Interview with Data Science Bootcamp Grad | Ashley

this is Ashley we're gonna be talking about her coding bootcamp journey and kind of where she is right now as well as kind of where she's going in her future so if you don't mind Ashley because you tell us a little bit about your past not all the things I am a data scientist before I was a scientist I was a middle school physics teacher mm-hmm so I have a long career in history of teaching I've taught for seven years before I did anything coding related and I've had tons of other things like them foot size that if you have think of a job I've never done retail everything all right done at all yes there you go what brought you into coding how'd you find out about data the funny thing is this is something I had I had answer in my interview I had an interview today it was awesome a my interview I had today they asked me several questions and I realized how if you're a good teacher you're actually a data scientist indeed analyst because everything you do is data-driven you take constant ongoing feedback and metrics from your students and tailor what you're doing based on that so you are doing data analytics on fly yeah which led me like it made me understand how important data is in our lives and how you can use it in multiple ways and yeah I went some very basically yeah yeah that's cool okay so you did a online coding bootcamp I did think four which is 100% online okay what was the decision to go with thankful was it just like this one seems good was their thought process behind it tells a face cuz I had do research I would be very nice and not named the other boot camp so when I first decided to go to learn data science I looked at a local boot camp that's all i'ma say okay I looked at local boot camp based on what my graduate degree was taking taking place at I went through their interview process I got to the point where they were about to sign me up as a pay my tuition and it just didn't feel right they're very pushy they weren't very transparent about their hiring practices and how they got to a job and I came to find out that they were misrepresenting themselves and they weren't actually affiliated with who they thought so directly to us they were a private company okay so I did some research online to figure out if I want to do a local boot camp if I want to do online and the ones over here in Dallas were interesting but they didn't have the world's best reviews and then I found thankfull which had really great reviews they only have had data science for about a year now okay so it's pretty new program you know but I really like the idea that it's mostly lecture and assignment based and you have a mentor you meet with twice a week so it's it's really like almost one-on-one classes okay certainly enjoyed it so the fact that it was new wasn't something that's like oh I don't want to do this small just like this seems this feels right there we're like going through the actual program there are a little like hiccups like looking at the curriculum from a teacher's perspective I was like yeah you didn't think that through very way but one of the reasons why I chose thankful was in their pre-interview they didn't push me they were very very chill and very calm they're like we want you to be happy and they were incredibly transparent they would not tell me they wouldn't say we've placed this many students ok they said we don't believe in that we don't think that's fair we want you to be able to read our statistics and to understand them I was like great and they were like we're not gonna inflate things some people get jobs methadone's cool yeah yeah man they had tuition reimbursement policy so I can't get mad about that so if I don't have it if I made my graduation date from seven months from then if I don't have got a job they refill my money that's awesome yes I've seen those and I'm like oh man I wish I would've done pictures and I have a they're just like cuz I know that um the boot camp Alice did I know what we have several people in women who code who were weird uh are going through door I've done it yeah and when I told them that I have a guarantee they're like you eat your money back good job you're like did he find you jobs like no they helped me get the skills I need to get a job and they work with me with interviewing they make connections for me sometimes Amanda but I actually feel like in the short time since I've graduated boot camp I've had their luck than people who graduated same time I did we can't balance dude that's good I did I enjoyed it thankful thankful I like look it up people mmm-hmm write it down google it we're finished watching the video you mentioned pre bootcamp there's an interview process how was that energy process did they ask you questions about data was it more just like your personality were they trying to see if you would go through the full walk us through that which one because both of them weren't they were vastly different so the first one I did with one who did not the boot camp I did not choose okay let's go with the one you did cheat okay good like the one I chose it was actually why did you and it was just one person who went over the curriculum that she showed me all the stuff we had and then they also have the option think pause the option of having a one month or one week I can't believe trial period where you can try out their program for free you can it is