Women in Data Hosts their First Symposium in NYC: All Roads Lead to Data
Written by: Kaitlyn Arnold
Matt Stabile, from Averity, giving the crowd some pointers on how to land your dream job. He provided actionable tips for success in resume building, strategizing your job search, nailing the interview process and how to negotiate your eventual offer.
The data revolution is here and Women in Data wants to make it more diverse. Women in Data, commonly known as WID, is a 501(C)3 Non-Profit focused on increasing diversity in data to help create a representative workforce for tomorrow. We believe everyone should have equal opportunity in the 4th industrial revolution and be empowered to use technology for good. WID is a national organization with a network of 4,500 + data professionals and chapters in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, New York City, Philadelphia, Sacramento, San Francisco, Sunnyvale, Vancouver, and Washington D.C.
Our New York City chapter hosted their inaugural symposium in March and had a turnout of over one hundred attendees. At the event, data scientists shared their real-world experiences working in the data industry. The presentations focused on how data science can be applied to everyday problems, how you can expand your skill set to be a leader in the field of data, and how to stand out in the recruiting process. Data Analyst and Technical Consultant, Laura Roman had the following to say about the event, “It was amazing and encouraging to see over one hundred women in or interested in data all in one room! I especially enjoyed hearing about how data can be used for social good — which is a big reason why I got into data science in the first place.” Our speakers really wowed the crowd and attendees are buzzing about what they learned from each of them.
Matt Stabile: Matt is a Co-Founder and VP of the Data Science and Data Engineering team at Averity, New York City’s most prestigious technology recruitment firms. Matt is also a prolific traveler, writer and active member of the technology community in New York City.
Rebecca Robins: Rebecca is a Data Science Content Developer at DataCamp, a Belgian educational technology startup.
Priyanka Jain: Priyanka heads up product for pymetrics, a New York City based startup using neuroscience and Artificial Intelligence to make hiring more diverse and effective. Outside of work, she loves playing tennis and eating anything covered in dark chocolate.
Rajvi Mehta, a data scientist at Vanguard, said “The Women in Data March Symposium in New York City had a diverse group of aspiring and experienced data scientists. I was able to get valuable tips on building a strong resume and differentiating myself in the field of data science. I made some amazing connections and was able to learn from other WID members about the challenges they face as data scientists, and how to overcome them.”
3 Key Takeaways from Women in Data’s March Event:
1. If an algorithm is trained on a biased training set, it will simply codify human biases, and often worsen the bias that exists.
2. The average lifespan of employment in this market is anywhere from 12–18 months. If you’re 25, you retire at 65 and find a new job every year and a half, you could be “job searching” 25+ different times in your life!
3. When negotiating your final job offer, think about 3 numbers: What number do I turn it down? What number keeps the job in the running? What number would I drop everything and accept?
If you want to get involved with Women in Data, join us at our next event in NYC on June 27th at General Assembly. At this Symposium you will learn firsthand from experienced data scientists how to grow your data science toolbox. We know navigating the different programming languages and technology stacks can be daunting, so there will be an extensive panel discussion where members of the audience will be able to submit questions to the panelists. Plus, you will have a chance to win some awesome Women in Data swag! We hope to see you in June!
Together we can increase diversity in tech and make sure everyone has a place in the data revolution. #Bethechange you wish to see in the [data] world!
Register for our June event here.
Join our Meetup Group here.
A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSORS:
Averity
Averity was extremely proud to sponsor the most recent Women in Data: All Roads Lead to Data event. We wanted to thank all of the attendees for coming out and helping to support the organization and their mission.
Averity’s Data Science and Engineering team is working on a number of roles for clients that are involved in everything from media, technology and finance. Here are a few of our roles:
Senior Data Engineer (OTT Streaming Services)
Data Scientist — Alternative Data
If you are interested in speaking with a member of the Averity Data team, please feel free to reach out to us at any time at: Matt.Stabile@AverityTeam.com or visit our page.
DataCamp
If you any questions about either becoming a DataCamp instructor or taking DataCamp courses as a student, contact Jen Bricker, our Instructor Recruiter, at jen@datacamp.com. If you are interested in working with other data enthusiasts, check out our careers.
FairyGodBoss
NYC Women in Data is excited to offer you a free resource: Fairygodboss!
Fairygodboss helps millions of women by providing career connections, jobs, community advice, and the hard-to-find information about how companies treat women. Join the largest career community for women by creating your free profile today via this link.
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This article originally appeared on The Medium