What Type Of Person Thrives In The Health Industry, According To A Data Scientist At Cohere Health
Data science thrives on individuals who enjoy "working independently" and solving complex problems, even when facing hours of debugging; a passion for the domain and the ability to effectively communicate with non-technical stakeholders are also crucial for success in this field.
Problem-Solving, Resilience, Communication, Data Analysis, Domain Knowledge
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. Enjoy problem-solving and working independently. Data science involves debugging and troubleshooting which requires patience and persistence.
2. Have domain knowledge and the ability to communicate with non-technical stakeholders. Translating technical concepts to business needs is crucial.
3. The field can be challenging but also rewarding. The ability to persevere through difficult problems is vital for success and job satisfaction in this field.
Transcript
How would you describe people who typically thrive in this industry?
I think it's two things. One is a little bit of a personality trait: enjoying puzzles and working independently. There are days when you write code and it just doesn't work. You debug it for hours and hours and want to bang your head against the wall.
That's not for everybody, and I totally understand that. So that's a little bit of a discussion you have with yourself: Is that something you would enjoy or not? It's also incredibly gratifying when it actually comes together.
But there are definitely times where you're like, "What am I doing?" If you don't enjoy that puzzle, you're probably going to be pretty burned out pretty fast.
The second thing is being able to have the domain knowledge and the actual interest in the domain. This allows you to work with non-technical stakeholders and constantly go back and forth. It's about translating what we're working on to the business needs and being able to communicate effectively.