Chapter 93 Where to Look for Data Science Jobs

Now that we’ve discussed what you’ll need to apply to jobs, including a resume and cover letter, what steps to take to update your professional social media presence, including an updated website, GitHub, LinkedIn and active Twitter, and what a job description looks like, we’re ready to discuss where you actually find data science jobs. There are a number of locations where jobs are posted. We’ll walk through them now and discuss the strengths of each platform.

We’ll finish out this lesson discussing the steps to take when applying to a position. These will vary from one job to the next, so we won’t discuss specifics in this process, but we’ll walk you through generally.

93.0.1 What Jobs to Look For

We mentioned this briefly in the last lesson, but there will be data scientist positions for which you will not be qualified if this program is the extent of your data science training. That’s ok! It makes sense that individuals who have been learning and gaining experience for years will be better suited for higher level or more advanced data science positions! With more training and experience, you’ll get there too. For now though, it’s best to read job descriptions carefully. If it’s a machine learning-focused position and you are unfamiliar with most of the words in the job description, that’s probably not the right position for you. There’s no need to apply to that job.

However, you do not need to have exactly every qualification and skill listed on the job posting. If you have most of the skills they’re requesting and are willing to learn the few with which you’re less familiar, it is ok to apply to that position!

Thus, given the training in this course, you’ll want to focus on positions where data wrangling, data visualization, basic analysis, and report generation and presentations are the focus. These may have the title “data analyst”, “junior data scientist”, “entry level data scientist” or “data scientist.” Read the job descriptions carefully and decide if the job may be right for you!

93.0.2 Additional Considerations

A final note on looking for jobs, you may have limitations that should be considered before you apply to a position. For example, if you don’t live in San Francisco and find a job posting for a job is in San Francisco, CA that cannot be done remotely, only apply to that job if you’re willing to move to San Francisco. If you’re limited geographically, there’s no need to waste your time applying or the company’s time reading your application if it’s a job you’ll never take. Consider whether or not you’re actually interested in the position or if working at the position is actually feasible before applying.

93.0.3 Job Titles to Search

In the rest of this lesson we’ll focus in on where to search for positions and the strengths of each; however, before we do so, it’s important to note that data scientist positions do not always have the title data scientist. We’ve mentioned above that “data scientist,” “data analyst”, “junior data scientist”, and “entry level data scientist” may be great terms to search. But, data science positions are also sometimes “product analyst”,“quantitative analyst,” or “research scientist.” While you may not be qualified for every position with each of these titles, it’s good to search broadly. Search each of these terms, read a few job descriptions, and determine if there are positions with these job titles that match your skills. It’s best to have the widest pool of possible jobs before deciding where you’ll apply!

93.0.4 LinkedIn

Jobs are also posted on LinkedIn. Similar to StackOverflow’s jobs, positions can be searched by title and Location. However, the jobs posted on LinkedIn will span many more fields, so there will be a larger pool of total jobs to go through.

LinkedIn Jobs

One advantage of jobs on LinkedIn is that your full LinkedIn profile will help LinkedIn identify jobs that may be of interest to you. You can search through their suggestions to see if any of them are a good fit!

Jobs you may be interested in

If you carry out a search, the results can be further filtered by “Location”, “Date Posted”, “Job Type”, “Industry”, and “Company” to help hone in on the best position for you. As with StackOverflow, it’s possible to create an alert that will update you whenever applicable positions are posted in the future!

LinkedIn search results

93.0.5 Job Boards

The final official platform to search for positions are on job boards. There are a number of websites where you should search for data science positions. A few or the most popular are indeed, Glassdoor, ZipRecruiter, and Monster. There will likely be overlap between the jobs posted on these sites and even with LinkedIn and StackOverflow; however, you wouldn’t want to miss the position that’s right for you because you didn’t do a quick search. Gather all the information you can about open positions on all the job boards as you start your search!

93.0.6 Company websites

In addition to searching on these websites where jobs are posted, if there is a company you’re particularly interested in working for, check their website directly for position openings. They may not have anything open, but it doesn’t hurt to check!

93.0.7 Twitter

The last suggestion we have for hearing about new positions is to keep an eye out on Twitter. There isn’t an official platform; however, data scientists and companies that hire data scientists will often tweet about open positions. By following data scientists on Twitter, being active on Twitter, and checking Twitter, you may hear about a position that you would have missed otherwise.

Twitter for positions

93.0.8 Remote Work

93.0.9 Applying

Once you’ve identified a number of positions to which you’ll apply, you’ll need to actually apply. The platform may look different from one site to the next but you’ll generally have to provide:

Contact Information
Materials (resume + cover letter)
Additional information about the job + posting

General Application

93.0.9.1 Contact Information

Despite the fact that your contact information is on your resume, most online platforms will require you to enter this information separately

93.0.9.2 Materials

These forms will also have a place for you to upload your resume and cover letter. A reminder here that these should ideally be in PDF format.

93.0.9.3 Additional Information

You’ll also be asked frequently about how you heard about this position and information about whether or not you’re authorized to work in the United States. Provide this information along with any other optional information that they’ve requested and that you’re comfortable sharing.

93.0.9.4 Proofread

Once you’ve entered all the information into the form and uploaded all necessary documents, look carefully over all the information you’ve provided. Verify that it’s correct and check for typos. Then, hit the “Apply” button to submit!

93.0.10 Summary

In this lesson we covered what types of terms to use for job searches, where to carry out those searches, and generally how to apply to a job once you’ve found a good fit!

93.0.11 Additional Resources

Advice For Applying To Data Science Jobs