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Avoid Failing Data Scientist Interview Take Home Exams (7 Keys To Getting Hired) Nov 03, 2020

Show notes

Get Hired By Passing The Data Scientist Interview Exams

Join Isaiah and Kasey Hemington as they discuss the Data Scientist hiring process for PhDs.

Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode…

First, Isaiah interviews a panel of PhDs who successfully transitioned into Data Scientist careers.
Next, the expert panel discusses what it takes to transition from a PhD to a Data Scientist.
Finally, Isaiah and Casey explore the intricacies of the data scientist job hiring process, such as building an impactful portfolio and the seven keys to get hired.

From This Week’s Show…

Advice From Fellow DSS Associates

While dealing with big data, I suddenly found myself intrigued with its importance, which made me rethink my original objective of pursuing a PhD. This rendezvous inspired me to explore and teach myself the technical skills needed for the data science position.

Coming from a background in bioinformatics, I needed to find a position in industry where I could use my skillset. After a lot of soul searching and, following the CSA advice of trying to find my desired lifestyle. I zeroed in on the data scientists arena and then started gunning for it.

I faced initial challenges, especially because I felt I was separating from my background. But then I realized that all PhDs are data scientists at some point, combining the realms is just a way of making me better in what I do.

Filling In The Gaps To Transition From PhD To Data Scientist

I was looking for a force to motivate me beyond my industry transition. So, I joined DSS and perceived that industry has a high demand for my knowledge in data and science. Although I had some technical skills, I did not have transferability. exposure to the DSS course made me realize what was needed to make myself more relevant to the industry position I was trying to get into.

To overcome your initial challenges, you might have to learn new programming languages or know how to translate your ability to analyze information and data into logical output that let people make business decisions. You also need to highlight your transferable skills or business acumen skills. You have to relate to industry plans or business questions because they come from quantitative background.

Although we have worked with several different software programs, doing it professionally in industry is quite a bit different. For maturing into the industry role, one has to get rid of that academic mindset, the academic nomenclature and get trained on the industry mindset and nomenclature for the role.

It is crucial to decipher what are the gaps that we have in our knowledge and which real world experience can close those gaps. The DSS program is particularly helpful to determine what to do on a technical call for the role, How to face a take home exam, and how to answer behavioral questions.

When you look online, there are hundreds of courses you can do, a hundred ways of learning data science too. But there is a very unfocused way of doing things, especially when you are not sure what the end game is. So, a big gap in my knowledge was, what really is a data scientist. Because on many levels I’m already a data scientist, right? As a PhD I look at data all day, I analyze them all day. Am I not already doing it? So, that was one big gap in my understanding: what was the difference between doing data science in industry and in academia?

The Seven Keys To Getting Hired Into A Data Scientist Role

So, we have a list of the seven keys that we’re going to go through. Of course, it is important to portray your value, whether it’s in your resume, LinkedIn profile, portfolio, very specific to the data scientist role, take home exam.

Since the data scientist role is a comparatively newer role in, there is a lot of variability associated with it. This variability and at times ambiguity may throw people off during a job search. Therefore, it is pertinent to keep an open mind and ask a lot of questions to figure out what sort of situation you are in with different companies in different interviews.

So let us go through what the job search process looks like, which are the trending topics to really add to your understanding and your portfolio. So, let’s take a look at the LinkedIn profile. I think one thing people don’t think about enough for the data scientist role is, how important it is to highlight your projects on LinkedIn.

I think it is important to know that data scientists will still be required as automated data science becomes more popular because the business aspects of the problem statement, the conclusions that you generate are indispensable important aspects of the process.

** for the full podcast, check out the audio player above.

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The post Avoid Failing Data Scientist Interview Take Home Exams (7 Keys To Getting Hired) appeared first on Cheeky Scientist.

20 Medical and Scientific Writing Careers For PhDs Oct 26, 2020

Show notes

Medical Writing is a career safety net for PhDs wanting to transition into industry.

