How to Land Your First Data Science or Machine Learning job

Here’s a 5-step process that you can follow to land your first data science job

3 min readFeb 4, 2021

Making a career transition to a new field like data science or machine learning can seem daunting. Indeed, landing your first job is the hardest part. You may be wondering:

What should I learn? Which courses should I take? What projects should I build? How to apply for jobs? How to prepare for interviews? What to do if I’m constantly getting rejected?

Here’s a 5-step process that you can follow to land your first data science job:

Step 1. Find some sample job listings for the position you’re targeting

There are many roles in data science: Data Analyst, ML Engineer, Data Engineer, etc.
Do some research to determine which role suits your interests, expertise & experience
Read through 20–30 job listings on AngelList, LinkedIn, Indeed, Glassdoor, etc.

Step 2. Identify the skills required to fulfill the responsibilities of the position

Once you pick a position to target, read through job listings to identify the required skills
Fill out this spreadsheet to identify the top 5–7 most common skills for the target position
This will help you identify what you need to learn and which projects you need to build

Step 3. Complete courses and earn certifications for the skills you don’t already have

Find 1–2 good courses covering each of the required skills and prepare a study plan
Set aside 10–15 hour per week for learning, and try to achieve weekly/daily goals
If you can afford it, pay for the certificates wherever available (most cost < $50)

Step 4. Create 3–4 high-quality projects showcasing all the skills you’ve learned

This is the most important part. You must build high-quality projects for each skill.
Pick interesting and unique real-world project topics and datasets (see this)
Document your work and share your projects publicly on Github/Jovian/Medium etc.

Step 5. Add the skills, certifications, and projects to your Resume/CV & start applying

List your best projects with Github links, highlight the skills covered & technologies used
For each skill, mention the relevant certification and link to it if it’s available online
Apart from job portals, also reach out to employees of your target companies for referrals

Depending on your current experience and how much time you can devote towards learning, it may take you anywhere from 3 months to a year to work through this process.

Try to figure out a timeline that works for you, and stick to it. Declaring your goals publicly or learning together with a group of friends is a great way to stay motivated.

If you are looking for personalized guidance on making a career transition, consider subscribing to Jovian PRO: https://jovian.ai/pro

We’ll help you craft a personalized learning path & study plan
You can get help via Slack, Zoom meetings & 1-on-1 calls
We’ll help you with courses, projects, resume-writing & job search