Jon Harris Business Intelligence Developer • Graduate • New York City
Apr 12, 2021
For the better part of the past decade, I worked as a medical researcher both in an academic setting and professionally for a company. While I had a strong foundation in mathematics and statistics, I lacked the rigorous coding, experience with relational databases, and machine learning knowledge to pivot towards a career in Data Science and business analytics.
Before the Bootcamp, I tried teaching myself R through an impersonal, distant online course with limited success. While th...
For the better part of the past decade, I worked as a medical researcher both in an academic setting and professionally for a company. While I had a strong foundation in mathematics and statistics, I lacked the rigorous coding, experience with relational databases, and machine learning knowledge to pivot towards a career in Data Science and business analytics.
Before the Bootcamp, I tried teaching myself R through an impersonal, distant online course with limited success. While the experience convinced me that I wanted to make the career leap, the online course did not allow me to ask questions to further my understanding. In Dec 2019, I quit my job, moved to NYC, and enrolled in the NYC Data Science Academy (NYC-DSA).
My reason for choosing NYC-DSA was rather easy. While some boot camps offer the option to study data science among other UX, software, or cybersecurity career routes, it was important for me to know that my entire tuition would fund my data science education - that the resources would only support the recruiting of college professors and Ph.D. lecturers, career development professions, and teaching assistants. Secondly, NYC-DSA was one of the only boot camps to provide analytics on previous student cohorts, emphasizing the program's accountability to find me the best jobs, not just take my money. Additionally, NYC-DSA had a rigorous but fair selection process to ensure that the cohort had a capable background in mathematics, coding, statistics, and a wide array of professional and educational experiences. The cohort's diversity made the experience particularly valuable as each person could provide insight into how data science is applied in their respective field. Lastly, I chose NYC-DSA because they were the only boot camp that taught both Python and R, in addition to SQL. The ability to learn both languages ensures that students are not limited to certain industries because they only know one language - in fact, my current job frequently requires that I code in both languages.
After the 1st day at NYC-DSA, I was not disappointed in my decision to attend NYC-DSA. The instructors were beyond impressive, many with PhDs in Mathematics, Physics, or Statistics, and with professional backgrounds in Biology, Finance, and Marketing. Unlike my previous engineering or college courses, the professors were engaging, frequently made jokes to lighten the mood, and were immediately relatable. The boot camp made an effort on Fridays to provide food and drinks at the end of the day and emphasizes socializing with other students and the instructors themselves (come to find out, they are also people, haha).
I decided to attend a coding boot camp because I wanted to educate myself and ultimately change careers. Finishing the boot camp in April 2020, at the beginning of COVID-19, when NYC and the economy shut down, was not easy. In fact, it wasn't easy - NYC-DSA would send out monthly job reports of NYC/SF/etc., showing 50-70% fewer job postings from the year before. Despite that, the career development team at NYC-DSA could not have been more helpful in ensuring that I had the best possible resume, cover letter, and application package for each job listing. For nearly a year, I would meet 1-2x a month with someone at the boot camp to go over my applications and how I could better utilize LinkedIn to network and reach out to recruiters. Several of my job interviews resulted from the lecturers recommending me for a job they heard about. If the boot camp knew I had an interview at a company coming up, they would get me in touch with a current or former employee to better prepare myself for the interview process. After nearly a year and hundreds of job applications, I landed two job offers on the same day for nearly $40k/yr more than my previous salary - largely through the networking I did through the boot camp.
The boot camp was hard; it was an excruciating three months of getting to the camp at 9 am, frequently staying until midnight, coming on the weekends, etc. But all of it was worth it, thanks to the dedication of the faculty, CEO, and students at the New York City Data Science Academy.