Join Isaiah and Evguenia Alechine as they discuss medical and scientific writing careers for PhDs.

Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode…

First, Isaiah interviews PhDs from different backgrounds who successfully transitioned into medical writing careers.
Next, Isaiah and Evguenia discuss why medical writing is a great career for PhDs no matter their background.
Finally, Isaiah and Evguenia explore the PhD-level different positions that make part of the medical writing umbrella.

From This Week’s Show…

Advice From Fellow PhDs

At first, Medical writing did not jump out as a career trajectory that I would find myself on. After joining Cheeky Scientist’s Medical Writing Organization, I realized that this field would fit my lifestyle and take me to that place where I could actually play a role in changing how people viewed a particular medicine, area of therapy, and give knowledge to patients or healthcare practitioners, among others.

One thing that may be surprising for a lot of us is how in-demand medical writing is and what the umbrella term means. Not only do you not need clinical experience. “Medical Writing” is how high-level technical writing is referred to in industry. And there are all different kinds of categories.

And right now, especially with remote work, decentralized workforces, and the shifts created by the pandemic, medical writers are more in-demand than ever. There’s an information war going on, right? People need to hire credible writers. Your PhD gives you credibility. If you only knew how valuable and sought after you are for these kinds of roles, your entire perspective would change.

Half the battle is knowing which path is right for you. Which job titles are right for you. It doesn’t matter how much you want to be employed or how driven you are, or how intelligent you are. You can’t hit a target you don’t set and the Medical Writing Organization will give you the resources to figure out which career path is right for you in this program.

The Medical Writing Field Is Surging

Remote work, the decentralization of workforces around the world is going to stay high. Why has this made the field of medical writing explode? Why is it surging right now, given everything that’s happened in 2020?

This is a point that I wanted to make clear because medical writing is an umbrella term and it doesn’t only cover writing about medicine. It also covers editing, translation, project management, conference coverage, a lot of different types of works, and also different types of fields. And this includes writing about different sciences.

I know people who transition from being a chemist to being a medical writer that writes about medicine. Your background is not a limitation and neither is your location. In my case, I transitioned into the science communications field while still being based in Argentina and there was almost nothing that I could do on-site, so all my work since I started – about five years ago – was remote. I traveled the world. I worked from everywhere and I had clients in Europe, in the US, and even in Argentina. I never had to be there to be successful and I managed teams of 30 plus editors and writers from the other side of the globe.

I really want all of you to experience this because right now a lot of you are probably seeing everything that’s happening in academia, right? Tenure professors getting pushed out. They’re closing down the PhD pipeline across the board and the hiring freezes. People can’t get promoted.

There’s also spending freezes, you can’t get stuff you need for your research, and so on. A lot of universities have stopped even enrolling PhDs. The writing’s on the wall, but you can relax because you can write high amounts of high-quality materials. You can do what you’re doing right now for peanuts in academia, but you can be paid very well for it. You can write, you can work with all kinds of big companies within the medical writing field.

** for the full podcast, check out the audio player above.

The post 20 Medical and Scientific Writing Careers For PhDs appeared first on Cheeky Scientist.

Learn The Newest U.S. Immigration Laws & Guidelines With Top U.S. Immigration Lawyer, Brian Getson, JD Oct 19, 2020

Show notes

The unique job search process of international PhDs

Join Isaiah and Brian Getson, JD while they discuss the newest U.S. immigration laws & guidelines.

Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode…

First, Isaiah interviews international PhDs who have successfully navigated the visa process
Next, Isaiah and Brian discuss the immigration landscape during a pandemic
Finally, Isaiah and Brian look at how best to handle the process and what to expect

From This Week’s Show…

Advice From Fellow PhDs

During the final days of my PhD, I was applying for jobs and a lot of recruiters did contact me about open positions, but they wanted someone who could start immediately. And I still had to wait for OPD. You just have to let them know that you have a specific date when you can start working, so they can keep it in mind and get back to you after that. You definitely have to follow up with the recruiters. Particularly in my position with my company, I got lucky because they are willing to sponsor me. They do understand the problems of international students.

The way I got this job was through networking. As it is the Cheeky Scientist mantra, you have to network either online or in-person. You have to start networking on LinkedIn and add value to who you are contacting. Just saying: “Hi, I want to add you to my network won’t help you much. They might accept your connection request, but that’s not what you want. So you’ve got a network to add value to them, keep the communication lines open.

I’m glad you focused on getting into the career, getting in front of employers, and the importance of networking. One of the best parts about the Cheeky Scientist Programs, like the International PhD Community, is the network, and it’s the culture that’s fostered. Everybody wants to network. They make it easy, much easier than if you’re out there trying to do it by yourself. And there’s a structured process for it.

The Cheeky Scientist’s International PhD Community, will help you understand which visa process is right for you, not missing critical deadlines, but networking and executing a job search. You really have to take your career into your own hands, take it seriously, map it out, get very specific records. Like you would record data in a lab notebook every day. It’s such a specific process, specific deadlines. You’ve got to stay up to date on what has actually changed, you have to look at the laws and what’s going on, make sure you’re following the correct advice and get around people who have the same kind of mindset.

What to expect in 2020 and beyond

What is new in the world of getting researchers hired?

There’s a lot going on right now, Isaiah, and there’s good and there’s bad. And, it’s important to understand everything. You can’t ignore the bad because you still have to deal with it. They are still approving people’s cases. They’re still giving out green cards. They’re still giving out temporary DCIS, they’re open for business, but certainly it is a different world in 2020 than it was in 2019.

The panelists talked about the challenges and how you can overcome them. And all of that remains true, but you really have to understand what’s going on, you have to plan in advance, you have to stay positive, you have to push through it, and you have to find a way because the U.S. needs researchers. They need scientists, but the landscape is changing so much that you have to really know what’s going on.

Let’s start with the good Isaiah, because we should always talk about the good first. The first thing that happened is that the immigration service was going to raise all of their fees and the fees especially for the green card we’re going to more than double. But there was a court injunction stopping the fees from being raised.

It was supposed to go off on October 2nd and our office was working like crazy to get everyone their cases filed before the fees were increased. Then, there was a court order and we ended up getting a break with that. Everything is still the same in terms of the fees and the forms.

I think we have to look at the good and the bad, like you said, create a plan, which is what I’m showing here. One thing you’ll do when you get into the international PhD community is you’ll create a blueprint with multiple options. You can’t just evade it. You can’t think it’s going to get better. You can’t think that there’s no hope for you. You just have to learn the best option possible and take your job search even more seriously. You have to fight harder in a sense.

** for the full podcast, check out the audio player above.

The post Learn The Newest U.S. Immigration Laws & Guidelines With Top U.S. Immigration Lawyer, Brian Getson, JD appeared first on Cheeky Scientist.

6-Part MSL Job Search Blueprint- From Designing An MSL Resume To Crafting Your MSL Interview Presentation Oct 12, 2020

Show notes

MSL Careers Require A Different Set of Skills

Join Isaiah, Elizabeth Thatcher, and Yuri Klyachkin as they discuss an MSL job search blueprint that includes designing a resume and crafting your interview presentation.

Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode…

First, Isaiah interviews PhDs who have successfully transitioned into MSL positions.
Next, Isaiah, Elizabeth, and Yuri discuss the soft skills needed to be an MSL.
Finally, Isaiah, Elizabeth, and Yuri review the presentation standards set forth for MSLs.

From This Week’s Show…

Advice From Fellow PhDs

[We are talking to] successful professionals in the MSL career path, they’ve made the transition into industry, and there’s plenty of positions out there for PhDs, you’re just invisible to employers.

The MSLA group has been really valuable in terms of that network, understanding what the MSL position is, and helping me with the interview. Knowing how to present is key. That’s the number one point that you need to kill in your interview process because the presentation is just absolutely crucial.

