Career Path Of A Data Scientist At Cohere Health
Initially pursuing a pure healthcare path with neuroscience research and EMT work, Shailja reevaluated career goals, considering work-life balance and debt before opting for a data science route. This led to a rotational program, allowing "a little bit easier of an entry into a data science world" by leveraging their healthcare background and ultimately securing a data scientist position at a health tech startup after further skill development and traditional interviewing.
Career Exploration, Data Analysis, Healthcare, Coding, Job Search
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Shailja Somani
Data Scientist
Cohere Health
Johns Hopkins University, 2020
Currently pursuing my MS in Applied Data Science at the University of San Diego (part-time online while working full-time)
Psychology
Technology
Data and Analytics
Greek Life Member, LGBTQ
Video Highlights
1. Shailja's initial interest in healthcare and her exploration of different career paths within the field. She considered medical school but decided it wasn't the right fit due to work-life balance concerns and the long path to a fully-fledged career.
2. Her proactive approach to gaining experience, including taking online coding classes, seeking out opportunities to assist professors with data analytics, and participating in a rotational program that provided exposure to various roles within a healthcare company. This demonstrates the value of initiative and diverse experiences.
3. The effectiveness of a rotational program as a way to enter the data science field without needing all the required skills upfront. The program allowed her to leverage her healthcare background and learn on the job while deciding on a specific area to focus in data science, and ultimately land her current role.
Transcript
Could you walk me through your career path, starting with your experiences in college? Any internships or jobs you had before your current role?
Sure. I always had an interest in healthcare. In college, I started on a more traditional healthcare path, doing neuroscience research and working as an EMT.
I asked myself what I wanted for my future. I considered if medical school was the right path or something else. I thought about the work-life balance I desired, and realized medical school might not be for me. The idea of waiting until my 30s to have a fully fledged career, along with a lot of debt, seemed daunting.
So, I took a different route, thinking about other ways to impact healthcare. I started taking online coding classes and some upper-level courses on campus that were interesting and combined healthcare with computational work. I realized I liked it, and it worked out well.
I interned wherever I could, asking professors if they needed help with data analytics. It wasn't the flashiest work, but I sought exposure and it paid off. Right out of college, I joined a rotational program, which involved four different jobs in two years, with six months in each.
This allowed for an easier entry into the data science world because I didn't need all the strict skills for one exact job. I was effectively interviewing for a series of positions. I leveraged my healthcare background and joined a rotational program with a healthcare company, offering specific skills.
I learned a lot on the job during my rotations and figured out what I really wanted to do. This helped me solidify that I want to be a data scientist. I continued to learn externally and then went through a traditional interview process with technical coding challenges and interviews.
I currently work as a data scientist at a health tech startup.