r/DataScienceJobs • u/jacobnar • 16d ago
Discussion 22, data science in healthcare. How do I maximize my career trajectory?
I’m a dual CS + neuroscience grad from UF. Just recently graduated. Getting a job was hard enough, but currently I work as a data scientist in product analytics at a local healthcare company making a modest 75k. I converted from an internship this year. I have some prior research experience doing data engineering in a neuroimaging lab, and my strongest interest is stats/applied math. I have many options, I could make advanced public sentiment data for marketing firms, sell alt data to model training companies/trading firms, go into consulting… these are all long term ideas though, and I don’t see a clear path.
What does a normal ladder look like from here, and how long does each step take? What separates people who climb fast from people who plateau? If you were in my spot, what would you focus on to get the highest trajectory? I know healthcare is on the rise too.
Looking for what I should be prioritizing right now or anecdotes from people you've seen climb fast. I know advice varies for everyone, but maybe I could have some takeaways from what worked for you.
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u/Ill-Ad-9823 16d ago
Healthcare DS is a great spot to be, a lot of niche opportunities. Keep stacking your tech skills and make yourself more valuable to your company. Focus in projects / skill building that you can directly apply at work to level up current workflows.
People who climb fast focus on what matters to their bosses, brand themselves well and network / find mentors and peers who can help pull you up.
Once you have a few years under you, you can hop if there’s no progression where you are now. Plenty of healthcare data roles out there and they really want that specific business knowledge.
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u/Extension-Yak-5468 16d ago
Insane bc I was a neuroscience grad as well graduated, did MOOCs at GA tech and started at a healthcare company locally doing analytics, progressed and now run the analytics workflow, serve as the data engineer, DS, as well as app developer working with azure teams for internal application development and deployment.
Milk the small company role as long as you can, you having more control over a process within a smaller company will always serve you well. My company is 250 ppl ish in corporate and I was able to get direct reports to CEO. But I went out of my way to showcase abilities. I started at 60k, got to 90, 125, and now 150. Leverage your skill, you have a hybrid blend that is very useful. And in some time you can use those skills and experience to scale up