“Should I accept a Senior Data Scientist role with only 2-3 years of experience? #DataScience #JuniorDS #CareerAdvice
Hi there! I recently got offered a Senior Data Scientist position at a big transportation company, but I only have a couple of years of experience in the field. I have a background in leadership and team-building, but I’m worried about handling the responsibilities of this role. The company wants to grow their data science team, and I would be the first data scientist in the department. I’m also in a tricky situation where I feel like I have to accept the offer to secure my income.
Would love your advice on how to navigate this situation! Thanks in advance.”
It’s either this or no job or money coming in? In this economy? They are aware of your situation. Make the most of it. If you hate it, look for other jobs while doing this one.
You will be fine.Â
My first role after finishing undergrad and one year into a 2 year master’s was as a senior for a very large government organisation.Â
They chose you. They knew this about you. Â
Worst case scenario is that you take the job and aren’t able to fulfill it. In that case, you can seek a new job while you work. And you can even just not label the job as a senior role if you don’t want to seek senior roles later.
In my personal experience titles in tech are absolutely meaningless, most companies have 100% Seniors, while most of them either aren’t or “1 year of experience repeated 7 times” type people anyway.
Go for it, and make the most out of the opportunity, worst-case scenario you’ll be in the same position you are now but with more pay and experience.
suffering from success
I will honestly say that accepting a senior role set me back a bit in my career because I realised how much I didn’t know. The guy who I HIRED to work with me ended up replacing me, because he actually WAS a senior. It made it tough to find non-senior roles afterward, and I almost considered changing my old title so I could work my way up to senior without all the stress of faking it.
But in the end I guess I know now what is all required of it. I spent a few years laying low and doing contract work, looking for a perfect org where I could have a title that did not show backwards movement (eg going from senior to non-senior), and not overextend myself.
It’s very true that a lot of places don’t actually know what all goes into being a senior, and won’t actually find out if you aren’t doing senior work. This is mostly inhouse positions. But IMO, be careful because it could shoot yourself in the foot with future roles if you aren’t living up to senior expectations at the next place.
Fake it till you make it. Atleast that’s what I did
It sounds like they most likely already have technically talented people on the team who are struggling to effectively communicate the what and why of what they’re doing to management. They want someone with some cat herding ability moreso than someone who’s going to figure out these difficult technical problems on thier own.
It’s just a job.
My first role was senior, very good learning experience. Like drinking out of a firehose. You’ll sink or swim, but you’ll learn a lot.
Well you were too lazy to write “years of experience” so I wouldn’t hire you
sounds completely fine
just work hard to grind out any skill deficiencies you may have and you will be fine
you can do it 🙂
I had my first senior title at 3-3.5 years of experience. Learn fast, ensure your leadership (if any) is supportive and knows that you’re ramping up in some areas (if they’re good, they’ll know this already and accept that, seniors aren’t like perfect coders or leaders right away, that’s a silly expectation), provide value, mentor where you can and contribute to the ‘team’ or org first – ie good documentation (that you maintain), become the go-to person for your area, etc.
It can be a sink or swim scenario, but if you swim and you take every opportunity presented, it will be like steroids for your career.
In this economy, I’d take this and work my fucking ass off. Doesn’t matter if i work overtime (but of course not to the point of burnout).
You’re in a place where most people would die for (not literally) right now. Take it and if it’s detrimental to your health, take a step back, re-evaluate and see if you can find something better than this.
Masters + 3yoe sounds about right for a senior position
Let it blow up in your face. That’s what I did. I grabbed a senior role after quitting another company in response to RTO. The team ended up being really mismanaged and being the linchpin was a nightmare. It didn’t end up working out. However, I now have a senior role on my resume and used that to land an even better position that I’m actually happy with.
Never reject an offer because you think you’re not ready for it. If the employer thinks you’re ready, go for it.