只有学历没有学位证的研究生_没有研究生学位就进入数据科学

只有学历没有学位证的研究生

Back in 2017, I had taken a semester off of college to do an engineering co-op at ExxonMobil’s Beaumont Refinery. I vividly remember wearing my flame-retardant coveralls, steel-toed boots, and safety helmet as I walked along large pipelines and equipment in the 95 degree humid Texas weather. As a midwestern boy with a recently discovered passion for coding, I felt out of place.

早在2017年，我就读了一个学期的大学课程，在埃克森美孚公司的Beaumont炼油厂进行工程合作。 我生动地记得在95度潮湿的德克萨斯州天气中，沿着大型管道和设备行走时，我穿着阻燃工作服，钢头靴和安全帽。 作为一个中西部男孩，最近发现了对编码的热情，我感到不合时宜。

If you look at any data scientist job posting today, most if not all of them are looking for candidates with a MS or PhD in data science. Not to mention the laundry list of technical skill requirements.

如果您看今天的任何数据科学家职位发布，大多数(如果不是全部)都在寻找具有数据科学硕士或博士学位的候选人。 更不用说洗衣单上的技术技能要求了 。

This is the story of how I traded my hard hat for the sexiest job of the 21st century and 22nd century without even a masters degree.

这是关于我如何在没有硕士学位的情况下用安全帽换来21世纪和22世纪 最性感的工作的故事。

从基础开始 (Start with the basics)

Let’s hit rewind.

让我们倒带。

It’s 2016 and I was starting my junior year as a chemical engineering and economics double major at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. After getting about a year in research experience at various universities and NASA, I decided I wanted to explore industry.

那是2016年，我刚开始大三的时候就读内布拉斯加林肯大学化学工程和经济学双学位课程。 在各大学和NASA获得一年的研究经验后，我决定要探索行业。

But chemical engineering was not my only interest. I discovered I loved coding too so I decided to add a computer science minor and enroll in Udacity’s online Data Analyst Nanodegree at the end of 2016. Yup, I loved learning.

但是化学工程并不是我唯一的兴趣。 我发现我也喜欢编码，所以我决定增加一名计算机科学专业的学生，​​并于2016年底加入Udacity的在线数据分析师Nanodegree 。是的，我喜欢学习。

Udacity’s program was great. They partnered with top tech companies like Google and Facebook to build online courses to help close the technology skills gap. The Nanodegree has a slightly different curriculum now — it used to include an introductory machine learning and exploratory data analysis courses when I took it.

Udacity的程序很棒。 他们与Google和Facebook等顶尖科技公司合作，建立了在线课程，以帮助缩小技术技能差距 。 纳米学位现在的课程略有不同-在我上课时，它曾经包括机器学习入门和探索性数据分析课程。

In 2017, my first term with Exxon consisted of work unrelated to data science. As a co-op, I progressed capital projects and helped support refinery operations. Getting to go out in the field, climbing ladders, and talking with operators was a blast!

2017年，我在埃克森美孚公司的第一个任期包括与数据科学无关的工作。 作为合作社，我进行了资本项目，并帮助支持了炼油厂的运营。 出门在外，爬梯子并与操作员交谈真是爆炸！

Me in all my safety gear in front of ExxonMobil’s Beaumont office in 2017 [photo by author]

2017年，我在埃克森美孚公司Beaumont办公室前的所有安全装备中[作者提供的照片]

I got hands-on experience of what it was like to be a chemical engineer and learned a lot about refinery life. Thankfully, they took a chance on me and I got a return offer to come back to Beaumont for a summer 2018 internship.

我亲身经历了成为一名化学工程师的经历，并从炼油厂的生活中学到了很多。 值得庆幸的是，他们抓住了我一个机会，我得到了回国的机会，可以返回博蒙特参加2018年夏季的实习。

While working at Exxon, I continued completing the Nanodegree, finishing it within a year. Every day, I spent 8am — 5pm working and then 6pm — 10pm studying. Then, after my co-op, it was the same schedule but I switched out working for regular university coursework.

在埃克森美孚工作期间，我继续完成了纳米学位，并在一年内完成了该学位。 每天，我花8am-5pm工作，然后6pm-10pm学习。 然后，在我合作之后，时间表是一样的，但是我转而从事常规大学课程的工作。

Was it rough? Yes. Would I do it again? Absolutely.

