A day in life of a Junior Data Scientist…during the lockdown
As a social intelligence company, Linkfluence deals with hundreds of millions of Data on a daily basis, let’s see what it is like to be a Junior Data Scientist in our Engineering team.
Othmane is currently working with us as an intern Data Scientist.
What does your typical morning look like?
Well, if this question was being asked a few weeks ago, it would look more like a regular morning routine mostly involving getting coffee, catching up with colleagues and getting some updates about the latest news the Machine Learning world has to offer.
With the recent situation, I’ve tried to adopt a morning routine that helps me forget that I am working from home. I will usually start by stretching a bit my muscles and then getting some work done with a good breakfast while listening to my favorite playlist, on speaker of course.
What does your work involve?
A Junior Data Scientist at Linkfluence is a Jack of all trades (but certainly not a master of none).
You will mainly help Insights teams gather the data they need to do their work for their clients. It will mostly involve understanding the requests from the department and finding this data through the Radarly API, or other means. It can be very tricky and different from client to client as they don’t have the same needs obviously.
Another part of being a DS at Linkfluence that I actually really love, is working on statistical studies for our clients which requires a lot of literature reading and research in general.
What do you like about your job?
As I said above, I am usually really excited about working on studies for our clients. And being a Linkfluencer enables me to switch between different industries and you get to handle very different data, so it is always something new. One day, you can be working for a famous Luxury Brand, the other one you can be working for a Food Company.
Also, Data Science for Social Media is a really new and obscure field that doesn’t have that much research done on it yet. It means that what I am doing is meaningful and valuable, and I guess that’s what everyone wants their dream job to be.
What are some challenges you face on the job and how do you deal with them?
I think this might hold true for the majority of entry level Data Scientist jobs and it also might sound obvious, but It should be said. This is not school. And what I mean by that, is that everything you learned won’t be applicable in real life, and that classifier model that you built in school with a 95% accuracy won’t be as precise in a business environment. Don’t get me wrong, this is not the end of the world, you just need to adapt, find alternatives, look on the Internet for solutions, and obviously share your concerns with your teammates.
Also, as an introvert myself, working with people is not always a cup of tea. So I need to push myself, talk to colleagues and just basically get out there. On paper, it sounds easy, but in reality it is a bit harder than that. I think I did a good job overcoming this challenge, and for sure the other Linkfluencers helped me with that.
What attracted you to Linkfluence?
To be honest with you, I didn’t know much about Linkfluence and what It was doing. I basically was looking on Welcome To The Jungle for an internship during my Gap Year and I applied for a position.
Talking with Linkfluencers during the interviews really hooked me up. I found out that Linkfluence is a very international company, with a growing business and people that seemed passionate with their job.
I joined Linkfluence in October 2019, I don’t regret it and I will probably miss them.
Can you tell us about the culture or values at Linkfluence?
As I came to learn it, Linkfluence can be compared to a big family of honestly very smart and motivated people.
The people that I met through work have become more than colleagues, they are friends. We can get beer at the local bar or just hang out with each other, this is not something you see everywhere !
During this WFH period, I have been really appreciative of how much the people at Linkfluence care about their employees, they check on you, and keep the discussion going on Slack. So, you can also say one of the values at Linkfluence is caring !
Any hobbies outside work?
No, I just work non-stop, that’s how much I love Linkfluence. I am a big fan of Basketball and Gaming in general.
I have been balling forever since before I can remember. The last few years, I have been playing competitively at University in Toulouse, we even managed to win the regional league! But for now, since I am in Paris, I just work out a bit to keep in shape before going back.
Now, I have much more time for gaming. I mainly play League of Legends with friends, it has really helped me during these tough times dealing with being alone, it’s not all so bad !
What would you say to someone considering a Junior DS role at Linkfluence?
Just go for it, It is something I don’t regret to the slightest. It is a huge opportunity to grow professionally and personally.
Something that I think I was lacking before joining the team was a bit of the technical part. Working with developers and with the very modern stack that Linkfluence has, I was able to learn a lot on the technical side.
I am not even talking about the Insight side of Linkfluence that is filled with smart people. I got much better at analyzing, visualizing data.
All in all, I will just repeat it, but go for it. Thank me later.
Interested in joining Linkfluence? Here are all the opening positions!