the same exact program that I took full time yeah it's so I did that and it really gave me an idea of what curriculums like the idea of like during that time you have a fake assignment it's like not your current mentor but do your temporary mental work and they met with me and they helped me I was like I really like this and this is pre and this is pre I hadn't pay anything you had pay anything Wow yeah I know so I was like that was like but they were like they're very transparent answer any questions and I was able to be my complete understand self and they were like yeah I can I can see why you're asking that but that's I told him that I had the problems like probably other boot camp I was like I didn't like how they're doing it yeah so let me pause for a second because you mentioned the other code of boot camp did you start a process of going to that boot camp or did you just do the energy process with them and then decided no I thankfully did not start it because they have a very very accelerated there's slope I think they have a very short period if you don't withdraw within two days you don't get your my back oh yeah of course so I got through their interview process so we only talked to a I may see a sales person who was just pushing pushing pushing yeah and hounded me relentlessly for three days mm-hmm and then yes exactly and then then I talked to some gentleman never spoken to before who asked me really odd strange questions I didn't feel were the relevant like yeah it was they were trying to be behavioral but they were not like I don't get how that would have helped me yeah be engaged it's a data scientist like they say there were large questions but I didn't see the logic in them interesting so you dodged that bullet now you're thankful you've started the program is it a full-time immersive boot camp or how's this one work they actually do offer that now which is really cool but when I started it was a part-time give or take 20 hours a week and it's kind of at your own pace but do you have timelines so like when your program manager could meet with you every other week couple weeks and set your timeline with you and reviews how you're doing in addition to your mentor you meet twice a week so it was pretty straightforward nice so you have mentorship built into your program correct and you said you meet with them one or two times a week so what is that mentorship program look like or during that time are y'all coding together is it is it what's happening so I don't know if I consider them typically like as a typical mentor because they were more of like my personal director so I would do all the work on my own and the assignments and then I'd ask my mentors name was dodge or is dodge he's still there he's still real he's really awesome to look like if you think dude thankful tell dodges say hey he's the best he does all the webinars but um he we meet twice a week and he'd be like email me slack me anytime you need let me know what you don't get let me know if you've any questions outside this and we know there's anything you want to explore and he it was great so I had my first mentor was amazing okay not that my second mentor wasn't but my first mentor was a former teacher he had taught English in China he was amazing he had come from somewhere background I did he was phenomenal his life got to him so he was like he's playing for wedding he is a consultant for a company and he to travel and so he was like I'm so sorry I can't be a mentor and Mercury in addition my full-time job oh so it's like he and I got really tight and I think he meant her for a month and then he left no no we're still friends I love him he's good guys sit I had to reset and restore my expectations with a new mentor who I didn't know and I was really hesitant at first cuz I loved Nick my first mentor he was amazing and I was like it took me a little bit torment my new mentor but he's he's my friend and I had two different parameters I am the little engine that could cuz anything that could go wrong during boot camp but wrong for me it was good though I told I taught the backend engineers a lot of things I had a lot of kind of weird errors that never have anybody but my first program manager actually I promoted and it was a very interesting onboarding process my second one because it took a while because once my first one had scepter in a new position it took like a month and a half to get the new one on board okay so it was both plus - yeah now just so we're clear when you say program manager what is that person do they're kind of in charge of my academic achievement and like timeline so they were the ones who are if I didn't have something done by a day at the deadline they'd be like hey are you okay do you need help are you done and then they'd be like it's do let's do this nice yeah it was but overall pretty cool thing okay I'm not as fond of my program manager so it was my mentors but of course I got through it I killed it yeah so you've got through the program huh mm-hmm now you've graduated thank you thank you yay so what happens next do you get what did they give you do they give you certificate certificate okay which and I think I printed out maybe like paper they're like which is funny because one of the things that like like it's great I have your certificate and it's great that I can say I have a certificate but yeah I don't that's not really why I cared about a