The MSL career is slightly different and understanding those different aspects is very important. However, you can get into this role as a PhD, no matter what background you have. You need to learn new things, to learn to speak the language of MSLs, and you have to learn which parts of the job search process for MSL are different from other career paths. But you can learn that through day-to-day interactions and using the resources we offer.

Important Skills To Land An MSL Job Offer

The soft skills are what that matter most in an MSL role, whereas for a non-MSL role, it’s usually the technical skills that matter most. For scientits or similar roles, we all know that our technical skills are incredibly valuable, but if you can’t communicate appropriately, then you’re not going to get an MSL role.

They can teach you the science, but it’s much harder to teach social skills, emotional intelligence, and how to be comfortable and confident speaking in front of a group of people.

Importance Of Interview Presentations For Aspiring MSLs

Let’s focus on the interview presentations, what are some of the shifts that they need to make the biggest differences in presenting in academia versus in an interview for an MSL position. What do they need to know?

I would say the biggest difference for a clinical presentation versus a PhD presentation is they pretty much do not care about the methods at all in a clinical presentation. Whereas, I think, in science, we focus a lot on the methods. They care more about the outcomes, the patient population, and AE or adverse events.

Candidates need to show that they know the data and apply the data correctly to an appropriate patient, whatever those data may be. A safety profile is important because some patients may be intolerant of the drug or just may not be the right patient for the drug. The efficacy profile is also important in the context of the therapeutic area landscape because there are so many different therapies to choose from.

It’s important to essentially present what our asset does from safety and efficacy. By no means, do we say it’s better or worse unless there was a head-to-head study done with a competitor. MSLs don’t make any comparative statements.

** for the full podcast, check out the audio player above.

The post 6-Part MSL Job Search Blueprint- From Designing An MSL Resume To Crafting Your MSL Interview Presentation appeared first on Cheeky Scientist.

A Salary Negotiation Map For Avoiding Rejection During The 2nd Wave Of Hiring Freezes Oct 05, 2020

Show notes

PhDs Should Negotiate Their Salary To Get Paid What They Are Worth And Be Respected By Industry Professionals

Join Isaiah And Don Asher As They Discuss The Negotiation Plan You Should Follow When Transitioning Out Of Academia

Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode…

First, Isaiah interviews PhDs who have successfully used Don’s strategies for salary negotiation.
Next, Isaiah and Don discuss why it is so important for PhDs to negotiate their industry salary, no matter the industry or position.
Finally, Isaiah and Don go over some negotiation scripts you can use to show you are a professional deal maker.

From This Week’s Show…

Advice From Fellow PhDs

What would you say are some of the most helpful strategies you’ve learned from Don? If you could look back to the gaps you had in your knowledge in terms of negotiation in every aspect of business, every aspect of your job search, and then how has Don helped you close those gaps?

To me, it was never seeing yourself at a cap. Never think “I’m only worth 90” or “I’m only worth 70.” The sky’s the limit. You should see yourself as a resource that has no limit, you keep your value and you let them know. You have an open ended question to ask why you’re not able to make this much to have this many vacation days, never have a bottom line.

And I think your point is extremely important and something we’ll touch on today in terms of knowing that everything is negotiable and opening your eyes to how much you’re leaving on the table, whether it’s negotiating salary, but also stock options, retirement, relocation, signing, bonuses, all these different things that we’ve been led to believe don’t apply to us, but they absolutely do.

Why You Should Always Negotiate

I knew nothing when I was getting ready for my first industry job and looking back, I missed out on easily tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars because of simple gaps in my knowledge.

I used to hear people telling me: “You can lose a million dollars from not negotiating,” but when I was getting a stipend of like $1500 a month, I was like, “what does that even mean to me?” But when you see it add up like this from your first job onwards, you realize that just a real small increase – a few thousand dollars extra starting salary – and doing it fairly consistently every third year can really add up.

And it’s not just money that you lose by not negotiating. When you don’t negotiate, your employer assumes that they overestimated your skillset. So, they’ll offer you less challenging assignments. They’ll pick someone else for the big offer.

