Can a Physics Degree Lead to a Career in Data Science?

[Zap]

I've been posting here routinely during my master's program and during my job search. It was a very stressful and uncertain time. I would just like it to be known that I got into a data science and analytics training program during which I will receive a weekly stipend. Afterwards, I will interview for and presumably start a position in data science and analytics at the company that sponsors the training.

I do not want to post a lot of troubling information about lack of job prospects and disappear from the forum like many others. Indeed, we can find employment with a physics degree. I am a little apprehensive about this program, because the stipend is small and I've not actually been given a job offer yet, but I am willing to take the risk. As physicists, I think our primary asset is mathematical skills, which a lot of employers value and is applicable to a wide range of different fields.

I think it is true that you can do anything with a physics degree. However, the point people fail to mention is that it's definitely not easy. It may be harder to get into whatever field you decide do than with a specialized degree. Nevertheless, it can be done. I believe that what matters more than your degree, your grades, your experience or what skills you have to offer, is the individual, you your self. It doesn't matter what degree or title or certificate or stamp you get. You are still you. That's all you ever had. I've definitely not made it, yet. My goal is to become rich.

 

[jedishrfu]

Sadly, so many folks who desire to be rich and become so are not very happy.

There's a meme on poverty that succinctly summarizes it:

Poverty exists not because we can't help the poor, but because we can't satisfy the rich.

 

[PeroK]

Sadly, so many folks who desire to be rich and become so are not very happy.

There are a lot of unhappy poor people as well.

 

[Zap]

Well, due to the student loan thing, I don't have much of an option other than try to become rich. However, your perception of rich may be more extravagant than mine. I've been poor pretty much my whole life. I can tell you that friends bring more joy than money, but not having money will make you the loneliest person on the planet, especially as a man. You can see that in homeless people. They are obviously not happy.

I don't know why this happened. I'd like to say it was hard work and determination, but I've no idea why. I sent the same resume I had sent out to 300 different people. I was still awkward during the interview. This time, it just happened to work out. I think, for whatever reason, they wanted to help me. I think we all need some help starting out, and a lot of luck. For some reason, I got lucky.

I am super excited!

 

[jedishrfu]

Its funny you mentioned using the same resume. I always counsel students to customize their resume to the job they’re applying to and to keep a copy should they get an interview.

It really works if you tell the prospective employer what they want to hear from the skills you have.

I know students hate this approach because its more work but its what you have to do to prevent getting lumped with all the other resumes they get.

I’m glad things are working out for you and foresee a great future for you.

 

[Zap]

I tailored my resume for a specific job and applied to 300 of them.

I had tried tailoring my resume to each and every job post in the past, but I didn't receive good results from that. Making one good resume for a specific job and responding to a massive amount of job openings for that specific job in a short amount of time gave me good results.

Even if I had not received this job, I got more interviews the week following that massive resume dump than two years of carefully applying and considering each and every job post, resume and cover letter I sent out.

The job I got was based off of an assessment test. However, I think my resume may have helped me stand out.

Thank you.

 

[phinds]

Attributed variously to Sophie Tucker, Pearl Bailey, Mae West and probably others:

Honey, I been rich and I been poor—and believe me, rich is better.

Also, they say that money can't buy happiness, but it can buy chocolate and that's a close second

 

[symbolipoint]

I tailored my resume for a specific job and applied to 300 of them.

I had tried tailoring my resume to each and every job post in the past, but I didn't receive good results from that. Making one good resume for a specific job and responding to a massive amount of job openings for that specific job in a short amount of time gave me good results.

Even if I had not received this job, I got more interviews the week following that massive resume dump than two years of carefully applying and considering each and every job post, resume and cover letter I sent out.

The job I got was based off of an assessment test. However, I think my resume may have helped me stand out.

Thank you.

