Transferring from the trading desk to the data science lab - Johnnie Ball

Johnnie Ball is currently the Chief Data Scientist at Fluidly. In a previous life though he was a busy trader working for one of London’s top brokerages. This diverse background has given Johnnie many unique skills that he has carried forward into his career in data science.

With such a varied CV Johnnie is an expert at navigating career change. He is also well versed in transferring his skills from one career to another. All the while using the knowledge he’s gained over the years to grow as an individual and lead a Data Science team.

He used his 30 minutes on the podcast to chart his career progression and highlight some of the lessons he learned when moving from job to job.

“It’s not like the Wolf of Wall Street, but it is a high pressure, highly competitive environment. But I did enjoy it” - Johnnie on the trading floor

Show Notes:

1.05 Johnnie’s experience on a trading desk.

2.38 The unique skills picked up trading.

3.03 Working a career that requires you to be competitive.

4.18 Having an awareness of the value you add to your business. 5.18 Johnnie’s Educational background.

6.30 The satisfaction in trying to solve hard problems.

8.25 How did you end up in Fluidly.

9.56 The incubator environment.

11.07 Comparing the culture of the trading floor and working in Fluidly.

13.04 How was your initial transition to data science?

14.52 What aspects of Data Science did you find the most difficult.

16.25 Defining Data Science.

18.40 Was there a vision of the kind of Data Science team you wanted to be?

20.48 What has your approach been to finding new talent?

22.54 Do you collaborate a lot with your peers?

24.25 Having a sense of purpose when going to networking events. 25.51 What are you the most excited about working on at the moment?