How to become a Data Scientist Manager in Tech? by Catherine Fan
From Data Scientist to Manager: A Journey Unveiled
Hello everyone, I'm Catherine, a Data Science Manager at Twitter. Over the years, I've received numerous queries regarding my journey to becoming a data science manager. Many of you are curious about how I did it, why I chose this path, and whether you can do it too.
Today, I'm excited to share my journey in this blog post in hopes that you find some ideas to help you on your own career path.
The Three-part Journey
The journey that got me where I am today is divided into three main parts: the motivation, the process, and the mindset. It involves the reasons that prompted me on this path, the steps that I took, and the attitude I adopted along the way.
Motivation
Two factors motivated me to become a data science manager - an inherent factor tied to who I am as a person, and an external opportunity that drove me into management. Growing up, I found joy in interacting with people and numbers. My outgoing personality, coupled with my love for mathematics, helped shape my career goals.
Apart from these internal factors, an external factor played a vital role in my journey. A recommendation from a former boss to pursue an MBA led me to apply to UCLA Anderson School of Management. Thanks to his insight and belief in my potential, I was able to steer my career path towards management.
The Process
Becoming a manager was not an instant, smooth transition; it came with its fair share of challenges. I had to stay patient, persist, and work diligently at every step. Throughout this process, I ensured I always over-delivered and got involved in as much as I could, including cross-functional projects and having a tech lead role.
- Preparation: I prepared meticulously for my new role – I spent approximately one and a half months reviewing numerous subjects such as statistics, probability, machine learning, and predictive modeling. I also refreshed my knowledge on past projects and prepared thoroughly for behavioral questions. The key is setting a clear goal, creating an actionable plan, and sticking to it.
- Persistence: My journey involved slight setbacks and a fair bit of frustration. After some time without receiving a managerial role at my previous job, I decided to look for external opportunities. This persistence eventually rewarded me with my current role at Twitter.
Mindset
The mindset that you adopt throughout your journey is as crucial as the steps you take. A growth mindset, patience, and a focus on the journey rather than the result were pivotal in my journey. Despite the challenges I encountered, including the three-year wait after my MBA to land my first manager role, I remained positive and patient. I believe that focusing on the knowledge and experience you gain throughout the process is more rewarding than the end result. I assure you, you can reach your goals if you maintain this attitude and persist in your efforts.
Conclusion
The journey to becoming a Data Science Manager is not easy. It’s vital to follow your passion, understand what makes you happy, and pursue what matters most to you. Always be patient, persistent, and keep an open mind. With the right motivation and mindset, you can indeed reach your goal. Remember, the journey is indeed the reward.
I hope that hearing my story inspires you and encourages you to pursue your ambitions. You are not alone in experiencing challenges and setbacks. With time and effort, you will reach your goals. Best of luck in your career and remember, the path to becoming a data science manager is in your hands. Thank you!
Video Transcription
Hello, everyone. Uh I think uh it's about time and let's get started. Um So, uh I'm Catherine. Uh I'm currently a data science uh manager uh at Twitter. Uh Let me see if I can share my screen.
Um You
know what, let me not worry about that for now. Uh And uh I will first uh introduce myself and my plan for today uh is to cover uh three parts.
Uh Sorry, I'm hearing uh echo. Do you all hear the same? Um OK. Um I, I'm not sure how to re remove that. I if you uh folks are OK with that, I, I would just uh live live with it and continue um pretending I'm uh talking to
you in a mountain. Uh So third part I want to cover today. Uh First is the motivation. Uh I, why I wanted to be a data science manager.
Uh The second part is how I
did it. Uh I will share my full journey with you
uh And hope you can get uh
some uh ideas uh on what are some viable ways to do this. And
lastly, uh I will answer the question most
of you have in mind is can you do
it as well? Uh I will share the mindset and the
tips that really helpful uh to me to help me get where I am today. Ok.
Let me try to mute my computer speaker. Oh, ok. So that one um
like this, is it better? Oh, awesome. OK. Thanks for the trick. Um OK. Uh So first, uh let me uh introduce myself a little bit. Uh I just mentioned, I'm currently a data science manager. Uh And the team that I work
for at Twitter
is uh the health uh data Science Foundation team. Uh I'm uh leading uh six data scientists. Uh And we're try trying to tackle the foundational issues for uh health data science. Uh You might sell us frequently or relative frequently on uh these days uh newspaper. Uh We thanks to Elon, like we, it feels good to be a spot lighted on the headline uh frequently these days. Uh a little bit about my career and education background uh career wise. Uh I have 10 years working experience as an IC uh as a biostatistician uh data scientist and also tech lead and uh management career for me is just one year uh and education wise. Uh I have a, a Bachelor in Mathematics uh from Michigan State University uh and also uh a master of science uh in uh biostatistics and MB A from uh both from UCL A. So that's who I am. Uh And now let's step into the first part of my motivation. So there are really two part of my motivation to be a data science manager. One is the inner factor who I am. My, what my personality shows up. And the other is one external uh opportunity that really uh uh make me uh where I am today. So internally, uh I think growing up, I just uh enjoy interacting with people so much. Uh I love speaking with people and as you can see, I'm very extroverted person.