Doing some of both is what you want and maybe did. You had one basic resume for the jobs you want and then, as you determined for each job to apply-for, customized from your basic resume. At least you knew what you wanted first. Not always easy to decide which adjustments to make. I am just curious, if you used more of a functional resume, or more of a chronological resume.

 

[Joshy]

My stipends were small, but my offers were more than quadruple- I've definitely paid off my student loans.

I agree with customizing from a basic resume, but it doesn't hold me back from making major changes and saving an extra copy should the application demand it. 300 jobs sounds to me really ambitious.

 

[Zap]

I don't know how many jobs I applied to. It was more than likely between 100 - 200. Once I targeted data analytics, I found so many openings, it was easy to apply to 30 jobs in one day, with the same resume. Overall, from the time I started looking for jobs, two and a half years ago, until now, I sent out over 300 applications.

I had rewritten my resume a bunch of times during my job search. The final form was very basic. I was straight to the point, and didn't clutter it up with a skills section, summary or anything that was too wordy. People don't really want to read through that.

Instead of a skills section, I included some details on the subjects I studied in school under my education, like Python, SQL, R and AI along with specific subject matter, and included other skills I gained under my job experience, like statistical analysis on experimental and synthetic data, Microsoft Excel, presenting figures of results, forming hypothesis, etcetera.

I listed precisely what was necessary and relevant, and a few extra things, like my teaching and tutoring experience, but I kept that short. I think it's better to have something short, straight forward and right to the point and maintain a decent amount of white space and not have to mess with the outside margins. That way, it is more readable.

I also experimented with different fonts and combining several fonts. That's probably not necessary, but it actually looked really nice once I found something that actually worked. I combined Cambria with Source Sans Pro and Source Sans Pro Semi-Bold. I didn’t go full bold on anything. I used the sans for titles and the serif for long strings of words. It looked pretty clean, and I received several compliments on it. It was definitely professional and readable, even though I used two fonts.

Even though I had a decent amount of coding experience prior to the miracle of finding a job, I got and still have the impression that most of the employers were more interested in my mathematical and problem solving ability than my coding ability. So far, it seems as though data analytics doesn’t involve very much coding, but you should be math savvy and able to solve complex problems, if you want to move up to be a big boy data scientist. You also should be business savvy. It requires a lot of skills you don’t get with any degree.

I think the hardest thing is to decide what exactly you want to do, but once you can focus on a specific target and keep shooting, eventually you'll get lucky, assuming you are at least somewhat qualified. The good news is that we as physicists are at least somewhat qualified for a lot of stuff.

So, I am in a training program sponsored by a consulting company. When I finish the training, I will start as an associate data analyst. So, the training is more geared toward data analytics than data science, but does have some time devoted to data science. For example, we get to meet with one of the first data scientists, who started working in the field around 15 years ago. It is so cool. The salary they told me I would be getting as an entry level analyst is very competitive.

Spoiler

85-100k

I can't believe it. Once I gain some business expertise, it is very possible to move up to data scientist. I could also potentially go into data engineering, as well. From there, who knows. There are jobs being created everywhere from this data stuff. Even more jobs with weirder titles are bound to be created in the future. I feel blessed. I feel great. I can't wait to start my professional career.

 

[jedishrfu]

Dont limit your career! Think manager then CEO then retiring on a beach.

Oh wait, its a retirement community with a Hawaiian theme. Close enough though.

 

[Eclair_de_XII]

I think the hardest thing is to decide what exactly you want to do

Hear, hear. :(

 

[Zap]

I thought I'd share an update. After the 12 week training, I was hired. The training kind of sucked, to be honest. I learned a bit, but I didn't get as much as I thought I would out of it, considering I was going in with basic knowledge of just about all of the topics they were covering. Some of the classes I had already taken were more in-depth than the training. I was kind of shocked, but it was still challenging due to the amount of homework we received. The best part was meeting professionals in the data science industry and the entrepreneurs who built the company I am now hired by.