There’s an opportunity cost that is invisible. The total irony of it is even if they don’t increase your salary, they respect you more and esteem your skills higher. And this is proven, it’s not my opinion.

When Is The Right Time to Start Negotiations

Employers may try to initiate a variety of salary tests prior to making an offer to you, but you shouldn’t negotiate at all prior to getting an actual offer. And the reason is because you don’t have any power yet.

During the interview rounds, the employer has all the power. They can choose you out of the applicant tracking system. They have the power just to stop talking to you at any given moment.

But when you get a formal offer, there’s a magic transfer of power. At that point and until the candidate says yes or no, they possess the power. Once the candidate says yes or no, accepts or declines the offer. The power goes right back to the boss. That’s why you only negotiate after you have an offer.

A lot of the training is actually not about negotiations. It’s about managing the relationship successfully to get to that point when you get that offer. So, I hope that people see this as a big picture, not just as different techniques that you might read in a how to buy a car book. This is about how to negotiate relationships and bring that relationship to that offering point. And then also negotiate that big money.

** for the full podcast, check out the audio player above.

The post A Salary Negotiation Map For Avoiding Rejection During The 2nd Wave Of Hiring Freezes appeared first on Cheeky Scientist.

Skip Entry Level Positions By Putting These 10 Business Skills On Your Resume Sep 29, 2020

Show notes

No Need To Wait Years For That Management Position.

Join Isaiah and Ramya Raman as they discuss 10 Business Skills to put on your resume.

Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode…

First, Isaiah interviews PhDs who have successfully transitioned into management and business positions.
Next, Isaiah and Ramya discuss why it is so important for PhDs to showcase their business skills when looking for an industry position.
Finally, Ramya and Isaiah Share some business skills that PhDs should leverage in their job search.

From This Week’s Show…

Advice From Fellow PhDs

Today we are talking about career transitions and how to skip the entry level positions by highlighting business skills on your resume.

You need to learn the business language. They don’t care what you’re doing for science. They want science for their product. So, that was a huge aspect that I had to learn going into my current position.

Understanding how to translate technical data to business data is crucial. It’s scary for some people because as scientists, we’re trained to look at business people as they just care about money and that’s not true. They care, but we have to guide them a little bit to care about specifically certain things that we may want to get out there.

As a PhD, you have the technical skill box checked, but that’s not going to make up for the lack of business acumen. Speaking business language is what will get you paid that management salary. This is what will differentiate you.

How To Target Your Job Search Strategy For A Management Position

When we start out looking at our job applications and what we’re doing in our resumes and LinkedIn, what we really need to think about is who we are as a person overall, what do we need outside of our technical skills.

It is really important to know what recruiters are looking for right now. Virtual project management, virtual mentoring, or virtual functional collaboration is really important to learn. Virtual presentations skills is not something from being a PhD, but it is still a unique selling proposition that could be put on a resume.

You’re in demand in industry, you just are likely invisible. Then, once they finally talk to you, you’re talking like an academic. You’re not speaking the language of industry. This gap in understanding of industry can be exposed after a company hires a new employee. The most important thing you can do is show you have strong business acumen and then learn skills such as project management.

The fact that you can do a large volume of work, you can learn quickly and process information would do into technical literacy. Creating a business acumen development plan and a management level resume is something we teach in Scientist MBA. There are some pillars that will help you showcase that you understand how industry works and you can speak the language of industry.

** for the full podcast, check out the audio player above.

The post Skip Entry Level Positions By Putting These 10 Business Skills On Your Resume appeared first on Cheeky Scientist.

The One Big Advantage PhDs Have That Make Them The Best Management Consultants Sep 22, 2020

Show notes

Looking to sharpen your business acumen and/or transition into a management consulting career as a PhD?

In this episode of the Cheeky Scientist podcast, Isaiah interviews James Wadsworth. He will give you the industry insight you need to transition into a management consulting career.

Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode…

First, hear from PhDs who recently transitioned into management consulting careers
Next, Isaiah and James will discuss what is a management consultant
Finally, Isaiah and James share exclusive insights on interviewing for management conslutant roles.

From This Week’s Show…

Why PhDs Should Choose Management Consulting Roles

They generally ask you for your point of view POV and you have to be very fast and sharp. It is normally very time sensitive. It’s very critical for you to answer the moment.

We’re really good at reading books and comprehension. It is a strength of all PhDs, or you wouldn’t have got your PhD or come this far. But behaviorally being able to competently make a recommendation on your feet or confidently talk through a problem when there’s pressure is a different story.

So go from that data to what does this mean and what does this mean in the context of our business, is an extremely, extremely attractive skill set for management consulting firms.

So what I’m saying is this one thing that’s fascinating and amazing about management consulting and the industry is they’re looking yes for expertise, but mostly do you have analytical capability and can you communicate and build relationships? And from there you can go anywhere you want to.

Thought, you know, at a very high level of management consultants come in and strive to answer the most difficult, most ambiguous. And in my opinion, the most exciting types of problems that face businesses today. So you do this with data logic and really just a lot of business acumen.

A lot of the focus has shifted to helping customers and clients mitigate risk, understand the new environment, and make predictions with confidence about what’s going to happen to their industry and what measures they need to put in place.

There are business situation questions, and then there are more sort of estimation questions

We might find the right problem to solve, but to be able to synthesize the problem and make a recommendation and then have people listen to that recommendation in deep respect and then throw millions of dollars behind it to see your recommendation in the real world and solve and turn businesses around.

Getting Hired

I’m surprised how many PhDs walk into an interview, not realizing they’ll be asked to solve business problems on the interview

You could argue the reason that consultants are hired is because they’re, it’s an independent brain. You’re just hiring an independent brain that is far enough removed from the situation to see things and give you a good database answer.

Management consulting hiring processes are extremely unique. The single most unique thing about this is the case case style interview.

Once you hit that 45 minute, they will cut you off. It doesn’t matter if you’re done with the case or not. And you’ll use the last 15 minutes to talk about your experience. They’re trying to gauge not just your experience, but also your fit.

The only thing that matters in the case interview is the process. It is not the answer.

This is the premier program overall with science MBA for helping PhDs get caught up to speed on their business acumen.

I really want to encourage as many of you as possible to join the management consulting firm, get access. All of these figures, these diagrams that you see, you get those times a hundred in the program.

** for the full podcast, check out the audio player above.

The post The One Big Advantage PhDs Have That Make Them The Best Management Consultants appeared first on Cheeky Scientist.

9 ‘Recession Proof’ Project Management Skills & Tools Sep 15, 2020

Show notes

Project Management roles are estimated to increase 33% by 2027.

Join Isaiah and Orly Levitan as they discuss 9 recession proof project management skills and tools.

Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode…

First, Isaiah discusses what is project management and why PhDs are perfect for this career.
Then, Isaiah and Orly talk about the skills you need to get a project management position.
Finally, Isaiah and Orly share the top tools project managers are using today.

From This Week’s Show…

What is Project Management?

Today we are talking about the nine recession proof, project management skills and tools to save your PhD career with a senior industry project manager, Orly Levitan.

And then there is a really big aspect that we don’t encounter so much in academia is managing people.

Being able to manage a project in academia does not necessarily mean you can manage a project in industry.

This [project management] is a great transition point. Not just because you can get into any career path after being a project manager, it’s literally the one role that requires the skills required for every other role in industry.

It’s also in very high demand; 33% worldwide increase in project management positions by 2027.

They [companies] have resources and they want to know that they manage them correctly. So, when you invest in project management, you’re supposed to be investing in protecting the resources of the company.

Just having a company being managed well requires people that understand how projects are managed, even in R&D and upper management.

So you do need to hold on to the deadline.

When you go to industry, even when you come from a rich lab, you go to industry it’s many more millions.

