Data Science Dream Job

I was in the process of a career change, and was trying to figure all of the details out for myself, without really knowing what details I needed, when I discovered the Data Science Dream Job program. The curriculum had everything in place that I was looking for, like a detailed learning program that taught you the most relevant skills you need to know. It also has what many programs I've done in the past have lacked, true mentors, from people in the industry that have made the same journey I was on. Job assistance was another crucial component in signing up, and they help you with everything from perfecting your resume, to interviewing, to even salary negotiations. Each new section I get to reinvigorates me towards my end goal, but am very happy with my decision to enroll in this program.

I am following Data Scientist since very long time on Linkedin. I have come across many posts and many people with unique perspective for the Data Science. But what Kyle and team has put together is just out of this world. They don't teach a course like the one you will get in normal school. This is methodology to get success in any field you want. They took a very systematic approach to teach you to become independent learner. I enjoy learning their modules and they always keep you motivated to do more. 

Pros:
Highly responsive mentors 
Daily Office hours
Regular Mentorship call
Job search support
much more...

Cons:
Will update once found.

You will find being a part of the DSDJ community an asset at any point of time in your career - for two reasons 1) The community is really active and resourceful 2) The carefully curated modules that will assist you in every step of the way to land that dream job. For a newbie, it is the whole package since it helps you clearly define a roadmap and a plan of action. If you are relatively familiar with the domain, I wouldn't say the learning resources are out of the world but if you're looking to discover new avenues or simple have the smallest of issues with projects/ things that you are learning, the kind of support you will receive from the community is unmatched in terms of quality and the rate of response; support not just from the mentors, who I must say, are truly phenomenal, but also from all other members of the community.  There are no deadlines or someone to monitor you at every moment, DSDJ is as effective in bolstering your career as you make it.

I first heard about DSDJ from a buddy, and I signed up to get more information and watch the initial videos. This put me onto a mail drip list -- which I have to admit made me think "ugh, someone watched too many marketing how-to infomercials" but each one had progressively more valuable nuggets. The important take-away is that at each step I felt I was getting something of value. If it feels a bit fuzzy early as to the specifics of a technical course outline, it's because this is not a pure technical line of learning; it's not a Galvanize or DataCamp sort of thing. (and thank goodness it's not).

While it took me a while to decide to join, I was immediately glad I did. The networking and mentoring aspects are my favorite parts. It's useful to keep in mind that the valuable piece here is the focus on mindset. The technical skills you pick up will be as good as other technical-only courses -- and in fact a lot of the technical skills you learn here will be by augmenting from other external free or semi-free courses, or books or other resources. So what you've really paid for is the guidance in what's useful to learn and in what order, as well as the DSDJ community which can help keep you focused. As is often the case in life, sometimes it's in learning what NOT to do that is the valuable skill. And a team legitimately cheering you on.

A piece of advice on pricing. As I mentioned, there was an initial "marketing" feel to it. After a bit I realized that if my feeling was right, it also meant that the first price mentioned wouldn't be the best deal and that lower prices would be available if I was patient. You know what I mean....along the lines of "you won't pay $100 for this, or even $75. And it'd be a bargain at $50. No, you'll pay just one easy payment of $29.99" When you hear a marketer say that, ignore all the earlier higher prices they yell out, they're just trying to psyche you up for the final price.  When I first signed up, IIRC, the "full retail value" was claimed to be ~$4995 which was "available to me" for $2995. See? making me think I'd be "saving" $2000. Nah, it's really just $2995, and the 4995 is marketing fluff. To be clear, in retrospect I feel even if I'd paid $2995 for DSDJ I'd still feel I've gotten good value.

Now, if the initial DSDJ price seems too steep, have patience. The email drip campaign will kick in and just make sure you watch any videos they send during this process and eventually you'll start seeing price decreases since your watching of the videos and etc will show you're still an active lead that merits a price discount. At some point there's a "6 easy payments" offer, though it means you'll pay ~20% more than if you pay things all at once.  So I'd skip that one. If you can wait 8-9-10 weeks, which is what I did, and keep opening the emails so they know you're active, you'll eventually be given an offer that is a vastly reduced number than the original bargain price. I still think it was worth it at the higher original price, it's just that once the discounts started to happen I knew there's never just one, so I held out for the biggie :). 

(I'm purposely avoiding saying what was the final price I paid, because your mileage may vary. And it depends on your patience for a bargain.)