Only three out of ten people who went through the training were selected. The strange thing is that they didn't hire me as a data analyst or data scientist, like what was advertised. I am an associate consultant. The project that I am currently on involves no coding or math. It's not very technical. The salary was also lowered upon hiring by 10k from the lower bound previously mentioned. It's still good and all, and it's still pretty cool that I get to be a consultant, but I am feeling totally unprepared for the job, even after 12 weeks of training. I am also a little shocked. I'm definitely still excited about it, but what a bizarre experience. I wonder why they were so vague and not forthcoming about the job. It seems like they didn't know what they were hiring me for but decided to hire me anyway. The company does analytics, but my current role is something entirely different. I'm not sure what is going on, but I am making decent money and I am going along for the ride.

You never know what will happen. I never thought in my wildest dreams I'd ever be a management consultant. I'm still not totally sure what that is. I can see it's a pretty good career, though. So, whatever. I am sticking to it. I hope the experienced guys can continue to be patient with me, because I am totally out of my element.

Anyway. Just wanted to share. You can definitely get a job with a physics degree. It's just harder because you have to do the job searching yourself. I think other majors get help with the job search. Nevertheless, what has happened to me seems like a fluke, but it could happen to anyone, especially when joining a startup.

 

[jedishrfu]

Yes, sometimes companies play a bait and switch strategy hoping you’ll stay filling a position they couldn’t fill before.

Management consultants stay on top of current trends in their field and should be ready to supply suggestions for future directions. It can be rewarding and it can be political so watch out for competing views and competitors.

 

[Zap]

Thanks. It's crazy that I am a consultant with absolutely zero experience or knowledge in what I am suppose to be consulting about, but I've discovered that this is not uncommon. Maybe, they saw that I studied like 8 different things and got pretty good grades and thought I was a quick learner. That is kind of true, but I've never done anything like this before. So, I am struggling to keep up with the others on my team. Though, they have infinity more experience than I.

 

[symbolipoint]

The bait-and-switch can happen in any field, scientific or not. Then too, a company might change its plans for you as conditions develop.

Also, some companies might be interested in your ability in something, such as "Math" when in fact, your education done in Math may be far more than needed or the job. Like as, the job only requires fairly simple practical algebra and mostly basic arithmetic - in contrast to your having done in school, three semesters of Calculus and one brief extra course beyond.

 

[Zap]

Yea but I saw it as unlikely that I was going to find a job in science and hated graduate school. So, I went for where the demand was. I'm not too bummed out about the bait and switch. There are software engineers and data scientists who work for the company. I just happen to not be working with them at the moment. I'm sure if I gain a good reputation, I could be working with them in the future. As of right now, it's kind of cool to be doing something totally different. I also don't mind learning more about business. That's definitely something they didn't touch on in physics lol.

 

[jedishrfu]

We had one bait and switch incident where the candidate was hired as an engineer on a novel project and then one year later per a known agreement between managers (ie we knew something vaguely about it but he didn't), he was subsequently switched to a very unpopular project where he'd be an engineer verifying what a third party vendor was doing. It's like becoming a player in the majors and then being moved as an assistant coach in the minors. The vendor had all the fun of engineering and you got to watch.

His novel solution was to leave the company within the year and go to med school and become a doctor.

 

[WWGD]

Yea but I saw it as unlikely that I was going to find a job in science and hated graduate school. So, I went for where the demand was. I'm not too bummed out about the bait and switch. There are software engineers and data scientists who work for the company. I just happen to not be working with them at the moment. I'm sure if I gain a good reputation, I could be working with them in the future. As of right now, it's kind of cool to be doing something totally different. I also don't mind learning more about business. That's definitely something they didn't touch on in physics lol.

Re the training in business, in my experience the best class one may take, as a business outsider, is a class in Project Management. It brings up issues from many angles and you can see how they come together.

 

[Zap]

The client I am working for is a big chemical company. I can see a few eyebrows raising when I say my background is in chemistry and physics, yet I am working with the business people instead of in the labs. One guy actually asked me what I am doing here lol. I told him that I am wondering the same thing.