kid about knowing it knowledge is power it is power is very much power so now I'm done with that I actually have six months of career sport so I meet with my career coach once or twice a week give or take or once once a week or once every other week and she basically checks in with me lets me know if there's anything that she's seen that she thinks I should apply for she gives me tips she goes through mock interview stuff with me she a health meter resume it's she's awesome that's awesome so since this is online when you're meeting with your what is this person called I forgot this is the crucial people okay when you meet with those people is this online as well and she's actually based in Austin oh she's great she's more local than anyone else my life my mat my mentor is in San Diego and my program manager was in Minnesota okay so okay they're all over the in states and you didn't have any issues with like distance when you were in the program you weren't like oh man I wish this person was here you know anytime of day I couldn't message him and he may not have responded then but I'd have an answer back and explanations and resources so he made it's amazingly easy so now you're on the job hunt you feel do you feel prepared mmm so the thing I've been finding and I this is kind of a both of good in a bad realization is I am not prepared to be an actual data scientist for what people want mm-hmm I am data scientist there's no doubt in my mind if you can complete a 10 den project your date scientist the problem is hiring potations for data scientists even junior data scientists are unrealistic they want something PhD they want something done who's done 15 years of data science and has a master's degree in statistics or some other you know yeah which you can get but you won't have people who go to boot camps that's not to their background right so I've learned that instead of applying for data science jobs I've been playing for like dating almost jobs because they are stepping stones it is the same thing a lot of times actually is a data scientist job I feel when you're talking about that with the ph d--'s and all this stuff it's almost as if they haven't seen what else is out that they don't know about the coding boot camps yet maybe they didn't understand so the data science that's something well the thing to a science I said it's do you sciencism it's a box it's not actually like there's no such thing as one part data scientists data science is multifaceted I'd be like I said you're a developer I wanted to bluffer developers don't do one thing y'all have different you do different things yeah because like a front-end developer cannot do back in all the time and everything in first person so for data science there's many facets to it that it's really hard to meet all the expectations people have also a lot of times people who write the job job thank you yes are not actually get a scientist and don't know what they want this happens to be I'm sure you know this money but I'm so frequently I have read some of them I'm like I'm not calling for this I'm applying for t ways don't care what a billion years experience write what we might do to coin horn to be shiny and purple okay so you're doing data analyst jobs finding stuff out there um do you want to say how many interviews you've done so far one that's great I know oh it's true I forgot I have an unpaid internship I keep hearing about that oh that I got like all I had to do the person so it's for a educational company okay emotional support educational company so at the company California who is a non-profit and they work on they have a game game occupation based format of getting children's support help they need for like social-emotional shoes really fascinating and I happen to be the perfect fit for them because I have experience with children I've experienced education I have I have a master's degree in education leadership I understand children you do well yeah but else understand the needs and the data behind it yeah so I have an unpaid internship that was my first of you I guess I'm sorry I forgot about them and then I've had one actual interview besides that I've actually gotten the worst part about my graduate boot camp was I graduated in November December is not a time to apply for jobs yeah so I've had over a hundred job applications I put in and I've gotten two positive responses okay three including major in ship yeah so it's a timing issue December is not a good time for it yeah not at all yet but that's okay could also use that time to like ramp up your skate did I enjoy holidays and Resta need a lot you know huge yeah alright so what's your perfect job look like I want to use my superpowers of data to tell people so I want a job that I can apply statistical models and predictive models and analytics to things that help people overall okay that's a tall yeah I'm like that's the minimum I don't help people I don't wanna do it that's good it makes a big difference yeah exactly you want you want to enjoy your job and go to work happy as opposed to Haiti and every day help people live their lives better I have in a perfect world if I had a little more experience at over time I would love to be machine money engineer who uses AI machine learning to hopefully alleviate some bias because machining and the iceberg advice mm-hmm and I wanna make sure like that's my dream but right now I would love to use