粗糙吗？ 是。 我会再做一次吗？ 绝对。

应用学习 (Apply learnings)

Since completing the Nanodegree, I became more interested in data science than I did about process engineering. Armed with the new credential, I reached back out to Dave, my university’s ExxonMobil recruiting lead (who also happened to be my department head in my first term).

自从完成纳米学位以来，我对数据科学的兴趣比对过程工程的兴趣更大。 有了新证书，我回到了大学埃克森美孚公司的招募负责人戴夫(在我第一学期刚好也是我的系主任)。

I asked him if there was a possibility to switch my internship to their headquarter office where most of the data science work occurred. I wanted this for four reasons:

我问他是否有可能将我的实习机会转到他们的总部办公室，在该办公室中大多数数据科学工作都在进行。 我想要这样做有四个原因：

1. To get real-world experience in data science to see if I would actually enjoy the work
   获得数据科学的实际经验，看看我是否真的喜欢这项工作
2. To learn more about the company and make a global impact instead of site-specific improvements at the refinery
   要了解有关公司的更多信息并产生全球影响力，而不是在炼油厂进行针对特定地点的改进
3. To set myself up for more options upon graduation — graduates who interned at a site were almost destined to start their early careers at that site
   为了使自己在毕业时有更多选择，在该站点实习的毕业生几乎注定要在该站点开始他们的早期职业

4. And to work at the fancy new modern campus — it’s like a futuristic city!

   并在崭新的现代化校园中工作 -就像一座充满未来感的城市！

Unfortunately, no switch was available.

不幸的是，没有可用的开关。

So in 2018, I started back in the refinery again as an intern. But this time it was different — I had some data science knowledge under my belt.

所以在2018年，我再次回到炼油厂做实习生。 但是这次却不一样了–我掌握了一些数据科学知识。

From day one, I let Rachel, my new supervisor, know I wanted to get into data science. Though there weren’t any data science positions within the refinery, I was able to convince her to swap one of the three projects I would work on in the summer with a data science related project.

从第一天起，我就让我的新主管Rachel知道我想进入数据科学领域。 尽管该炼油厂没有任何数据科学职位，但我能够说服她将我将在夏季进行的三个项目之一与数据科学相关项目互换。

Even better, for that project, Rachel connected me with George, a senior engineer at the refinery that had prior data science experience. It was the perfect pairing. Our high positive energies matched and he eventually became a mentor.

更好的是，对于该项目，Rachel将我与该炼油厂的高级工程师George联系在一起，George拥有先前的数据科学经验。 这是完美的配对。 我们的高正能量相匹配，他最终成为了导师。

My project? Use machine learning to build an inferential model and improve process control of a multi-million dollar refinery asset. I was so excited that I got to apply topics I learned from the Nanodegree such as supervised learning and hyperparameter tuning.

我的项目？ 使用机器学习来建立推理模型并改善对价值数百万美元的炼油厂资产的过程控制。 我非常激动，我不得不应用从纳米学位中学到的主题，例如监督学习和超参数调整。

Halfway through my internship, I had a discussion with my supervisor and my buddy (Exxon pairs us up with a full-time employee for mentorship) on where I potentially wanted to start if offered a full-time role. I said the headquarters office as a data scientist.

在实习的半途中，我与主管和我的伙伴(埃克森(Exxon)与我们的全职员工进行指导)进行了讨论，讨论如果要提供全职职位，我可能希望从哪里开始。 我说总部是一名数据科学家。

I was told the most realistic pathway to get into that role would take at least 5 years. Do a couple rotations at the site as a process engineer, take on a coordinator role, and then maybe, just maybe, be able to transition into a data scientist.

有人告诉我，进入该职位的最现实途径至少需要5年。 以现场工程师的身份在现场进行几次轮换，担任协调员，然后也许(也许)可以过渡到数据科学家。

But I didn’t want to wait. I wanted to make an impact on a global scale as soon as possible.

但是我不想等。 我想尽快在全球范围内产生影响。

So I needed to demonstrate that I would be more valuable to Exxon as a data scientist than as a process engineer. My strategy? Do a good job and make sure the right people know about it.

