve it. In my
experience, the best solutions are often the craziest.

~~~
kosei
Really? $125k doesn't seem low to me based on experience. Also, just looked on
Payscale and it says Senior Data Analyst (with 6 years experience) salary
range was $63-113k.

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bdcravens
Data Analyst is not the same thing as a Data Scientist.

~~~
stochastic_monk
Here's what bothers me.

When I see Data Science in industry, it means an analyst. When I see Data
Science in academia, I see Michael Jordan and Alex Smola. I think this is the
core disconnect.

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hyperbovine
I find the last two paragraphs on this web page to be hilariously juxtaposed:

> "Slow down and enjoy the moment. It's not worth stressing about how to
> become a partner in ten years or make money as quickly as possible. Set an
> attainable goal (something you can achieve in six months or a year) and work
> towards that."

> Are you a woman under 35 with a six-figure salary ($100,000+) and want to
> tell your story? Submit it here.

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sheeshkebab
I often wonder how/why professional developers got into this profession - and
basically came to conclusion that it’s not for everyone (basically solving
puzzles all day long in front of monitor), and most folks move out from it
(into management or wherever) after about 10 years. Especially those that got
into it for money.

Personally I got into it by accident - and couldn’t believe that I get paid to
basically continuing playing games that I was into as teenager and solving
various puzzles all day long.... I was doing it for free before, and frankly
would still be if not for all the money bull shit all around us.

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kosei
Title seems pretty click baity. She acknowledges that her side passions
(creative/design/art) may not be what will pay the bills and that she is happy
in the role for now.

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chasedehan
The misnomer. Title of post says “data scientist” but then says “sr data
analyst” in the first paragraph.

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weirdkid
"Scientist". "Architect". "Engineer". Even "Developer".

Bah!

All borrowed titles that try to make what we do sound more important to those
who really do those things.

Coder. Programmer. You're either encoding logic or data into something a
computer program can use. Even if all you do is draw fancy diagrams.

Off-topic whining. Downvote to oblivion.

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jorblumesea
Idk if real world engineering is often about passion. Who is passionate about
legacy code, constantly changing design requirements and live site issues/on
call? I love to build things but at the end of the day it's more of a job than
it is a passion project.

~~~
dasil003
Yeah, passion is overused recruiter-speak. Sure it's nice for cheerleading if
everyone feels passionate about their job, but it's really just short-hand for
being engaged and focused which is orthogonal to passion.

There is however something which I believe software engineers need: an innate
desire to understand how things work, and a tenacity to debug them when they
don't. If you don't have this internal drive, then you'll never get over the
hump of the vast background knowledge you need to be a productive programmer
in any interesting job.

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peterwwillis
If you can make $125k in your 20s, work that soul killing job for 10 years and
put as much away as you can. Then at least you have the start of a nest egg by
the time you reach retirement. If you do it backwards and save when you're
older, it's 10x harder.

Do your passion when you actually have a passion. Until then, work to live,
and save save save. (But don't forget to travel)

~~~
lilsoso
That is sound advice for a limited amount of time, as you said ten years.

The risk is that before you know it you find yourself with a "fully-funded"
retirement account, a stable career, and your vitality gone with your life now
behind you. The trick is hard to pull off.

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samstave
So I left my 'typical' role type for a massive paycut due to being done with
working in SF and Silicon Valley for something I am passionate about.

I turned down a job at $180,000 and took a job at $52,000.

(previous to that I was making $228,000 - as a consultant)

Because I have literally no passion for what I used to do, the ageism, cut-
throat bullshit in silicon valley has quite a toll. Housing is retarded.
Transportation in the bay area is horrific, and the quality of life-work-
balance is terrible.

I know that I am going to make a heck-ton of a lot more money soon.. but I am
pretty much done trying to work in startups in SF/SV.

Thats a job for 20-somethings.

EDIT: Since people asked.

I joined as director of tech for a cannabis startup that has a lot of licenses
and has a valuation in hundreds of millions.

It is all bootstrapped from the founders, and has zero debt nor investors
(thus the low pay)

And I am building out MRP/ERP/OPs/Sales-ops/data for them.

Further, We are building something amazing on the vape-pen production market.

(the valuation is based on investors who have been trying to buy into the
company... and keep getting turned down)

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not_a_moth
20-something here, we get it too, or people in late 20s anyways. I recently
quit a $220k job to pursue a passion startup. I can at least say this: 3
months in and the health metrics I track are significantly better - sleep,
heart rate, HRV, blood glucose, and inflammation markers.

While it's a great stepping stone for gaining skills and credentials, there's
really nothing "high status" about being an employee for someone else, giving
your work away to your employer. It's anti-innovation thinking otherwise, and
wish the status driven careerists in this town would reflect on this.

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joncrane
How do you track those markers?

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samstave
Apple watch?

I want to know this as well.

I need a mobile blood-pressure monitor.

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kevinherron
I hope the Apple Watch eventually becomes something that can track all of
these metrics, especially sleep, but I don't think the battery life is there
yet.

I've gotta charge mine sometime and at night seems like the best time to do
it...

~~~
acl777
I have a series zero Apple Watch from the day it was released and still wear
it now.

I have figured out how to use it to track my sleep: charge Apple Watch less. I
charge Apple Watch twice a day, once in the morning, once at night, for about
15min each time.

My Apple Watch has enough energy for me to use all day and track my sleep
using the Sleep++ app.

[https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sleep/id1038440371?mt=8](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sleep/id1038440371?mt=8)

I _sometimes_ have to charge it at work, but in general, this charging method
has worked for me.

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paulpauper
There's not much content to work with here. Her success runs counter to the
prevailing media narrative that young people are always broke and struggling.
Yes, many are, but many are not, especially in STEM fields. The short-term
inconvenience in exchange for making a lot of money (especially if one keeps
expenses low) makes it worthwhile in the long-run by being able to retire
sooner. 10 years in a high-paying job that is not one's passion beats 40+
years n a low-paying job and never having enough to retire. Her parents paying
for most of her college helped a lot, but so does a high IQ to get a good
paying job as she did.

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dlphn___xyz
are proper DS jobs only available in certain cities? I’m curious how many
people relocated to get into the field.

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momirlan
You need to ask for a pay rise. $125,000 is nothing these days. A regular
developer makes that much.

~~~
NotSammyHagar
I thought devs make more than data scientists? It's my experience that devs
are in much shorter supply related to the demand, and their (comp or) value is
usually higher.

~~~
notbob
Long story short: both titles are too broad to be useful.