my data science skills to help people okay real quick with new code yes what has that done for first of all how did you find out about what my new code let's start there and then let's move into what has what has and if this airs before February I can plug my next talk and doing at the next febray code connect what okay which is about my bootcamp experience as well so um I found out about when you code online I thought was really cool but it was intimidating cuz I'm not a programmer mmm-hmm I mean I'm not your typical stereotypical remember I went to a women and data event at 7-eleven and had a panel 7-eleven the witless Larabee's yes I like beautiful corporate office um great people very nice mm-hmm I watched the panel and there were five people in the panel mm-hmm and I was three of them were really interesting to really really understand great report it ended up being Carrie and Claire are swear by former directors yes I talked to Mac words out and I talked Carrie I was like I believe love woman who code I love the idea I'd love to come to a meeting but I'm kind of shy she said we're all should I just show up so I did I think I came to the my first one was a I think downtown code connect I had a great time awesome so what had the community been for you like what does it mean to you oh time so one of the things that's the biggest for me besides fact that I love everyone who's in it because y'all are amazing and the fact that even though not everyone we have a very small group in our subgroup that our data and a lot of times y'all have no idea what we're talking about and we have no idea what y'all are talking about but we still love each other and we're always like we're like we understand it's cool we oh you've had a hard day I don't know what rocking about but here hub I understand our game another thing that leaves been awesome is the tracks like the I'm a member of one new code Python I'm also memorable from new code do science which led me like blood me and my wife to go to Atlanta and go to the data pie conference which was awesome because not only diet get to hang out with the woman code leadership and like chill with them meet with him I also got to meet all kinds was like nifty fun people like Maddie who's lead of our data science who is a who wasn't a researcher and MIT I don't know she does now something she's happier with but yeah it was great so that's been amazing I've also had a chance to like I love I am your quintessential teacher nerd I love giving presentations and helping people and so it's allowed me to do a I did a talk for when you code Python about exploratory data analysis it was so much fun it was more successful than talks I gave you when I was a teacher I used to help run an unconference for educators we have every year we still do it it's called detective classrooms I think now I don't know it means but we do like we have an educator from all over the world it's to pay for our unconference they come in we do like virtual presentations and talk the one I did for man code was more like much more successful than that it was awesome yeah I did experience it did uh it was great I'm also giving a talk in February can watch me if you're Dallas on are your section cuz you're Phi can be recording aren't you ok d it didn't and she'll be recording it'll be awesome I will be there sure hashtag women will quote hash tag I should tag data science alright so we'll wrap up kind of throw my advice in if you're looking for a boot camp what advice would you give don't ever be afraid to tell people no no do your research look at the fine print you knew before yes look for reviews online and contact people who taken the bootcamp and ask them if they've had success asked him how they felt ask them what was like the best part was the worst part and asked them honestly because yeah having watched the poor friends we have in our group now who've gone to the boot camp I didn't do struggle so hard mm-hmm and and not know the things I know and I feel like they're not prepared I just I feel nothing but something for them yeah but also I I think if you wouldn't didn't check your facts see it is what it is yeah so check your facts ask questions research you don't hurt and you also don't have to choose the first window at all it's all right it's like college exactly oh yeah you want them to like you yes you want them to like you for more than just your money mm-hmm it's also like the job hunting process yes you don't have to miss the first one anyways thank you for joining you thank you all for watching this video I will see you in the next one hope you enjoyed it if you have any additional comments questions please let us know down below and we will get right back to you thank you so much [Music]

Channel: Tiffany

Views: 2,390

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Data Science Bootcamp Grad, thinkful, what thinkful bootcamp is like, thinkful coding bootcamp, thinkful review, coding bootcamp grad, finding a job at a coding boot, tiffalwaysfly, tiffany, coding bootcamp, is a coding bootcamp worth it, web development, software engineer, coding, women in tech, full stack developer, learn how to code, how to learn how to code, is it worth going to a coding bootcamp, code school, data science coding bootcamp, data science coding bootcamp grad

Id: kAAGM4ZKMIk

Length: 20min 37sec (1237 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 11 2020