Are data science bootcamps worth it?
Friend is finishing up her PhD in Physics and wants to transition into data science. She is wondering if participating in data science bootcamps is worth the effort. She is looking at two specific ones: data incubator and insight data science. Both of these require 3-4 months of dedicated time working on a project. While it’s great that both are free, they seem to impose a restriction that you can only interview with companies that they send your resumes to. I transitioned from a non-CS PhD into data science myself and I was able to get interviews, prepare and pass them without too much trouble. Given my experience and the restrictions bootcamps place on the candidates, my take is that ROI from bootcamps is not great. What do you all feel?
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Might as well not go to college.
PhD in physics can benefit from careful choice of a boot camp. She’s already smarter than everyone anywhere she goes except places like cern. She’ll kill it
Honestly, when I interview boot camp is a “meh” at best. The problem is when I look at the resume I want to see DS experience. If she has ways of showing it, great, if not boot camp probably won’t help that much. It’s a hard industry to get into, partly because (I think) data scientist is not meant to be your first job, it is what you do after you have experience with something else that drives you to say “hey this stats and ml stuff is really useful here”. Then you apply it to the problems of your first job, succeed and say “I’d rather do that for a living”
When it comes to boot camps for phds, Insight has a really great track record. Can’t speak of the others, but Insight grads have a good reputation and get training on the fundamentals necessary to succeed in the workplace. With that said the value consists in having access to structured environment and having someone vouch for you that you actually did the work instead of messing around on Kaggle for a few months. The salaries I’ve seen them advertise for their grads are also on the new grad SWE level.
I vouch for Insight. In addition to the excellent experience you gain from participation (even after your program ends), the network you establish there is invaluable throughout your career when staying on top of new developments and getting first hand info about transitioning to different roles/companies. Don't pass it up if you have the opportunity to participate.
We feel your friend should be on blind to ask this question herself
The problem is she doesn’t have a work email. She signed up with her LinkedIn but can’t post using it.
She can just buy a cheap domain for a couple bucks or so