Podcast
Chan with a Plan
Hosted by Max Chan · EN
Providing career advice in easy actionable steps, for frustrated professionals, helping you overcome career challenges so you can stop feeling confused and defeated and start feeling focused and confident in order to excel in your career.
12episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
How to get into Data Science with no prior experience
Jan 18, 2022Tap to summarizeEPISODE SUMMARY In this episode of Chan With A Plan, host Max Chan speaks with Alyssa Fedgo, a professional that started her career in a non-technical role as an Office Manager for a health startup, to building up her skills and making the right career moves over the years to be able to get into her dream field of Data Science. She shares her journey in hopes of providing insight and guidance for other professionals looking to make the same move into Data Science and do it successfully without all the trial and error that comes with changing career paths. QUOTES “[Once you’re finished a bootcamp or certification] if you stop learning, you are going to be kind of stunted in your career growth, especially in data science.” - Alyssa Fedgo [12:06] “[When it comes to building my skill set to get into data science] making sure that I’m learning Python because Python or R is key in data science.” - Alyssa Fedgo [17:11] “As a Data Scientist from my experience, you also need to have more skills in the planning of an entire system, so you need to understand how the data is structured and stored, is there a better way for it to be stored, is there a better way for it to be queried” - Alyssa Fedgo [24:49] TIMESTAMPS [1:12] Meet Alyssa [3:36] How Alyssa started her career [5:06] Learning curve from going from a non-technical role to a technical role with no formal training [6:46] Going from Office Manager to Data Analyst at Alyssa’s 1st company [8:37] Learning lessons in Alyssa’s 1st data oriented role [12:13] Advice on what to do after you finished your bootcamp or certification to continue growing your skills and being marketable as a data scientist for the long term [13:23] Resources to build your SQL and SAS skills if you decide to start as a Data Analyst 1st [13:55] Making a move from Data Analyst to Data Scientist [15:54] Main differences between Data Analyst and Data Scientist [16:43] Skills Alyssa built up to prepare her to become a Data Scientist [18:40] Alyssa’s process on learning Python [19:43] Why Alyssa took the self learning route then taking a data science bootcamp to build her skills [21:17] How Alyssa pivoted from a Data Analyst role to a Data Scientist Role [21:51] Walking through Alyssa’s experience interviewing for a Data Scientist position and how she was able to showcase her abilities successfully without prior formal Data Scientist experience [24:22] Major difference between being a Data Analyst and being a Data Scientist that Alyssa has experienced since starting her journey in data science [25:25] Discussing what a Data Scientist actually does, compared to what people perceive a Data Scientist does [27:30] Battling imposter syndrome when Alyssa was starting as a Data Scientist [28:58] Continue to build your skill set as a Data Scientist if you don’t have as much opportunity to do so at work [30:29] Discussing whether Alyssa could have went straight to Data Science from an Office Manager or she needed the Data Analyst role 1st to successfully move to Data Science [32:03] Data Visualization and what tools to learn [33:06] Managing expectations of your hiring manager on what you can and can’t do as a Data Scientist when you start off in your 1st role in the field [34:22] Advice on how a professional can go from a non-technical field to a technical field such as Data Science [35:40] Soft skills you need to succeed in Data Science [36:18] Common mistakes entry level Data Scientists make when starting their career [37:28] Alyssa’s career goals in Data Science in the next few years [39:46] Data Science trends professionals should watch out for [40:47] Biggest career challenge Alyssa had to overcome to get to where she is today [41:33] What to do when a piece of programming code is not working and how to resolve it [43:00] Contacting Alyssa [43:40] Outro RESOURCES & RELEVANT LINKS Alyssa Fedgo on LinkedIn Chan With A Plan Chan With A Plan Facebook Group
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How to get a management position with no prior experience
Aug 31, 2021Tap to summarizeEPISODE SUMMARY In this episode of Chan With A Plan, host Max Chan speaks with Ilona Polinovsky, with multiple years in the healthcare industry. We discussed her career journey, including how she was able to successfully move up from being an individual contributor into a management role with direct reports and providing advice for professionals that also want to take that step in their career. QUOTES “Cover letters are crucial too [in the job application], at least I think so, it helps you drift away from the strictly structured resume layout and add a personality touch to the application.” - Ilona Polinovsky [23:26] “[My preparation on becoming a manager is] highly recommend listening as much as you can, asking questions as much as you can, that’s what I’m doing right now, I’m reading from early morning to late night, getting to know the policies, all of the procedures, getting to know the team, getting to know the projects and building that foundation of knowledge.” - Ilona Polinovsky [27:17] “The end goal of the individual contributor is to succeed in managing an initiative or a project, so all of the interview questions are focused on that, while the end goal of a manager is to help the team succeed in that task.” - Ilona Polinovsky [29:26] TIMESTAMPS [1:01] Meet Ilona [2:59] How Ilona started her career as a business analyst [5:45] Deciding to go straight into doing her masters program instead of getting work experience first [6:46] How Ilona found the company she wanted to work for after graduation [8:18] Ilona realizing her rejection was based on her communication skills at the interview and not due to lack of relevant experience [9:23] An overview of the complete interview process for Ilona’s 1st role at her target company [11:39] Ilona’s time investment in job searching and interview preparation in order to land her 1st full time role after graduation [13:38] Discussing Ilona’s journey and her multiple individual contributor roles during her time at her company [18:31] Deciding whether to pivot to another role internally or moving to another company altogether [19:59] Having the conversation with your manager of wanting to move to another position internally [20:33] What Ilona enjoyed about being an analyst vs being a consultant [21:25] The decision to go from individual contributor to manager [22:30] Tailoring an individual contributor resume to a managerial focused resume [23:45] If there were any doubts from the hiring team about Ilona’s experience to lead a team when she was never officially a manager before [25:16] Evaluating the offer from her current company and their competitor and how she decided to stick with her current company in her new managerial role [26:00] Ilona’s preparation in order to become a successful team manager for the 1st time [28:10] Ilona’s advice on building rapport with existing team members as their new manager [29:14] Interview differences between an individual contributor interview and a managerial interview [30:23] Ilona’s experience with getting the Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification and whether it was worth it for her to get it [32:04] Having the discussion with your manager on getting the company to fund your educational endeavors [32:51] An overview on how to get your PMP Certification and how to prepare for the exam [36:17] A major roadblock that Ilona had faced and what she did to overcome it to move her career forward [37:45] Contacting Ilona [39:37] Outro
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