Third-Year Work Anniversary as a Data Scientist: Growth, Reflections and Acceptance

Author:Murphy | View: 26925 | Time: 2025-03-22 19:38:50

Dear Zijing,

Yesterday, your coworker messaged you that a celebration was held onsite for several work anniversaries, including yours. How time flies! At the end of the month, you will complete three years in this role.

Is it true that as we get older, time seems to pass faster? I heard one explanation that might make sense: when you are 10 years old, one year accounts for 10% of your life. However, when you reach 30, a year only represents about 3% of your life, which is why you feel time is speeding up. I thought about all those purposeless, long summer days you spent capturing tadpoles in the ponds and rewatching cartoons, believing the afternoon would never end. Now, each day slips away like sand falling through fingers.

Maybe time has always passed by at a steady speed, but it's passing by a different you. To have youth is to afford to waste every minute and still believe there is a sunrise tomorrow. As you age, the inner clock starts ticking louder, reminding you that you have one less minute to become who you want to be and do what you want to do.

Three years of working experience indeed adds weight to one's early career. Besides a more presentable resume, you are constantly asking, with 1095 days behind, have you become closer to the ideal person you envision for yourself? Have you had the opportunity to pursue your passions? I hope this letter will help you answer these questions.

Where should I begin? First, I want to talk about growth. Remember when you first saw the job description for this role? You felt more scared than excited. Although you were thrilled about the opportunity to sharpen your skills and make a bigger impact, you couldn't help but worry that the journey ahead would involve challenges you were not fully prepared to tackle.

There is this book I am currently reading: "Never Split the Difference," which focuses on negotiation techniques. It highlights that uncertainty aversion and loss aversion are two major drivers of irrational decision-making. I believe I have a better understanding of the anxiety you were experiencing back then. Accepting this job entails confronting uncertainties in every aspect of work and losing the comforts and familiarity of your previous role.

When you eventually decided to take it, I guess, ultimately, you believed that we only feel challenged while walking uphill, and moving upwards, as higher as possible, is so crucial at early career stages. "If I get this job, I will learn a lot," you thought.

Looking back now, I realize the uphill path is even more challenging than you expected, but the scenery makes it all worthwhile. You survived, and you have indeed learned A LOT. Skill set development is a given. On top of that, I know you are more content with the confidence you now possess when facing challenges. You embrace challenges with open arms.

I am glad. There will always be something new, something hard, something uncertain ahead. An "I am ready to try" mindset, rather than "I am not going to make it" or "I am only trying if I can do it perfectly," contributes more to what you will get in the end, even more than your skillsets. When you decide to set off, the whole world clears a path for you.

Then, I want to talk about reflection, which has always been a must for you. I know you reflect on gains and losses to guide and calibrate future directions.

I reflect on all the 11 weeks you had crunched so far to deliver forecasts at the beginning of each quarter. Burnout is a real thing. During many frustrating and exhausting moments, you thought you would never deliver reasonable results on time but managed to push through. Throughout these weeks, you consistently challenged your limits: to be persistent, to be efficient, to be limitless. You learned no matter how hard a task looks, you will find ways to manage it. You also learned how to handle work stress and live a colorful life outside of the eight hours. I think that's what makes your productivity sustainable.

I reflect on your struggles to make connections at work and build trust with stakeholders as an introvert who works remotely. You could build a kick-ass model but feel shy about communicating it and convincing others that it's great, and they should use it. You were conflict-averse and not confident in expressing your opinions. "I must think thoroughly before I speak," you thought. Now I can tell you that this stage will pass. Building communication skills is no different from training a muscle. Certain factors, such as genetics, determine how much this "muscle" can develop, but your competitor is always just yourself – specifically, your past self. With an open mindset and enough practice, you will get there.

I reflected on your first experience as an interviewer, where you told the interviewee that, to be honest, it was your first time interviewing others. After being an interviewee in the tough job market numerous times, you were so used to being evaluated and underestimated that you were afraid you were not qualified enough to score others. Fighting against impostor syndrome, you told yourself these complicated deliverables were not generated by robots. You may not be the expert in every data science field (and you don't have to be), but you definitely have a fair share to say who you want to work with.

I reflect on your stumbling steps toward more senior-level responsibilities. You thought you never had to care about leadership as you had no interest in being a manager. However, mentoring gives you happiness and satisfaction, isn't it? Just like keep writing here. I guess leadership is not just about being the boss and assigning tasks. It's also about collaboration and enabling. If you are a tree trying to grow taller, leadership helps you develop branches, with which you extend horizontally. A taller tree is easier to spot from far away, but only a wider tree provides larger shade.

Lastly, I want to talk about acceptance. Three years is a long time, long enough to give you the experience to know yourself – what excites you, what motivates you, and what drains you. Rather than bending yourself to be someone you are not, it is time to accept who you are and surround yourself with people who truly accept you.

It took some time, but you became more aware of the differences among tasks: those you can do, those you are good at, and those you are excited to do. Generally speaking, there are two types of projects: those that go from 0 to 1 and those that progress from 1 to infinity.

The "0 to 1" project is building things from scratch – a new set of concepts, a new methodology, a new product, etc. The "1 to infinity" project is iterating through an existing solution and making it better – improve it, deploy it, scale it, etc. You can do both and are probably good at both, but you definitely feel more excited about the "0 to 1" projects. You enjoy the satisfaction of building things from scratch.

Build, pass down, and move on would be your ideal workflow. Therefore, you need to work closely with people with different skill sets. They will help you with tasks you are not good at or do not prefer to do.

You also prefer to avoid repetitive tasks and inefficient temporary solutions. If given the luxury, you would not sacrifice quality for deadlines, though they motivate you to achieve results and put in extra effort. AI helps you ease the "dumb" tasks, and automation increases productivity. I am glad you are constantly trying to navigate towards what excites you and communicate your boundaries and preferences to those around you.

I have rambled on, but I believe you already know the answer to both questions is "Yes." You have always been seeking answers. Through seeking, you calibrate, and you will find yourself. Three years is not short. Time puts wrinkles on your face, gives you unsubstitutable experiences, and craves precious memories.

You are no longer young, but you are far from being old.

May you always be courageous to take on challenges and pursue what you love.

Best,

Zijing

Thanks for reading this far. I thought about the best way to convey the lessons learned throughout the three years. Since I have written several articles summarizing my data scientist Career Development along the way, I feel the need to have some variety in the format. I eventually wrote this as a letter, probably inspired by a book I recently read that was beautifully written, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous. I hope this letter also inspires you to navigate through the early journey in your career. Check out other articles written by me: