Introductions

My name is Steven Tran, and in September 2021, I quit my job to pursue a career in data science.

Some context is probably warranted here…

In 2008, I was a freshman in high school and the world was crumbling all around us in the wake of the Great Recession. Layoffs and mortgage defaults were widespread as the doom and gloom of the economic downturn permeated my daily life.

My parents, immigrants to the United States, were among many who lost their homes in foreclosure (in their unfortunate case, I’d argue that my parents were also among many who were unfit to be mortgage borrowers in the first place).

As teachers asked us to ponder our futures and consider what professions we’d want to go into, all I knew was that I wanted to avoid all the pain and anguish caused by the Recession — a job that was Recession-proof.

At the time I figured any discipline requiring some degree of mathematical and analytical rigor would do, and so, upon graduating high school I enrolled to university as an economics major.

In 2016, I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Economics. I had learned enough about the science and the profession to conclude I didn’t know anything at all. But evidently, I knew enough to secure a full-time job offer a semester before graduation.

The Recession fears from years before were still top of mind for me, and so the first job offer I got was the first one I took.

By 2020, I had spent a respectable number of years in public service — first as an auditor, then as an economist. I began to feel a distinct lack of passion in my daily work.

Both job roles were repetitive. Neither role made full use of my technical ability. The latter was surprisingly administrative for being so technical in title. I felt that I was in something of a career purgatory and that it was time to move on.

So in the early summer of 2021, I began to take interviews. A mentor of mine referred me for an interview at my state’s premier economic development agency. The recruitment team promised a job that was highly research-oriented, and the applicant assessment and lengthy interview process attested to that.

When they extended the job offer, I was elated at the notion that I had a chance to escape from my purgatory (the big pay bump was great, too — but ultimately not nearly as valuable as work/life balance). I accepted the offer and started in my new role in July of 2021.

The elation over the new job had all but dissipated after week 2. The realization I was still in purgatory had emerged fully by week 4.

By week 6, I had had an epiphany that staying in this job, which turned out to be overwhelmingly legal and required substantial sacrifices to work-life balance, would mean condemnation to something worse than purgatory.

I respected the work my team and agency were trying to do. It made sense to me that continuing in the role would do myself (and in the long run, my employer) no good. So in week 8, I shared my epiphany and my letter of resignation with my supervisor . Week 9 would be my last.

These jobs weren’t all bad. There were certainly bright spots. I enjoyed great working relationships with every colleague I met, and found myself truly passionate whenever I got a chance to teach others technical material, or modernize outdated processes with programming and automation. Those are the elements I’ll resolve to find in whatever role I choose to take next…

…which brings us to now (specifically, the time of this writing). I gave up a well-paying job and all the concomitant benefits for a substantial amount of uncertainty.

Today, I am partway through Week 3 of the Data Science Immersive at General Assembly. The relief I felt after resigning my last job grows stronger every day.

So far we’ve covered topics ranging from python and working with files to probability theory and regression models. The coursework is rigorous and mentally demanding, but so far has given me nothing but conviction that I am finally doing something I really want to.

The greatest uncertainty I have to face now is the transition back into the job market. I know that any success I may find after the conclusion of the program will be predicated on how much effort I put in now. So here goes nothing.

My name is Steven Tran, and I resolve to excel in this program, to graduate, to harness my passion for teaching others, and make better use of technology to improve how we live and work.

If you got one, I’d love to hear your story about changing careers and embracing uncertainty.