gonna be a data scientist? Got accepted to Lambda School! It's an intensive coding bootcamp I'll start in September: nine months of 40 hours a week online instruction, following instructors build applications and building our own under their supervision. I'm told that it's the same or more amount of coding as in a 4-year CS degree. My acceptance is conditional on completing "precourse work" which I'm finding involves a steep learning curve. It dawned on me that this is their weeding out process. I'm not averse to the approach at all; instructional time is better spent on more complicated things than learning to define variables or importing libraries. But some of the later assignments which I haven't gotten to yet have names like linear algebra, pandas, training models with sklearn. Thankfully, there is a metric fuckton of resources online for learning the basics of python on your own. I'll speak to my decision for the subspeciality--data science--at a later pubski. summer 2019 curriculum In addition to the coding I'm doing this summer, I'm training and coaching gymnastics. I'm basically living at the gym and a bagel place next to it. Had a really discouraging day today. I'm so old and stiff. Trying to remember that there are a lot of slow-going, sometimes deeply uncomfortable and miserable days that comprise the road to progress. Saturday Officiating my best friends' wedding this Saturday; been reading my speech every day in preparation. It brings me chills. "I now have the privilege to announce--for the very first time as husband and wife--Andrew and Grace."
Congrats dude! You've got this. Pandas is just Excel but Python'ed. Sklearn is a pretty simple & great tool to have in your toolkit. You'll probably only have to do applied linear algebra, which is much better than the course I did at the maths department. The trick there is to figure out some mental model of how to think about vectors and matrices. For me it really helped to visualize and draw them out for example.
I've bookmarked a "classic" MIT lecture by Dr. Gilbert Strang that came highly recommended for linear algebra. It just so happens that since I won't be starting the program until the fall, I can really prepare myself. Thanks for the encouraging words.
Very nice! keep up the good work... Thansk
Congrats! Really looking forward to hear about your experience at Lambda.
I'm not quite decided that I'll go, but it's looking more and more like it. Look out for an update though if I do!
Congrats, Bootz. You have a lot of positive things on the horizon. As it should be. It's quite the honor to be officiating someones wedding. Good job re the daily rehearsals. This is something you cannot over-prepare for. I was recently at a friends wedding. They had a friend officiate and it was amazing. It was clear to me that she had put a lot of time and effort in to the event. Onward!
My long term disability got approved last week. No appeals, no court battle, just long months of waiting and a few of scraping brokeness. I get my full package, benefits and 401k contribution included. Thankful to be able to take some time to actually take care of myself the way I need to. Eat the way I should, daily. Take exactly the medications I should, without thinking about rationing, daily. Attend cardiac rehab and be able to pay my copay. Have to do some doctor shopping, new psych, new pain doc, but it's manageable. Truthfully I'm kind of numb. I want to be elated, we went out to a nice dinner to celebrate, but it hasn't set in yet that I actually got the benefits that I earned, that I signed up for years ago specifically for when the day came that I needed them. I guess I find it hard to believe that the corporate end of the bargain is being held up. Just need some time to process I guess. Finished The Universe in a Nutshell, gonna re-read it for the sake of clarity and comprehension before moving on to the next one. Hawking is a wonderful breather from Durant.
We are finally starting to act like a sales and marketing company. And surprise, surprise... it's working. We have a ton of leads but we have no sales reps right now because they are both very sick. Not I have a cold sick, but actually sick. The kind of sick that cannot allow me to push them too hard. It's a tough situation. They're both badasses and not easily covered for or replaced. It's a tough place to be. I want to support them 100% but we are also a company with goals and not a ton of capital. I was just in Chicago with my wife to see Vampire Weekend. It was a very, very good show. They sounded amazing. We are interviewing Au Pair's. We really like a young lady from Brazil. I hope she accepts our offer. I am gearing up to go up north next week. I'll work out of a cabin for a week. Pretty excited to get away with the kids and spend some time fishing/swimming/boating. At the end of July I am going to Scotland for 10 days. No kids. Just adults. The great hootsbox is taking us. Very generous of him. I'm extremely excited. Looks like we have a 5x NBA AllStar that will be Forever Labs brand ambassador. That's pretty exciting. I've begun doing Yoga every Tuesday and started playing tennis again. Lookout wasoxygen, I'm back! Still have my serve too... Have a great week, all!
