The Data Scientist Show - Daliana Liu

Discussion on GenAI projects, stable diffusion models for social media apps, AI in biotech, and scaling ML teams. Insights on self-supervised learning, research vs production, AGI, and data quality in GenAI. Erik's journey from biologist to ML consultant, mistakes made, and new trends in GenAI. Philosophy in LLMs, OpenAI vs Open Source, and how he hires people.

Jay Feng is the CEO of interview query, a service that help data scientists get jobs. Previously he worked as a data scientist at Nextdoor, Monster. We talked about data science job market, the rise of AI engineering, and the softskills people overlook during interviews. Subscribe to Daliana's newsletter on www.dalianaliu.com for more on data science and career. Daliana's Twitter: https://twitter.com/DalianaLiu Daliana’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalianaliu/ Jay Feng's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jay-feng-ab66b049/ Jay Feng's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DataScienceJay 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:11 Data science job market in 2024 00:09:13 Build projects with AI 00:16:19 Softskills in interviews 00:23:18 Daliana's story on "socializing ideas" 00:28:38 Common mistakes in interviews 00:35:30 Product DS vs ML interviews 00:36:27 Product analytics interview questions 00:39:18 Career transition in DS 00:43:04 Jay's career journey 00:45:38 Is there a principal data analyst? 00:51:52 AI engineer 00:54:28 New roles vs obsolete roles in DS 01:04:46 Is data science dead?

We are joined by two data scientists who have firsthand experience with layoffs. We’ll talk about how to negotiate severance packages, how to handle stress, strategies for job hunting post-layoff, and how to reduce risks in full-time employment. Working with Daliana on personal branding: https://forms.gle/heNuZzaHjaAMQwLu6 Her email: daliana@dalianaliu.com Guests: Susan Shu Chang: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-shu-chang/ Newsletter: susanshu.substack.com Sundar Swaminathan Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sswamina3/ Website: https://www.sundarswaminathan.com/⁠ (00:00:00) Introduction (00:06:13) Severance Negotiation (00:20:29) Identity crisis (00:26:22) Job search after layoff (00:30:21) Networking (00:35:23) Risk at pre-seed startups (00:37:03) How should data scientists pick companies (00:40:43) What to ask hiring managers (00:45:01) Does GenAI change interview processes? (00:47:17) Are data science teams getting leaner? (00:48:56) Future of data science roles (00:50:37) Full time employment and job security (00:53:46) Benefits of full time jobs (00:58:14) Reduce risk of being laid off (01:00:43) How to sell yourself (01:02:43) How to plan your finances (01:05:09) How to become an independent consultant

Jenny Wu, former data analyst turned sales engineer at Hex, discusses the transition into a customer-facing role, traits of successful salespeople, and embedding career and personal goals for happiness. Topics include sales engineer vs data analyst, day-to-day tasks of a sales engineer, and advice on career breaks.

Barry McCardel, Founder and CEO of Hex, talks about the future of data science teams, integrating AI into data science workflows, building data apps for stakeholders, and the potential of conversational user experiences in data work.

Sid Sharan, Senior Data and Applied Scientist at Microsoft, discusses evaluating AI products, OpenAI API for sentiment analysis, data science team culture, collaboration between data scientists and product managers, dealing with burnout, and the role of product data scientists in the age of generative AI tools.

Jess Ramos, Senior Data Analyst at Crunchbase, discusses topics such as job hopping, SQL in the real world, data analyst vs data scientist, salary negotiation, and the future of data analytics. She shares her experience with job hopping, her day-to-day work as a data analyst, and how to talk data to stakeholders. Jess also discusses the importance of salary negotiation and the impact of LinkedIn on her career. The podcast concludes with a discussion about the future of data analytics and the speaker's online presence and courses.

Mehdi Noori, applied science manager at the Generative AI Innovation Center at Amazon, discusses his transition from civil engineering to data science, working on sports vertical projects at Amazon, the transferability of skills across industries, building trust and effective communication, and the role of luck in success. He also shares his experience getting into college in Iran, the power of quitting and moving on, and his work on an application called Margarabe, a conversational date planner. Lastly, he talks about his future career plans in sustainability and AI.

Former finance professional, Misty Arnold, discusses her decision to quit her job and become a farmer. She shares her experience transitioning from the corporate world to farm life, achieving financial sustainability, and embracing uncertainty. Misty reflects on the collaborative nature of her job, handling stress, and making connections in her new community. She debunks misconceptions about farming and highlights the convenience of modern farms. Misty encourages others to save money before pursuing a different path and allowing enough time to adjust to a new way of living.

Pan Wu is a senior manager of data science at Meta. We talked about why he moved from machine learning to product data science, projects he worked on at Uber, Linkedin, and Meta, and how he transitioned from IC to manager. Subscribe to Daliana's newsletter on www.dalianaliu.com for more on data science and career. Pan’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/panwu/ Daliana's Twitter: https://twitter.com/DalianaLiu Daliana’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalianaliu/ (00:00:00) Introduction (00:01:30) Why he transitioned from MLE to product DS (00:07:38) Meta data scientists skill sets (00:15:49) When did his interest shifted from MLE to product DS (00:18:04) Is MLE more respected? (00:25:46) A/B testing deep dives in 3 steps (00:28:21) Built a tool at Linkedin (00:35:52) How to sell your project (00:41:07) Junior vs senior data scientist (00:43:24) From staff data scientist to manager (00:45:18) Explore being a manager (00:46:24) Cultures in Uber, Linkedin, TrueCar (00:52:09) Data science over the past 10 year (00:55:06) MLE vs DS fun and frustration (00:57:26) Product DS reality (00:59:10) Learning new skills (01:01:39) Mistakes he made (01:06:34) Future of data science (01:08:04) Will data scientists be replaced by AI (01:09:42) Three skills he looks for when hiring