Part 4. Growing in your data science role

The final part of this book is material to use after you get comfortable in a data science position; it’s all about what comes next. The topics in this part eventually affect every data scientist, yet aren’t frequently talked about. It’s easy to assume that if you have a stable data science job, you’ve made it, but you always have more to learn. The goal of this final part is to provide materials to help you move from a junior data scientist to a senior data scientist and beyond.

Chapter 13 covers how to handle failed data science projects. This topic is critically important for veteran data scientists, because as your career progresses, you’ll certainly run into failures. Chapter 14 is about joining the data science community, from writing blog posts to attending conferences. Although it’s not required of data scientists, community involvement can be hugely beneficial for building a network and landing future jobs. Chapter 15 handles the tricky task of leaving a data science position in a way that’s best for your career. As the last chapter of this book, Chapter 16 discusses some of the main career paths after senior data scientist, such as becoming a manager or a technical lead.