New ask Hacker News story: Ask HN: Is it just me, or do most data scientists hate their jobs?
Ask HN: Is it just me, or do most data scientists hate their jobs?
3 by ds-unhappy-ta | 4 comments on Hacker News.
I've been a data scientist (DS) for a while. It's a generally a well paid job with good benefits and work/life balance, yet... I hate this career. I've had positions at a few different sized companies (big public company vs small startup) working on different types of products (B2B/enterprise vs B2C), and it doesn't matter. After an initial honeymoon phase, I'll get hit by a strong combo of frustration/boredom/cynicism and want to quit. It could be that I'm burning out or just have a short attention span, but this seems like this is a pervasive issue among DS positions. Almost every DS I talk to (coworkers as well as those in other companies) is unhappy or disillusioned about their role. There are plenty of employees at these companies that genuinely enjoy their work, yet there isn't a single DS I know where I think "I can envision this person doing this work for a couple decades and making a full career out of it until they retire". Everybody is trying to transition to a different type of role (engineering, product management, people management) or just dropping out of tech completely to become a beekeper or something. I have lots of theories for why this specific role seems so unhappy, but I wanted to take a step back from that and get some broader takes on whether this phenomenon is real. Are DSers -- the job title billed as the 'sexiest job' a few years ago -- generally unhappy in their work? Or is this my own confirmation/sampling bias?
3 by ds-unhappy-ta | 4 comments on Hacker News.
I've been a data scientist (DS) for a while. It's a generally a well paid job with good benefits and work/life balance, yet... I hate this career. I've had positions at a few different sized companies (big public company vs small startup) working on different types of products (B2B/enterprise vs B2C), and it doesn't matter. After an initial honeymoon phase, I'll get hit by a strong combo of frustration/boredom/cynicism and want to quit. It could be that I'm burning out or just have a short attention span, but this seems like this is a pervasive issue among DS positions. Almost every DS I talk to (coworkers as well as those in other companies) is unhappy or disillusioned about their role. There are plenty of employees at these companies that genuinely enjoy their work, yet there isn't a single DS I know where I think "I can envision this person doing this work for a couple decades and making a full career out of it until they retire". Everybody is trying to transition to a different type of role (engineering, product management, people management) or just dropping out of tech completely to become a beekeper or something. I have lots of theories for why this specific role seems so unhappy, but I wanted to take a step back from that and get some broader takes on whether this phenomenon is real. Are DSers -- the job title billed as the 'sexiest job' a few years ago -- generally unhappy in their work? Or is this my own confirmation/sampling bias?
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