Moving out of Academia to Data Science and Data Engineering
One of the goals of the CERN Alumni Network is to support those in their early careers, if and when they decide to navigate their way from academia to a different sector. On Friday 11 March, the office for alumni relations brought together a diverse panel of CERN alumni who are now working in the data science and data engineering sectors for its seventh edition of the Moving out of Academia to.. event. .The first part of the event focused on each of the panellists' personal trajectories from CERN to their current positions, any hurdles they encountered along the way and strategies they used to to overcome them.
The panel was composed of eight alumni , Aatos Heikkinen, Artificial Intelligence Consultant at CZAnalytics Consulting, Andrea Palaia, Engineering Manager at Detectify, Benjamin Tannenwald, data scientist conducting cancer research at AstraZeneca , Cécile Deterre, Head of IT and Data Science at Blue Planet Ecosystems, Federica Lionetto, Data Scientist at Swiss International Air Lines, Jason Ward, Independent Scientific Advisor: Data & AI, Roberto Castello,Principal Data Scientist at the Swiss Data Science Center and Wessel Valkenburg, Chief Data Scientific Officer at ZYTLYN Technologies. The multiple Q&A sessions and discussions were deftly managed by Maite Barroso Lopez, Deputy Head of The Information Technology Department at CERN. The panellists shared valuable insights, such as recommendations to embrace social media, build a data science profile and 'fake it until you make it'. Others discussed their fears that employers might not wish to take the risk of employing someone without prior experience, however they quickly realised that their CERN developed skills were transferable and sought after.
The second section of the event focused on building an industry ready CV, translating experiences gained at CERN making them relevant and desirable for potential employers. Panellists also highlighted the diverse opportunities for data scientists and advised candidates to reflect on which particular areas they are interested in so as to focus applications within those sectors. The panellists also discussed the value of building a strong profile on social networks, such as alumni.cern and LinkedIn. This provides further insights into the data science industry and also makes one's profile more available to head hunters.
In the third section of the event, each of the speakers hosted their own breakout room, enabling the participants to network and probe the panellists further. Several participants commented that, thanks to the event, they had discovered many valuable insights, for instance, one person commented, " I have learnt to be optimistic about my CERN background and I am now really motivated to find a job outside of academia." The office for alumni relations thanks all of the panellists and our moderator for such an insightful event.
If you would like to share your experience with the community or if you have any suggestions for future events, please let us know : [email protected]
All Moving out of Academia events are posted on alumni.cern at the following link: https://alumni.cern/media_center