I got super energized after speaking with people. Uh And I'm very interested in uh numbers and math.
Uh I guess similar to other
Asian kids, math is one of my favorite subjects growing up. Uh And I, I'm just a very curious person uh overall. Uh I love exploring new ideas and learning new stuff. Uh And externally, uh I uh applied for AM B A program because uh my boss back then, uh this is in 2015. So seven years ago, uh recommended me to get an MB A. And as she, he see a potential in me uh since I was able to uh communicate very well and uh have very good relationship with everyone uh that I work with. Uh So I applied for uh UCL A uh Anderson School of Management. Uh And I got in uh and that's the only school I applied for and I got in. Um So that's like the external uh reason uh that got me uh into the management track. Uh So to summarize like the motivation part, uh I just really followed my passion and followed um be, be honest to who I am and what makes me happy in life. Uh And uh what matters most to me. So that's the first part. Uh I hope you also have like the similar uh motivation or like, if not, at least you have like uh uh some motivation uh that want to make you uh a data science manager one day. And that is indeed your true passion.
So it's easier to go through that way. Uh And then the second part is how exactly how I did it. Um I, I'll be honest, it's a very frustrating um journey for me. Uh I stayed at two jobs uh after I got my MB A uh working at IC. Uh and I was quite transparent with both of my boss, uh bosses back then. And uh I didn't get the opportunity to be a manager. Uh And I, I, I didn't know back then what to do. Uh I, one thing I at least make my, make sure I did is I always uh over deliver um when I was working with the IC uh and getting very involved driving cross functional projects uh being a tech lead. Uh and also mentor for a summer intern was very helpful to build up my management. Uh profile uh after uh getting uh frustrated trying at my uh company in my last job for a while, uh I decided to give external opportunity a try. So I came up with a very uh detailed comprehensive job searching plan and I spent 1.5 months uh full time researching uh just uh brushing up like all the interview uh and Statistic Data Science foundations.
Uh This includes uh statistic probability coding, machine learning, deep learning, predictive modeling experiment design. Uh All my past projects, um behavioral questions. So I, I reviewed everything thoroughly. So I really did my job uh and make sure I'm fully prepared for an external uh management opportunity.
Um So what really helped me is set a clear goal and make sure I spent time to do this uh came up with an actionable plan, uh execute and stick to it. Um So that is like how I uh did that and made that eventually happen. And uh I switched uh to a management track at Twitter uh last year. Um And lastly, uh is I want to tell you if you have questions uh or doubt in your mind whether you can do it or not. Uh And I will say of course, anybody can do this. Uh And there is a movie that I recommend to you called The Secret, the Law of Attraction. So if you want something badly enough, I'm sure you will be able to reach that Uh And the mindset really helped me is to focus on the uh journey before the results uh be patient and persistent. Um As I just mentioned, I went through so much frustration and eventually got to where I am today. Um If you feel like similar frustration, uh you are not alone um have that growth mindset. Um So spend time like to know data science foundations very well, even though you don't become a data science manager immediately, or like you say, in five years or 10 years, like what you gained
throughout the journey
is still very worthwhile. Um So I think as long as everyone has the right motivation and the growth mindset, then any of them can do it. Uh So enjoy the journey. Uh I think the journey is really the reward probably more than um the real results eventually. Uh So that's uh a brief um or like, you know, my story, like how I got him here today. Uh And to be honest, the time that uh got me to here today after I know my true passion, it has been six years. Uh And after I got my MB A, it was three years for me to get the job, the manager job, the first manager job that I wanted. So please be patient and persistent and I'm 100% sure that you will be able to do that as well. Uh We're at time. Uh I'm not sure if this thing gonna shut off by itself. Uh If you have questions, I think I can take one or two questions in the chat as well. Yeah. Thank you, Eileen. Yeah, I, I hope this my sharing my story and you know, letting you know, uh it's not an easy journey and if you, you know, have some hiccups um like throughout the um your way to be a data science manager one day is completely normal. Uh And you're not alone. Uh I hope you feel empowered and um like encouraged by uh to hearing uh my true story. OK. Uh If no more question, uh I think that will be the end for today's talk.
Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope like I got to uh meet with some of you one day and best luck in your career. And thanks for um you know, showing up at the women intact and I hope, you know, the women power can grow um increasingly um stronger as time goes by. Thank you, everyone. Bye. Thank you.
