Bootcamp 2.0 — Military to Tech Panel
How and why I got into Data Science
Last week I was a panelist for Flatiron School’s “Bootcamp 2.0 — Military to Tech Panel”. It was a great discussion between veterans of the armed forces where we discussed our own journeys into Tech (specifically software engineering and data science). This was a great opportunity for me to reflect on my path so far and I thought my responses to the guided discussion might help out someone else considering a similar entry point into Data Science.
Please introduce yourselves in your own words — where you are logging in from, plus a brief background all the way up to what you’re doing today.
My name is Bobby Williams and I’m calling in from Washington DC. I grew up in Oklahoma and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps shortly after graduating high school. I didn’t transition directly into tech from the military. After serving four years on active duty, I joined the reserve unit in Oklahoma while I completed a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. I then worked for a manufacturing company with roles focused on product quality, process engineering, and continuous improvement. Most recently I completed Flatiron School’s immersive Data Science program here in DC and now I’m in job search mode.
What drove you to choose to be in your current role/area? Why your industry?
I’ve always gravitated towards optimization and improving efficiency.
From trying to spend the least amount of time cleaning my barracks room (and getting it done right the first time) to constantly practicing heavy machine gun disassembly and assembly to beat the other Marines in my platoon during time trials, to automating process data collection from a production line to sitting down with department heads to streamline interdepartmental processes based on feedback from key stakeholders.
I enjoy understanding systems, learning the rules and parameters of a system, then seeing if there’s a way to make it better, do something faster, or eliminate waste.
This all translates directly into Data Science. You take data, spend time understanding it, figure out why it’s important, then you help other people understand it and use it to do something meaningful.
What are some of the direct correlations between your time in the service and your experience in the Flatiron School program?
I’d like to focus on the values that are engrained in every Marine and those are the Marine Corps values: Honor, Courage, Commitment.
Honor — In the Marine Corps I was expected to maintain the highest level of ethical and moral behavior. I felt the same expectation at Flatiron. A specific example of this was that everyone in the program, from staff to cohort mates, honored each other through respect of one another. Regardless of our backgrounds, we were all treated as equals, everyone’s thoughts and ideas were welcome.
Courage — It takes courage to try something new especially something as big as a career change. I didn’t truly know what to expect. I’d read data science related articles and blog posts and completed online coursework, but was I going to succeed? The Marine Corps helped me realize that sometimes courage starts with simply taking the first step toward my goal. Flatiron helped me realize that I may not know a specific programming language or machine learning algorithm right now, but if I just read an article or complete a Kaggle competition today, tomorrow I’ll be one step closer to my goal.
Commitment — Dedication and determination are a must if you want to succeed in the military and in a tech bootcamp. Yeah, there’s a bit of a learning curve for most of us coming from non-tech backgrounds but you won’t be left behind, as long as you stay committed and work hard. You’ve got to want it, and you’ve got to stick with it all the way. The onus is on you.
How has your service experience helped you in your career? Are there any transferable skills that you have used in the tech industry?
I was infantry. There aren’t any hard skills that come to mind that directly transferred however there are plenty of soft skills and traits that did. Determination, attention to detail, curiosity, the ability to learn and apply new concepts quickly, adaptability, scrappiness.
Please share advice for our audience, especially budding tech entrepreneurs or those about to take a plunge into a tech education and want to make an impact. What’s one step they can take to use their new skills to create positive change in the tech space?
Be humble. This sounds like odd advice for someone breaking into a new role that will likely experience imposter syndrome at some point in the very near future and for no set amount of time. We’re all learning something, we all know something, we all have something to say. If you want to make an impact and create positive change then teach, learn, and listen.
If someone came to you, 85% sure they wanted to commit to going through a tech bootcamp, coming from a similar service background as you, what would you say to get them the extra 15%?
Do some prep work. Before the military I tried to find out everything I could about bootcamp specifically, so I’d know what to expect. I also increased my physical fitness training to prep my body for what it was about to endure.
The same thing goes for tech bootcamps. The biggest thing I did to prepare for Flatiron was I completed the IBM Data Science Professional Certificate on Coursera.
This did two things for me:
First this helped me decide whether or not this type of work was going to be a good fit for me.
Second, it provided a lot of exposure to Python and data science methodology.
There are a large number of resources online to learn these skills and prepare you for a bootcamp. All that being said I highly recommend attending Flatiron’s Data Science course for the immersive nature of the coursework, support from the instructors and staff, and the group dynamic. My cohort mates and I stay in touch and will continue to do so.
Thanks for reading! If you have any additional questions feel free to leave a comment or reach out to me on LinkedIn.
