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If you are 38 years old and debt free as a senior software engineer keep it that way.
You said you work with cloud infrastructure. Stick with that and stockpile and invest money as quickly as you can. Stay with the cloud until you retire. I used to consult for cloud infrastructure SaaS partners and there is bucketloads of demand and money in that niche. **** data science. Stay with the cloud!!!!
Even better if you get some InfoSec certs. Information security and the Cloud will continue to be huge for the next 10-20 years. Guaranteed.
Technology sector is a young man's game. There is less age bias with cloud infrastructure. I understand you are bored. But you need to eat and pay your bills.
that's interesting that this is your perspective. I can attest that they world of cloud is very lucrative right now. I did a pretty major cloud migration last year that paid a pretty penny. However I have always felt that the cloud is a bubble of sorts. I know every CTO wants to move their products to the cloud, and every startup want to build their products in the cloud. But I do think it's a bit of overhype. I do eventually think that there will be some companies that just understand they don't have to be in the cloud. And while it's definitely here to stay, I don't see it being nearly as hot 5 to 10 years down the line. I always felt career wise that data was a safer bet. Companies are going to always need data. But hey I could be wrong. There may also be the same hype around data science
This makes the most sense unfortuantely. Not what I want to hear, but at this point it does make sense to not make any huge monetary investments in education. As someone who manages data analytics, would you at least suggest a Coursera course or something of that nature? Not as a path to a job, but for general learning?
Kaggle has fun data science competitions open to the public so you can get competitive and win some extra cash.
that's interesting that this is your perspective. I can attest that they world of cloud is very lucrative right now. I did a pretty major cloud migration last year that paid a pretty penny. However I have always felt that the cloud is a bubble of sorts. I know every CTO wants to move their products to the cloud, and every startup want to build their products in the cloud. But I do think it's a bit of overhype. I do eventually think that there will be some companies that just understand they don't have to be in the cloud. And while it's definitely here to stay, I don't see it being nearly as hot 5 to 10 years down the line. I always felt career wise that data was a safer bet. Companies are going to always need data. But hey I could be wrong. There may also be the same hype around data science
I don't think the cloud is total hype, because when it comes down to it, the new security regulations will require a lot of people to move to compliant operations in the cloud. I'm not sure that is actually best (diversity in environments might actually be safer than one huge "secure" cloud), but that's where it's going now.
Because how can you prove you're meeting EU and US security standards with your systems, on your own little server?
I've been in this forum a few times. I currently work as a senior software engineer who had to scrape my way up to my position. Taking experience one by one until I was able to cultivate it into a decent career. The issue is I'm a high school drop out, and not only that I also dropped out of college. However I dropped out so early that I went to college early (after receiving a GED), but after a few years I decided to enter the industry. I have about 15+ years of experience under my belt.
I've done data engineering problem solving a bit here and there in my career, despite my focus being on cloud and microservices. The main issue. I just find it boring. Sure there is certainly something intriguing about decomposing web services, but I would prefer to actually be dealing with data itself. I've been studying machine learning for about 2 years, while a lot of books I've read are pretty dry, I still find it interesting. The only personal projects that persuade me to even challenge myself deals with machine learning in some way. And I love analyzing data and making sense of it. It doesn't help I tend to love to argue politics in my spare time.
The issue is that when it comes to data science, I see crazy requirements. Often requiring PhDs at minimum. I mean I kind of get it. you need to know a little more math than average. And you need to have a lot of data analysis methods. But I don't actually think you need to a PhD to be successful at the job. But I really would like to work in this field. Having been in my career for 15 years, building I just don't find building out some microservices platform as interesting as working with intriguing datasets.
Before someone swoop in and say "Go to school and get your education". I just want to say that I'm 38 years old and I am 100% DEBT FREE. It will take 10 years to get a PhD, at that point I'll be 48 years old. And by 48 years old, I hope to be retired. I know a lot of companies have the title "data science" though they use it as fancy names for their DBAs. But I would love to know how to get into a proper data science role. And taking out debt and going to school for 10 years seems very excessive and unnecessary.