因此，我需要证明，作为一名数据科学家，我对埃克森公司比对过程工程师更有价值。 我的策略？ 做好工作，并确保合适的人对此有所了解。

建立良好的网络 (Build a great network)

I reengaged Dave, who now became the manager of George’s supervisor (how convenient, right?). The project I was tasked with turned out to be one of the big items on Dave’s roadmap. So I kept him in the loop and asked him to help me get exposure to the data science community.

我与戴夫(Dave)进行了接触，他现在成为了乔治主管的经理(多么方便，对吗？)。 我所负责的项目原来是戴夫路线图上的重要项目之一。 因此，我让他陷入困境，并请他帮助我接触数据科学社区。

I also took networking into my own hands. After successfully delivering the data science project, I took a chance and scheduled a call with a data science manager at the headquarters. Part of me had a fear of rejection because what busy manager had time for an intern hundreds of miles away at a refinery?

我还亲自建立了网络。 成功交付数据科学项目后，我抓住了机会，安排了总部的数据科学经理打来电话。 我中的一部分人担心被拒绝，因为哪个忙碌的经理有时间在数百英里外的一家炼油厂实习？

To my surprise, she accepted. She was kind and although she reiterated that my chances of starting as a data scientist were better if I had years of site experience or a graduate degree, she also gave me great insight into how data science worked at ExxonMobil.

令我惊讶的是，她接受了。 她很友善，尽管她重申如果我有多年的现场经验或研究生学位，我成为数据科学家的机会会更大，但她也使我对埃克森美孚公司的数据科学工作有了深刻的了解。

I learned Exxon had not just one but multiple data science teams. Some were more established while others were just a year or two old!

我了解到，埃克森美孚不仅拥有一支，而且拥有多个数据科学团队。 有些人比较成熟，而另一些人只有一两岁！

A few weeks passed and Dave got back to me. He had reached out to his network and mentioned a data science supervisor was willing to host me for a day at the headquarters. I then asked Rachel if I could go. She was supportive but wanted to make sure I had a plan.

几个星期过去了，戴夫又回到了我身边。 他已经联系到他的网络，并提到一位数据科学主管愿意在总部接待我一天。 然后我问瑞秋我是否可以去。 她是支持者，但想确保我有一个计划。

And a plan I gave her.

还有我给她的计划。

Upstream. Downstream. IT. I set up a time to talk with as many people that touched the data science space at ExxonMobil. Namedropping the data science manager I previously had a call with helped as well.

上游的。 下游。 它。 我安排了一个时间与埃克森美孚(ExxonMobil)接触数据科学领域的人们进行交谈。 我曾经打过电话给数据科学经理打过名字，也有所帮助。

On my last week, I drove an hour to a college friend’s apartment in Houston the day before and slept on the floor with a backpack and blanket that night (he was just starting at ExxonMobil and didn’t have any furniture yet).

在上周，我前一天开车去休斯敦的一个大学朋友住的公寓一个小时，那天晚上带着背包和毯子睡在地板上(他刚开始在埃克森美孚公司工作，还没有家具)。

This was my schedule for the next day:

这是我第二天的时间表：

• 8:00am — 8:30am | Upstream Research Company — Data Science Supervisor
  上午8:00 —上午8:30 | 上游研究公司—数据科学主管
• 8:30am — 9:00am | ExxonMobil IT — Data Scientist
  上午8:30 —上午9:00 | 埃克森美孚IT —数据科学家
• 9:00am — 10:00am | Value Chain Optimization — Data Scientists
  9:00 am — 10:00 am | 价值链优化—数据科学家
• 10:00am — 11:00am | Real Time Optimization — Optimization Engineer
  上午10:00 —上午11:00 | 实时优化—优化工程师
• 11:00am — 12:00pm | Upstream Research Company — Data Scientist
  上午11:00 —下午12:00 | 上游研究公司-数据科学家
• 12:00pm — 1:00pm | Lunch w/ Data Scientists
  12:00 pm — 1:00 pm | 与数据科学家共进午餐
• 1:00pm — 1:30pm | ExxonMobil IT — Data Science Advisor
  1:00 pm — 1:30 pm | 埃克森美孚IT —数据科学顾问
• 1:30pm — 2:15pm | Fuels & Lubricants — Data Science Supervisor
  下午1:30-下午2:15 | 燃料和润滑剂—数据科学主管
• 3:00pm — 3:30pm | ExxonMobil IT — Data Science Supervisor
  3:00 pm — 3:30 pm | 埃克森美孚IT —数据科学主管
• 3:30pm — 4:00pm | Value Chain Optimization — Department Head
  下午3:30-4:00 PM | 价值链优化-部门主管
• 4:00pm — 5:00pm | Python Interest Networking Event
  下午4:00至下午5:00 | Python兴趣网络活动

Yup, I basically set myself up with a full day of informational interviews and I learned a ton.