 

[WWGD]

Just pick up a copy of the business section of one of the major international papers: FT, NYT, others and read it on weekends to build yourself up. And pick up a book/video on project management when you get a chance.

 

[marcusl]

And stop telling people that you don’t belong. If you convince them, you’ll be out of a job. Show some enthusiasm for the new challenges instead.

 

[StatGuy2000]

The client I am working for is a big chemical company. I can see a few eyebrows raising when I say my background is in chemistry and physics, yet I am working with the business people instead of in the labs. One guy actually asked me what I am doing here lol. I told him that I am wondering the same thing.

@Zap, I agree with what @marcusl has stated -- don't concern yourself with what the others have stated. The fact that the company hired you for this position means that you do belong in that position, and so don't tell people otherwise.

I should also add that it is not unusual for someone with a science background to work in areas of business. In fact, I see this as a distinct advantage, because then you could serve as a useful bridge between the technical and the business side of the company you are working for, with potential for advancement. Take full advantage of that.

 

[Locrian]

Agree that some education on project management could go a long way. Some other ideas include Systems Engineering, really understanding modern agile and waterfall approaches, a book or two on software requirements and some practice/work on creating really good PowerPoint presentations. All that will all pay off in the long run.

Additionally, one of the most poorly named skills is executive presence, because it isn't just for executives, or even managers. Based on your posts here, I can already tell you that you need to double check how you're presenting yourself against how you want people to perceive you. They could be out of wack. When you determine that they are, the tools you need to adjust how you are perceived are out there, and you can find most of them discussed in podcasts, books and other material on executive presence.

Goodluck, and I'm glad to hear things are working out ok, even if they are working out differently than you expected!

 

[Zap]

So far, it feels as though I've given the impression that I'm incompetent. I just hope they realize that I'm not completely useless and do have some skills and experience outside of management consulting. Wouldn't they typically at least brief you on what the project is about before having you start? I felt totally unprepared, but it has been a learning experience.

 

[Zap]

Well, good news: I think people could tell I wasn’t really the best fit for a pure management consulting role. I also expressed that I have a very technical background, have been studying data analysis and mathematics for yeara, using Python for over a year now, know R and SQL, etcera, and I think they are moving me to a more fitting project, involving python and data science stuff. So, things just happen to be magically going my way. No idea why.

 

[Locrian]

The harder you work, the luckier you'll be.

 

[symbolipoint]

Well, good news: I think people could tell I wasn’t really the best fit for a pure management consulting role. I also expressed that I have a very technical background, have been studying data analysis and mathematics for yeara, using Python for over a year now, know R and SQL, etcera, and I think they are moving me to a more fitting project, involving python and data science stuff. So, things just happen to be magically going my way. No idea why.

Result may be just your good luck, or maybe the people knowing how to use you better now as long as a fitting opportunity exists in your organization.

 

[Zap]

I will be working with someone who calls himself a data scientist. What he actually does might be loosely interpreted as data science. It involves a lot of Python, though. So, it should be more up my alley, so to speak.

 

[Zap]

Interesting. This is really a testament to how unpredictable life can be. So, I lost the job I had received due to the COVID crap. It was indeed related to data science, but mostly in the realm of data wrangling and data mining, which is good nonetheless.

I have gotten a new job in data science. My job title actually has data scientist in it, but again it's not really focused on machine learning and analytics. Once again, it's focus is on data wrangling and data mining. I will probably be doing a lot of web scraping and crawling and writing buggy code to somehow extract data from random websites. It's not an easy task, but can be done to some level of accuracy.

Anyway, salary is descent and I'm looking forward to continuing my career in data. I will be continuing to study the machine learning and analytics aspects of data science as a hobby and to continue building my online portfolio on github, but my actual job will most likely not require it.

Here's to Python and SQL