Mailbag: I'm Now a Senior DS—How should I Approach this?
Читатель J получил оффер на позицию Senior Data Scientist, проработав дата-сайентистом всего около трёх лет, и испытывает синдром самозванца из-за приставки «senior». Он спрашивает Eugene Yan, как тот подошёл к этому, ведь Eugene тоже стал «senior» спустя несколько лет в DS. Eugene объясняет, что ожидания от «senior» различаются от компании к компании, но неизменно одно: команда ждёт от тебя большего и роли образца для junior-специалистов — участия в обсуждениях архитектуры, внедрения лучших практик, повышения планки в код-ревью. Сам он подходил к любой должности одинаково — вносил максимальный вклад в пользу клиентов, а титул обычно приходил уже после того, как он де-факто работал на этом уровне. J соглашается, что фокус на пользе для клиентов поможет ему расти и постоянно совершенствоваться.
Mailbag: I'm Now a Senior DS—How should I Approach this?
J writes:
I recently got a job offer as a Senior Data Scientist at __. I’ve been working only as a data scientist for about three years, so I’m feeling quite a bit of imposter syndrome with this “senior” title. I wasn’t expecting this. I saw on your linkedin, you made it to senior after only a few years as a DS. Curious, how did you handle/approach this?
I know that level definitions will depend on the company, but any insight here would be super valuable! Thanks Eugene. No rush to reply.
Congrats on the job offer! __ a great place to work at.
The expectation of “senior” differs from org to org. Nonetheless, one thing is constant—the team has higher expectations of you and needs you to be a role model for entry-level DS. This could involve advising in design discussions, incorporating industry best practices, raising the bar in code reviews, suggesting effective ML techniques, etc. It’s a good thing.
In my experience, I approached it like how I would with any job title—I contributed in the best way that I could to serve customers. The title didn’t matter much; it usually came after I was already performing at that level. Let me know if it needs clarification. All the best!
J’s reply:
Thanks Eugene! That makes sense, especially the part on focusing on the best way to serve the customers. Plus, it’ll force me to elevate my skillset and continuously improve.
Have a question for me? Happy to answer concise questions via email on topics I know about. More details in How I Can Help.
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