It reminds me that I have to do a tripreport about Scotland ! I was there end of April and it was amazing. If you are into hiking, I highly recommend Sgurr Na Stri.
I'm still fighting spam bots. I removed the bio for folks without a hubwheel. The bio was their dumping ground. Fucking spammers. Going to China very soon. Do me a solid and search your spam folder for hubski emails. If you find one, label it "not spam". Let me know if you find one. :)
Would you mind if I made a suggestion? I took a look at your math problems, and to risk sounding like an idiot, I doubt I could solve them without just copying and pasting them into Google. Which, if Google could figure it out, a bot probably could. I can answer word problems though, such as . . . "What's three sevens, ten times over?" 210 I doubt a bot could read that, let alone answer it, but the math would be much more accessible for people.
I found a handful! Good luck with the whole convincing-google-you-aren't-spamming thing. I don't know if it fits your use case, but I've had good luck with using amazon's simple email service for sending email verification emails and notifications and whatnot. it is ridiculously cheap -- you get x,xxx free a month or something so i don't think i've ever paid for it. sometimes it's nice to just make that bit someone else's problem :)
Actually, I didn't receive any emails (responses, shout-outs, badges) from Hubski since 4th of June. Didn't change settings (send everything), email address (gmail btw) or anything else. And I mean didn't receive anything. It's not even in the spam folder. If you need any data I can post them here or send them via mail.
Hi everyone! Bit late to the party, aren't I? I haven't been online for two years before this week. The revival of my account has been going well :) I graduated college about two months ago, and started my first real job as a software developer almost immediately after. It's been a wild time, and I've been having a lot of fun (read: pain) figuring out how the adult world works The job itself has been pretty good. The tech is new enough to keep me engaged, and my coworkers are all awesome - it's that type of millennial workplace that has a ping-pong table in the break room and a regularly scheduled board-game night after hours Truth be told, I've been working really hard to try and make a good impression. Maybe too hard? I don't know. I don't think I come across as insincere or trying too hard to impress, but my only context for this work environment comes from internships in the past. Either way, I'm making it work. It sure is nice to not be fucking broke for once! I also (obviously) decided to get back into Hubski! I've been craving a more thoughtful environment for sharing articles recently. I think the precipitating incident came from scrolling through Medium comments, thinking, "Wow these people sure are reactionary!" and copping a craving for someone as analytical as @kleinbl00 to tell people what's what. Anyway, I'm here! For those of you who haven't met me or don't remember me, it's nice to meet you!
I had an interview with a bank for a statistical model validation/analyst position. It was strange, to say the least. Out of at least forty questions they asked me, maybe five were about anything math-related (and kinda basic), everything else was Basel III or CRD IV or differences between them. Feels like that ratio should be reversed, but whatever. Anyway, I only skimmed those, and it was clear I'm muddling through something half-remembered, so it's unlikely I'll ever hear from them again. At least the coffee was good. My flatmate threw a nice bit of contract work in my direction over the weekend, which was actually a fun little project. I'm looking into getting more of those throughout the summer, seems like a better option than alternatives. Other than that, I'm taking some time off to do reviews before entrance exams. Don't think that I need to do more of those, but it's a good excuse to avoid seeing other people. I've been a lot more anxious lately, but I can't put my finger on any 'why' other than doing well on admissions. Maybe I'm a lot less stress-resistant than I thought, dunno.
