The Procrastinator’s Guide to a Data Science Career
The best approach to a data science career involves discipline, organization, and patience. So what do you do if you have none of those traits? In this talk, I'll share strategies for entering a career in data science or statistics, based on my own experience working as a Data Scientist at Stack Overflow and my history as an inveterate procrastinator. With the right philosophy, procrastination can a surprisingly productive strategy that is especially well-suited to the modern field of data science. Putting off urgent but unimportant work can help procrastinators focus on more meaningful long-term projects, or on improving their own skill set. Most importantly, this fits well with a philosophy of producing public work in the form of blogs, open source projects, and social media, which is among the most effective ways to join the data science community and advance one's own career. These strategies work well even for aspiring data scientists with healthier work habits.