Abstract: This informal talk will provide a general overview of pursuing data science as a career and is aimed at physics graduates(-to-be) who are considering such a career path. I will talk about my own experience hunting for my first job, and the work I do as a data scientist. I will also discuss how a physics degree can be beneficial and segue into a general strategy for building up the skills and credentials for a data science role.
Bio: Ivan arrived in the United States from Singapore in 2007 to attend college at the University of Chicago. Graduating with degrees in Physics and Mathematics in 2009, he was subsequently accepted into the Physics PhD program at UIUC, where he worked with Professor Klaus Schulten on molecular dynamics simulations and advanced sampling techniques. He wrote his thesis on applying various methodologies to simulate and study long-timescale biomolecular reactions. Just before successfully defending in 2016, Ivan joined the Insight Data Science bootcamp program in NYC and worked on a project about anomaly detection in short text strings. After his defense and many rounds of interviews, Ivan accepted a data science role at Capital One in San Francisco where he worked on risk models and predictive models of client behavior to enable personalized displays on the company’s mobile app and website. He eventually transitioned to another data science role at Stitch Fix earlier this year, where he currently is today, working on predictive models of client conversion.