HOW HIRING WORKS There's a misconception amongst applicants that you enter some sort of Octagon where you're challenged in battle to determine your worthiness for ascension to a higher realm or some shit. Couldn't be further from the truth. The fact that you're interviewing at all means that nobody knew anybody good for the job, nobody knew anybody who knew anybody who was good for the job, and now they're winnowing through the chaff of whatever Craigslist (or your local Polish equivalent) splashed across the transom. In any organization large enough to have a Human Resources officer, this execrable process goes through HR. HR is useless. HR has no understanding of the position. HR is chronically disrespected, universally reviled by everyone in the company, and 100%, all the time, without exception, butthurt about the fact that nobody is even the slightest bit impressed by their long list of useless certifications. And the initial winnowing of candidates passes through - you guessed it - HR. It's not that HR is completely worthless. It's that they're mostly worthless. They're great for getting benefits programs set up, making sure that the company's health plan is competitive, standing over you awkwardly while you clean out your desk, etc. But they generally have no fucking clue how to do anyone else's job. So what they can do is evaluate how well you will "fit in with company culture." Which basically allows them to devise their favorite Purity Tests to run their test subjects through. Here's the reality of the situation - nobody is worried about whether you can do the job right now 100% the way they want you to do it. They've got weird-ass idiosyncrasies that you're going to have to learn no matter how competent you are. Really, the questions are "are you trainable" and "how much of a pain in the ass will that be" and "are you going to piss everyone off in the meantime." HR would love to believe they can answer these questions. They can't. Again, mostly useless. However, they can ask those questions and give their opinion and since they're HR, they can't ask those questions directly, or make a reasonable assessment, or otherwise function like reasonable human beings. So they have to misinterpret the mission, come up with stupid questions and otherwise Dance the HR Dance so that they can justify their paychecks. Congratulations. You just danced. No idea if you danced successfully. Keep in mind that nobody gives the first fuck what HR thinks about anything other than "we can't hire him because he has a criminal record involving embezzling."
That's a higher opinion of HR than I have. They're good at telling people the health plan is competitive, but is it really? It's too complicated to really understand. As for the benefits program, how hard is it to fill out some forms at Fidelity? I've never tried, but I bet it isn't hard. And while HR set these up, HR doesn't actually understand them and absolutely cannot explain them. Otherwise, yes. If one got to the in-person interview, they think you can do the work. The one that gets hired is the one they think will fit best with the company and coworkers and not the one who best knows the specific details of the work.They're great for getting benefits programs set up, making sure that the company's health plan is competitive
I was initially intending to send it as a private message, but there really isn't anything that would warrant it. You are among the three or four people on this site who, for better or worse, know me more personally. There aren't many things I'm competitive about outside of chess, and even that is one of the things I think hold me back instead of helping. Most people who know me IRL describe me along the lines of 'kinda phlegmatic until you either put a problem in front of him or seriously insult his intelligence'. That's something I asked as feedback before writing this response. I lose temper at times, perhaps more often than most people, likely less than many of my age. I don't think I raised my voice for any reason in at least a year, but it's a work in progress nonetheless. You are correct about the whole 'being a good fit' thing. I know it, and it's something I knew for some time. But with the number of failures I had on that front, it's hard not to see myself through a prism of pissing everyone off by the mere fact of existing. The only area of my life where I feel any level of accomplishment is academia and even that seems undeserved. There's no denying the fact my social skills are lacking, but I don't think I'm that far behind either—half sigma below average or so. Perhaps I'm mistaken in my opinion, and that's the crux of the problem, but It's not like you can reliably test for those things anyway. There's a part of me wanting to ask "how do you fake being a good fit?", but I know that's not the way to go. But there really isn't anything else for me to do. I could go full OSINT and try to devise a way of acting that would be the least offensive common denominator, but that's even worse and on too many levels to enumerate. I'm just exasperated about the whole ordeal, though it seems like a strong word. It's more like not wanting to go back to doing stuff like overnight store restocking or washing cars while being rejected at any opportunity to improve from where I am. It's not like it can help either since it's hard to develop better social skills when the only other guy doing the job who speaks Polish (there's a lot of immigrants from Ukraine in my area) didn't progress past high school bully mentality despite having at least twenty years for it. Try Ukrainians? If my rusty-as-hell Russian was enough to gauge, they just talk shit about everyone and everything. So what can I even do? I'm not the type that gives up easily, but at this point, it just seems polite to stop wasting everyone's time. Even I don't feel like I'm a good fit anywhere, and despite what WanderingEng said, kinda doubt that I had any merits for any of the jobs where I got to the in-person interview stage. There's not much point to it, but I felt like you deserve some response, even if it's one like that.