Why don't you apply directly to a phd program? A phd requires a new and unique idea. Do you have one? Alternatively, write an amazing cover letter that describes why you are the best person for the job. One distinct advantage you have is that many people with phds are socially weird, and presumably you are not. If you have the knowledge, skills and abilities without the social weirdness, perhaps you will get the job. How are you with defining algorithms to extract specific data sets?
There's a lot of discrimination in data science. You will be lucky to be hired for your first data science job, if you are not Indian. I see entire data science depts that are all Indian at my large employer.
There's a lot of discrimination in data science. You will be lucky to be hired for your first data science job, if you are not Indian. I see entire data science depts that are all Indian at my large employer.
Goodness gracious. I certainly have not seen that. Most of the data scientists I know are white, about half male and half female (I'm a woman so maybe I know more women?), with a substantial number of Asian-Americans. Oh right, and at least two Latinos.
Sadly while I know a couple of black people in analytics I don't know any black people in data science, but then, there aren't a lot of black people in my city.
There's a lot of discrimination in data science. You will be lucky to be hired for your first data science job, if you are not Indian. I see entire data science depts that are all Indian at my large employer.
Stick to the cloud.
Negative feedback like this, while maybe credible at your org (and who knows for what actual reason), is the very type of negativity that cost me a career in Computer Science. I was ignorant and naive enough back then to fall for the idea that I would never find work without being SE Asian. You’ll always find a handful of people who believe that their field is completely rigged against them based on race, religion, sex, or creed. I’d be very leery to follow this advice.
that's interesting that this is your perspective. I can attest that they world of cloud is very lucrative right now. I did a pretty major cloud migration last year that paid a pretty penny. However I have always felt that the cloud is a bubble of sorts.
Every paradigm shift in technology is a "bubble". in the sense that it'll quickly (as compared to many other fields) become obsoleted by the next whiz-bang gizmo. But this stuff is foundational... today's expertise in "the cloud" is tomorrow's foundation in, oh, say, "serverless" computing. Hybrid cloud is huge. Containers in the cloud. DevSecOps.
I've been in this forum a few times. I currently work as a senior software engineer who had to scrape my way up to my position. Taking experience one by one until I was able to cultivate it into a decent career. The issue is I'm a high school drop out, and not only that I also dropped out of college. However I dropped out so early that I went to college early (after receiving a GED), but after a few years I decided to enter the industry. I have about 15+ years of experience under my belt.
I've done data engineering problem solving a bit here and there in my career, despite my focus being on cloud and microservices. The main issue. I just find it boring. Sure there is certainly something intriguing about decomposing web services, but I would prefer to actually be dealing with data itself. I've been studying machine learning for about 2 years, while a lot of books I've read are pretty dry, I still find it interesting. The only personal projects that persuade me to even challenge myself deals with machine learning in some way. And I love analyzing data and making sense of it. It doesn't help I tend to love to argue politics in my spare time.
The issue is that when it comes to data science, I see crazy requirements. Often requiring PhDs at minimum. I mean I kind of get it. you need to know a little more math than average. And you need to have a lot of data analysis methods. But I don't actually think you need to a PhD to be successful at the job. But I really would like to work in this field. Having been in my career for 15 years, building I just don't find building out some microservices platform as interesting as working with intriguing datasets.
Before someone swoop in and say "Go to school and get your education". I just want to say that I'm 38 years old and I am 100% DEBT FREE. It will take 10 years to get a PhD, at that point I'll be 48 years old. And by 48 years old, I hope to be retired. I know a lot of companies have the title "data science" though they use it as fancy names for their DBAs. But I would love to know how to get into a proper data science role. And taking out debt and going to school for 10 years seems very excessive and unnecessary.
Yeah...you need a more than a "little math" and while many don't have a PhD you don't even have a bachelors. Sorry - but you are not just a little way from hitting the requirements but a couple degrees and no experience either in data science. At least if you're talking actual DATA and data manipulation rather than IT and systems work. It is a lot different stuff...you don't just casually poke around at data and wait for something to pop out. You need to know sophisticated software and analysis techniques and some of the mathematical bases behind it all.
Start by getting a degree in math or statistics, and see if it interests you and if you have any aptitude for it - that'll take 4 years, not 10. BTW, you won't be retired at 48 unless you're putting away a third of your salary and live on nothing.
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