When you’re applying and you can’t mentally work within a framework of hundreds of millions or billions, if you’re trying to get a job at Pfizer or other larger company, you’re going to struggle, and nobody’s going to want to put you in charge of those resources.

Project Management Skills And Tools

It starts in the initiation phase and then we go into the planning phase, where we actually plan the entire project that ends with the signed and approved statement of work. Then we go through the execution phase where we actually start with building the project, making the project, having all the deliverables, and then this ends with something that we give, like a deliverable.

Projects fail because people are focusing on details rather than on value.

Risk management is like a muscle when you get used to managing risks continuously, when you keep training, you get to know risk management; it becomes an instinct.

Sometimes for a project management position, you would be given a scenario and they’re going to ask you, “how are you going to manage change to this project?” So you would need to have two or three solutions or possible outcomes for each change that you would be facing during the simulation.

Now there are very few companies that are completely waterfall and there are very few companies that are completely agile.

The thing with waterfall is that you can never go back. It’s more definitive.

Agile was made to combat not being able to go up the waterfall. It had to be more flexible. It had to be more circular. The goal is to get feedback faster.

With agile, things are more defined because the deliverables are smaller and shorter very often, but there are continuous iterations of redefining the requirements. You’re more in touch with the stakeholders.

A burnout chart is also a very good way to see how your project is actually moving along and it has to do with the tasks more than with the time being spent because it really checks more what you accomplish, rather what you put into the project.

** for the full podcast, check out the audio player above.

The post 9 ‘Recession Proof’ Project Management Skills & Tools appeared first on Cheeky Scientist.

11 Research Scientist & Project Manager Careers For PhDs (& How To Get Hired Into Them) Sep 07, 2020

Show notes

Research and Development encompasses a lot more careers than you may think.

Join Isaiah and Elliot as they discuss 11 research scientist & project management roles PhDs can get into within the R&D umbrella.

Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode…

First, Isaiah interviews a few PhDs who’ve successfully transitioned into R&D careers.
Next, Isaiah and Elliot dive into the many career paths that PhDs can follow in the R&D field.
Finally, Isaiah and Elliot discuss the major project management roles.

From This Week’s Show…

Advice From Fellow R&D Associates

Today, we are going to talk about 11 research scientists and project management careers for PhDs.

Research and Development is a rapidly growing market. It was predicted to grow at 8.7% after the pandemic. It’s predicted to grow at 21% or beyond, depending on the metrics you look at.

The first thing I had to just overcome was that I was capable and able to get an industry position. Then I took the next step and started learning how to speak the language.

You might be invisible to employers, but you’re very valuable.

Focus on the broader transferable skills, your ability to do research and analysis.

I have always had this dilemma of whether I had to do a postdoc, because that was the trend after doing a PhD. If you’re not doing a postdoc, you cannot get a job. And that’s such a big lie. That’s such a fat lie.

A postdoc is not going to help you even in R&D. It’s more likely to damage your career.

One of the bigger things that people get stuck on from the academic mindset is wanting to go through and know everything there is about something. But you have to be able to pivot.

Research Scientist & Project Manager Careers For PhDs

These are the top eight characteristics that PhDs say they characterize or evaluate different job titles on.

We’re looking at user experience, researcher information, software specialist, technical development, your junior researchers versus your senior and principal researchers, heck economics, outcome researcher, informatics could also go here, then application scientist, application research, or application specialists, etc.

On the industry side, we do see more structured project management because of the larger teams, more teamwork, obviously development, a focus on things like your technical data. It has to translate into business data.

One of the worst things that can happen to you, in my opinion, as a PhD, is to get hired into a role where you’re working side by side and being paid the same amount or less than somebody with their bachelor’s or master’s.

Technical development is an offshoot of similar things with the previous position in user research. So, you’re going through and helping develop the newer version of a mass spec or the newer version of the liver on a chip.

Now, in an industry setting instead of focusing on the one grant, you’re focusing on the industry’s goals. And then the director is the person whodecides what are these goals actually going to be.