I wonder if there’s some sort of theory behind having candidates quizzed on vaguely-related topics. I also had a similar experience where I was quizzed on a bunch of electrochemistry items that were totally irrelevant. That was for the job I’m at now. Managing your stress is important. It took me a while to learn that yes, it’s ok to do things for yourself to lower your burden and YES there may be major consequences if you can’t regulate that properly. You might go through periods where you’re less resilient than before for little reasons like a long commute or seemingly minor personal changes. Don’t let them sneak up on you.
Those aren't vaguely-related, though. Basel III outlines best practices for banks, how low/high-risk operations should be distributed and a whole bunch of similar topics. CRD IV is, broadly speaking, the EU-compliant implementation of those. It's just that I was expecting more, high-level maths for this kind of position. Something closer to "global and local gauge invariance in open systems" not "sophomore data analysis". I mean, they were explicitly looking for maths/physics post-grads, so it's not like it wasn't at least somewhat justified. I never really learned how to even identify stress. It goes unnoticed (by me, friends usually see it first) until physiological problems (lack of appetite, nausea, loss of weight etc.) start messing me up. That's why I'm not sure if it's really that I'm stressed, but I'll heed your words regardless. If you have other tips or insights I'm all ears.
I’m having a dilemma. I started my current job about a month ago. Around the same time I also interviewed for a job at an academic institution. At the time that I interviewed the academic job seemed like a no-brainer to me. The pay was actually equivalent or better and was more in line with what I’ve been doing. The locations and people there seemed very welcoming and appealing. By contrast, the pharmaceutical company where I had started to work that very week seemed to have an oddly impersonal culture and didn’t seem to be particularly competitive pay-wise. Fast forward a month or so. I’ve now received confirmation that I will be offered the position at the university (things move slow). Now the choice is not so easy for me anymore. I had a momentary surge of anxiety when reading that email. My current job has grown on me a lot. The company environment doesn’t seem so sterile and weird now that I’ve had time to acclimate. I like the people, I like working with my supervisors, and I dare say I’ve kicked ass so far with what I’ve been working on. The place is very laid back, my commute is easy, my responsibilities are surprisingly light, but the job remains interesting enough that I could see myself here long term. My potential to earn more long term remains unclear, but likely it’s more than I’d get at the university. It’s also nice that I’m non-exempt and get paid for every minute of overtime I do, so if I’m here working late it’s just that much easier to be cool with it psychologically. On the other hand, the university position would be much more responsibility, probably much more interesting, and probably a lot more work—including things I’m not so familiar with. It potentially could be a bigger boon to my career than where I’m at but that’s dependent on a lot of factors. It’s also unclear to me there what my potential for earning long-term could be. It’s no doubt a better opportunity for personal growth for me, but at the same time I’m pretty intimidated by the enhanced responsibilities, probably in no small part thanks to the experience at my last job. Long term, either job should be quite stable, but I am wary of a risk of failing spectacularly at the university job early on. Either way I’ll be disappointing someone with potentially bridge-burning consequences and I’m looking for some item to make the choice easier. I was hoping I’d get placed in a higher pay bracket for the university job to make it the clearer choice, but it sounds I’m probably being placed in the lower one where I’ll probably be out-earning that after my 6 month review here. Basically I’m torn and don’t know what’s really best for me long term or short term.
"I'm sorry, I can't afford to take your position." Done. Full stop. They wanted my wife to teach down in San Diego. She would have had to give up a couple days of being on call (as in, "miss the births of clients if they happened while she was down there"). They were going to put her up in a hotel and all that shit but when it came time to pay, they were all "we can only afford to pay you as an entry level person because you have no academic credentials but boy howdy we sure would like to pay you more eventually!" My wife pointed out that she didn't seek the job - they called her up. And she said that while she wanted to help teach bright new doctors, the amount they were offering was wholly inadequate for the opportunity cost. The person who offered her the job was butt-hurt. Because obviously my wife isn't seriously interested in the True Love Mission of education. But he took his butt-hurt to the administration who completely disregarded my wife's experience, crawled up in their ivory tower and pissed him off so much that he quit. Because at the end of the day, the guy hiring you wants you for the job but the amount of money being offered is almost certainly out of his hands. And if you say "I'd take this gig except for the fact that I have to eat" you aren't making it about the gig. PROTIP - nobody with half a clue says "I sure wish I could find a job that gives me more responsibility, more work and less pay."I’m looking for some item to make the choice easier. I was hoping I’d get placed in a higher pay bracket for the university job to make it the clearer choice, but it sounds I’m probably being placed in the lower one where I’ll probably be out-earning that after my 6 month review here.
