Data Science Alumni Speaker (July 24) - Extra Credit

On Friday, July 24, I attended the fourth Data Science alumni speaker series with Ben Arancibia and Jasper Lu. Ben is a data scientist at GSK, so it was interesting to learn more about how data analytics is used in the pharamaceutical industry, especially now that there is an accelerated need for a COVID-19 vaccine. For example, Ben discussed that there was traditionally a divide between the employees with advanced-level degrees who designed the pharamaceutical research studies and the newly-graduated analysts who evaluated the biostatistical data yielded from the research. The research study designers, who often had Ph.D’s in a math-related field, would review the work of the analysts to validate the results and the mathematical analysis used on the data. However, now that pharmaceutical companies are seeking a quick-to-market vaccination for COVID-19, they are looking to hire more analysts and programmers who can help automate this validation process with computers. Consequently, the pharmaceutical industry is becoming more accessible to data scientists who are earlier in their careers. It was also really interesting to hear that business has increased for GSK due to the pandemic, and many pharmaceutical companies are even increasing hiring efforts to not only help quickly introduce a COVID-19 vaccine, but also to help quickly introduce new medications that can alleviate the symptoms in patients who have already contracted the virus. This growth is in contrast to many other industries, particularly the entertainment and travel sectors. Jasper was the Head of Data Science in the Flights, Cruise, & Car team at Tripadvisor. He said that interest in flights initially increased when the pandemic struck, as everyone was heading back home. But as travel completely shut down by May, Jasper and many of his colleagues were laid off. However, Jasper has now been hired as a data scientist with Shopify, an e-retailer company. This job connects well with his previous experience in using data science in pricing analytics and generating product recommendations at Wayfair. I thought it was neat to hear that he first begain working at Wayfair when they were a startup and continued working there for several years prior to joining Tripadvisor, so he was able to be a part of the tremendous growth they have experienced over the past four years.

Both Ben and Jasper attended graduate school to earn a Master’s degree in Data Science, but they offered the advice that experience can be just as valuable. In fact, Jasper has been involved in the hiring process throughout his career and stated that, often times, employers will hire a candidate with a Bachelor’s degree who has had years of experience before they hire a newly-graduated candidate with a Master’s degree who hasn’t demonstrated work experience. Thus, both Ben and Jasper agreed that it is important to invest the time now to learn as much as you can so that you will be better equipped to participate in extracurricular activities that enhance your Data Science skills and give you an opportunity to work on projects, like Kaggle competitions. Ben also said that building your network in a smart way at the companies you wish to work for is crucial to facilitate getting a job. Jasper agreed with this and said that communication is a great skill to have, to let employers and clients know what you want to do and how you plan to do it.