A project manager is following the specific product from conception to actual product, going through clinical trials all the way to conception.

You’ll learn as a project manager, the four phases, two of which we never do in academia, writing statements of work, project charters, staying on project scope and quality budget.

We see this more so now is going through and having the logistics and all of these different companies are going over and having issues. And it’s the QA/QC people who are managing these areas.

Business development manager. These are the people who are going through and making sure we’re filling in those sectors that need to be addressed.

** for the full podcast, check out the audio player above.

The post 11 Research Scientist & Project Manager Careers For PhDs (& How To Get Hired Into Them) appeared first on Cheeky Scientist.

Avoid Failing Data Scientist Interview Take Home Exams (What You Must Know To Get Hired) Sep 01, 2020

Show notes

Data Scientist is a surging career track for PhDs, even during the recession, but you have to be able to navigate the unique hiring process in order to transition into this field.

To get the inside information on the data scientist hiring process, join Isaiah as he interviews Shobeir Mazinani, PhD.

Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode…

First, Isaiah interviews a few PhDs who’ve successfully transitioned into data scientist roles.
Next, gain vital advice on what it takes to become a data scientist.
Finally, Isaiah and Shobeir walk you through the data scientist hiring process.

From This Week’s Show…

Advice From A Data Scientist

I’m very excited about today’s show. We’re going to bring on a panel of data scientists to talk about this exciting career track.

You can get hired into a data scientist role and learn on the job.

So one of the biggest things I did was I chased the technology at the beginning. The biggest help came from one comment. She basically told me don’t follow the technology, follow the principles.

I would say, talk to people who are more experienced because they have made a lot of mistakes that you don’t need to do and follow the basics rather than the technologies.

The biggest reason that they’re hiring PhDs that are not even from computer science, is that they want someone to come in and solve a business problem. So, they want someone who knows how to think critically and who knows how to, first of all, consume a lot of information in a very short amount of time and then start producing results.

A data scientist is a person that has to frame the problem into what is needed for a decision to be made and then goes and searches and brings back the goal. So it’s all about how much business impact you can have.

How to Get Hired As A Data Scientist

Those three types of skills – technical transferable business – you’ll be trained on those in the syndicate as well.

Can I translate my technical findings into something a bit nontechnical and still be accurate?

So, you have to first define what is the problem that you want to solve. Can you make a business problem into a mathematical problem to then solve?

You have to say it in a brief sentence so that the nontechnical person understands, and it’s not too oversimplified so that the technical person would be like, “you have no idea what you’re talking about.” So it’s that balance that you’ll have to do.

A lot of companies have a mixture of one or two data scientists and one or two non-data scientists on the forum. So, one of them would normally test you for cultural fit. The other one, would then test you on your business, acumen and problem solving. Then, the other one, test you on, let’s say machine learning and the final one may test you on statistics and experiment design and coding.

It’s easier than you think, it’s a lot easier. You just have to go get some experience, try to read a little bit more about some of the lingo, and also try to always take one step back and ask yourself, “why am I solving this problem?“

By putting things on GitHub, you show a track record of progress, which is good for yourself and good for the person who is trying to judge if you are a good candidate.

You’re not going to be building a lot of models in your lifetime. A lot of your time is actually spent cleaning the data and making sure it says what it’s supposed to say. Can you zoom out and see what is the big problem I’m solving then zoom in and say, this is the thing I did then zoom out and put it in the right context?

A lot of times, the problem that people have when interviewing PhDs is that they’re not ready to make that transition from that academic mindset. To focus on other people’s needs rather than just the interest in the problem for the sake of the problem.

So. learn the basic algorithms first and then expand to deep learning, expand to more specialized image processing or computer vision or natural language processing. So these are all sub-segments of a bigger machine learning.

** for the full podcast, check out the audio player above.

The post Avoid Failing Data Scientist Interview Take Home Exams (What You Must Know To Get Hired) appeared first on Cheeky Scientist.

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