是的，我基本上是整整一天的信息采访，并且学到了很多东西。

Some of the folks I met with asked me about the data science project I worked on, while others shared their work and advice. From this, I realized how large ExxonMobil was and the vast array of interesting projects that were being tackled.

我遇到的一些人问我有关我从事的数据科学项目的问题，而其他人则分享了他们的工作和建议。 由此，我意识到了埃克森美孚公司的规模以及正在处理的众多有趣项目。

However, one common trend I noticed was that everyone had a graduate degree.

但是，我注意到一个普遍的趋势是每个人都有研究生学位。

最终结果 (The End Result)

On my last day of my second internship, Rachel and my buddy sat me down for an exit interview. There, I would learn whether or not I received a return offer for a full-time position.

在第二次实习的最后一天，雷切尔(Rachel)和我的伙伴让我坐下来接受了离职面试。 在那儿，我将了解我是否收到全职职位的回酬。

And to my surprise, I was offered to a data scientist role at the headquarters!

令我惊讶的是，我被邀请担任总部的数据科学家一职！

It felt so great that all the hard work I had put in finally paid off. I was and still am so grateful for all the supportive people that helped align the doors to make this possible.

感觉真是太棒了，以至于我付出的所有辛苦终于得到了回报。 我曾经并且仍然非常感激所有帮助人们团结一致以实现这一目标的支持者。

I later learned that the department head I had talked to on my makeshift super day had called my supervisor to make the switch. One of the reasons was because I brought something new to the data science team that they didn’t have — my whole 8 months of intern refinery experience.

后来我得知，在我临时任职的那天，与我交谈过的部门负责人已经打电话给我的主管进行更换。 原因之一是因为我为数据科学团队带来了他们没有的新东西-我整个8个月的实习炼油经验。

Since starting at Exxon full-time in May 2019, I have gotten the opportunity to work on a variety of projects from trading recommendations to pricing guidance and equipment optimization, helping to capture $15M+ each year.

自2019年5月在埃克森美孚全职工作以来，我有机会从事各种项目，从交易建议到定价指导和设备优化，每年可赚取1500万美元以上。

Fun fact: In one of my new projects, I helped deliver a global product that expanded on the work I did as an intern. Guess who was one of the first product owners? — It was George. It truly is a small world.

有趣的事实：在我的一个新项目中，我帮助交付了一个全球产品，该产品在实习生的工作基础上得到了扩展。 猜猜谁是最早的产品所有者之一？ —是乔治。 这确实是一个小世界。

外卖 (Takeaways)

Landing a data science position boils down to ensuring you understand the fundamentals, applying that knowledge in your current role, and connecting with the right people that can support you and open the right doors.

获得数据科学职位归结为确保您了解基础知识，将知识应用到您当前的职位上以及与可以为您提供支持的合适人员联系并打开合适的大门。

All of these start with you. You are the driver and your determination is the fuel that takes you to your destination.

所有这些都从您开始。 您是司机，而决心是带您前往目的地的燃料。

Remember, your background is unique. Use that to your advantage and surround yourself with those that recognize that. And when the right door opens up, make sure you’re ready to walk through!

请记住，您的背景是独特的。 利用它来发挥自己的优势，并让周围的人认识到这一点。 当右门打开时，请确保您已准备好走过！

Lastly, be grateful and kind to everyone you meet. You never know when you’ll need them in the future.

最后，对遇到的每个人表示感谢和友善。 您永远不会知道将来何时需要它们。

Are you trying to get into data science? Message me on LinkedIn! I’d love to be a part of your journey.

您是否正在尝试进入数据科学？ 在LinkedIn上给我发消息！ 我很乐意成为您旅程的一部分。

翻译自: https://towardsdatascience.com/getting-into-data-science-without-a-graduate-degree-59397401e6be

只有学历没有学位证的研究生