Done. Full stop. I'm borrowing this for a job I haven't been offered yet. Thank you. I expect them to offer slightly lower pay and benefits, and while I like the location and want to leave my company, I can't do it for less money, less retirement, and less vacation. I can keep looking."I'm sorry, I can't afford to take your position."
For probably 2 decades, I defined myself by my job. I had no identity outside of who I worked for, and what I did for them. (See: any job in silicon valley.) Eventually, after having my heart broken by not getting a raise/promotion I expected, or getting fired, I realized that my employer cares exactly zilch about ME as a person. That's when I flipped the script, and put myself first. I now make more money than I ever have before. I work 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week. I set my own schedule. I have seniority, respect, and - when I started looking elsewhere for work - they gave me another significant raise to keep me here. I have a 15-minute commute. Everyone from the CEO down solicits my opinion/input on important subjects (we are a 400-person company). When I walk out the door in the afternoon, I have ZERO work on my mind. Nobody (except my direct boss) has my cell phone number. We are driven to subsume our lives to our work. To be available for phone calls on the weekends. To check our emails at 10:PM. To work "just a couple extra hours" every week. We think that if we say no, or do not make ourselves available in this way, that we will be fired or demoted or overlooked for promotions and raises. In actuality, setting boundaries is HEALTHY FOR YOU, and good for your job. It earns you respect. Have I worked all night? Sure! Absolutely! When I have CHOSEN to. I also wander off for 2-hour long lunches if I need a break, and maybe stay a little later in the evening to make up the time. YOU ARE NOT YOUR JOB. The University gig is your LIFE. The corporate gig is one in a long line of jobs that will allow you to ALSO have a life. Take vacations. Get promotions. Get head-hunted by other companies and given large hiring bonuses. Etc. Choose wisely, grasshopper.
I think you need to think about which values you hold high and which values you want to see reflected in your job. Do you care about stability and consistency or about innovation and new possibilities? About collaborating closely or doing your own thing? Do you want to venture into new directions, or do you want to dig deep into what you're doing? How much agency do you want? Then you can check how the two options align with those values. Also something to consider is whether you can take elements of option A into option B. You have every right to have a serious conversation with the institution / your boss about this. Can you take what's interesting in the academic job and do that where you're at now? Can you discuss with the institution that you're afraid of failing and want more support? Personally, I've come to realize that choosing a career path based on status (which is what you're actually saying when you talk about it being a boon to your career) is a dead end, a dependancy on extrinsic confirmation that's not necessary or helpful. Following your interests and scratching your own itch has brought me much farther than I had anticipated. I'd also try to focus on just the next year, maybe two.
All good points. I know I’ve fallen victim to chasing status before. I actually applied to the academic position because it aligns with my interests and what I work well with in many ways. When I applied actually, the status was lesser than it is now. The job I’m being offered is actually expanded from the one I technically applied for. That’s both cool and scary. Reviewing things about my current company pushes me a bit more towards leaving. They really aren’t paying great wages for what is typical. Reviews on Glassdoor et al really drive that home (although I take that with a grain of salt because I’ve never seen a company presented favorably on those sites). So maybe the future of staying here isn’t all that bright. I’m wondering if I’m looking at my current position with a rose-tinted view because the 1) honeymoon phase hasn’t worn off and 2) it has the appeal of the path of least resistance.
