What do I want to be when I grow up?
I wonder how many people had the answer to this question when they were kids? I never did. Not when I was teenager, not when I became a young adult. Not even right now, after 15 years in one industry. There are many witty answers that seem to be just right:
- I want to be happy
- I want to do good for others
- I don’t care as long as it pays the mortgage
- Your witty answer here
For me, it’s like a game of Fortnite right now. You know, the one where you have to stay alive just enough for the circle around you to shrink a bit and bring you into the next round.
Round 1: I have always known I like computers and everything about them. I remember my first PC: Pentium III with 300 MHz, 1Gb hard drive, 16 Mb RAM and a wonderful 13 in. CRT monitor — the one that would give you a tiny electric shock when you touch it. I studied that thing inside out, broke it and fixed it multiple times — it was fun. Fast forward a couple of decades and this was my first step — I’ll switch to the tech industry. BAM! Next round!
Round 2: Start fresh or carry over my previous experience? Press Select. Then Start. The choice was obvious — I should use my analytics and business intelligence knowledge in whatever I do next.
Like computers + good at analytics = Data Science!
or more like ≈ Data Science
Round 3: This is the exciting one, this is what this blog is all about. I recently discovered that the world of Data Science is a lot bigger than I thought — both scary and thrilling at the same time. As a matter of fact, most job titles in the discipline don’t have the word “Data” or “Science” in them! It’s ok though. The world of Data Science is still growing and exponentially so. Here is a cool graphic I came across in school — to me this barely scratches the surface:
To quickly add to this list:
- Cloud Systems and Big Data: Cloud Engineers and Architects
- BI Engineers, BI Developers
- Data Strategists
- Cognitive Computing Developers
- Planning and Decision Analysts
- Product and Market Analysts
- endless sector-specific Data Analysts
And ALL of them have something exciting about them! Just imagine your child goes to kindergarten and says: “My Dad is a Cloud Architect!” They’ll be the coolest kid there!
Or if someone asks you at a party, you can say something like:
- “I help people find ideal house at an affordable price” (Real Estate Agent? No, Data Scientist!)
- “I help business writers avoid certain words to optimize their style” (Writing coach? No, again — Data Scientist!)
- “I help big accounting firms conduct financial audits” (Accountant? No, Data Scientist!)
- “I help doctors diagnose diseases better” (You get the gist)
- “I improve self-driving of future cars”
All of these and more are jobs that are done within our discipline. And just imagine how many more applications will pop up in the near future.
So, as I go through this gameplay (sleepless nights and all), I can’t wait to see where this path takes me, what is in the next Round and what I will become eventually.
I gotta say though, sometimes I wish there were cheat codes…