moslydeaf - the game is on The occasional rainbow cast to the photos is due to this funky filter my roommate is using to shoot some low budg sci fi thing and I enjoyed the effect so much I slapped it between my phone and case. Now every bright light makes my photos hang with V'ger. It's going to be a long summer. I'm already checking out condos near work and attempting to rationalize the price and recognizing that if I have that level of investment the best thing to do is quit and never live in LA again. I've also got four (count 'em - 4) detours between me and work, one of which closes at night which means I'm having to herf a 26lb rig over a traffic barricade in order to get home. In a few weeks I will have crossed 10k miles on that bicycle, nearly all of it ostensibly on the LA River bike path, without ever once riding the entire length of the LA River bike path. I started the season by spending an hour in a sensory deprivation tank. My primary insight is that I should buy a rice cooker. Super King is also out of Baltika 7 for some dumb reason so I'm drinking Kilikia, although not very often, because 32 miles a day on a bicycle makes you exquisitely sensitive to alcohol. Back when my daughter was a baby I lit up her room with some of those Ikea leaves with LED strips under 'em. It was dope. Unfortunately her room in Seattle is too small for all but one of them so I tried to borrow the other two. My daughter got mad and insisted they were her lights and why hadn't I put them up? In being down here a week I realized that I put them up in the first place because I'm so hungry for fucking living things that I think this is my mom: So I'ma brave Ikea today and buy eight of the fuckers despite the fact that my room down here is smaller than my daughter's room up there. Succession is a shitty TV series although it might take you an entire season to realize that it's basically Arrested Development if the Bluths were the Murdochs and everyone was really really mean.
I'm off to a weak start Haha. Been waiting on the drafting supplies in the mail (I shouldn't have let that hold me up though, it ain't stoppin you from putting in work lol). I've been trying to avoid giving Amazon money when I can but damn if I'm not missing two day shipping right now. In regards to the book it's been a cool read and what I've worked through so far has given me a better understanding of the CAD program (Rhino) I'm learning. It works on the same concept of getting to a 3d model. The program is actually a 4 window set up (front,top,side,3d). Who would have thought a digital drafting program uses the same concepts as paper drafting.... not me apparently.
I am looking for work! I just finished a script and I am looking for work as something more stable. Still moving! But the house is finished and it looks gorgeous!
I'm 2 months into a 6 month entry level GIS job - a temp gig with potential to hire full-time. Work environments all well 'n good, and pay is what's expected of entry level (livable, if I didn't have to worry about insurance). Pay would increase by a minimum of 2 digits plus a suite of benefits if hired on after. I got the job offer the same week I received an acceptance letter from a 12 month Masters in GIS program for Fall. I put the offer in my back pocket - planning to take the job until it was time to start the program. Made sense at the time. During the interview process I was told point blank it was boring work, but my only thoughts were (1) the job was good to get experience to bolster the coming education and (2) I don't want to live home anymore. Since starting the gig, my leads and the site manager have kindly made it clear the Masters won't open many more doors in the field of GIS (at least analyst-wise). Other interviews and digging around GIS forum threads state just about the same. All have pointed to re-focusing education toward a field of interest. SO, I've got a respectable way to relieve myself from a monotone duty early, but to a place that isn't supposed to help me in the long run according to those in the field. My take on the pickle: - It has applicable coding courses that are tailored to GIS, but in languages I can take anywhere (Python, R, SQL) - It's a one-year program for a Masters - The last semester is an internship (meaning more experience) - Everyone has an opinion Given the company knows my plans, I don't expect a job offer whether I attend the masters program or not - at least better to assume so at this point.
Deadline for first version of Cape Verde project: ~36 hours. Six days until I fly out there. My calendar this week looks like a clown barfed over it, with six different types of appointments / distractions happening alongside writing against a tight deadline, coordinating 5 authors in 3 countries. To complicate matters further I'm also trying to impress and work with / around the CEO and founder of the company. Lots of balls to keep in the air. Stress is noticably present. But the final runway is in sight and we're cleared for landing. After the presentation I'm gonna stay on the island for two more days on their dime because fuck it I've earned that. Went to Andrew Bird yesterday. Bucket list item for me, as I've been a fan for almost a decade now I think? My girlfriend is also into his music so she went along. Had a great evening, although I feel like the acoustics were a bit off and didn't play well with my noise reduction earplugs. Makes me feel like an old fart but shit's loud, yo. Hard pass on hearing loss for me.