How I became a Data Scientist at IBM (No CS Degree / No Masters)

Sharing my story of how I became a data scientist at IBM. All done without a CS degree, masters or bootcamp! I think they key thing is that, either way you're going to have to put in the work.
Want to know anything else? Hit me up!
Interview Resources:
1. Simplilearn Data Science Interview Qs - • Data Science Interview...
2. Edureka Data Science Interview Qs - • Data Science Interview...
Chapters
0:00 - Start
0:22 - My Background
1:45 - Masters Degree?
2:50 - Starting a Self Study Routine
4:03 - Kicking off Projects
5:30 - Becoming a Consultant
6:12 - Building a Startup
7:07 - Blogging and KZbin
8:20 - Networking and Tips
9:23 - Applying...a lot
10:02 - Tips on Getting Experience
10:51 - Interview Prep
12:10 - Interview Process
Oh, and don't forget to connect with me!
LinkedIn: bit.ly/324Epgo
Facebook: bit.ly/3mB1sZD
GitHub: bit.ly/3mDJllD
Patreon: bit.ly/2OCn3UW
Join the Discussion on Discord: bit.ly/3dQiZsV
Happy coding!
Nick
P.s. Let me know how you go and drop a comment if you need a hand!

[@abramswee]

The old saying goes; "don't let your education hinder your learning". You are doing absolutely great! I love your content especially in Reinforcement learning.

[@xiaojinyusaudiobookswebnov4951]

By Mark twain or someone like that

[@balive053]

Hi Nicholas. I just wanted to take a minute to say thank you. Learning from some of your stuff helped me with projects to land my first DS job after following a similar path to your own. You're also helping me now. Some of the tasks I have are extremely challenging and watching your relaxed yet determined way of going about things, especially thinking outside the box, really helps me get my head back in the right place to achieve my tasks and goals. So thanks. You may not realize it, but your content really helps in ways you may not expect.

[@VikiLab]

Ohh my God !! I was blown away ! Great work conveying best wishes from Sri Lanka ! I came to Japan thinking that I would do a master in Robotics ultimately I had to end up doing a part time job to cover up my expenses for a whole year while i was doing language school and now i do a small job in a technical college I wish I could apply my skills and develop more , I too landed on this job due to my youtube channel but honestly I study your video and python and programming but I m honestly lacking the industrial experience in coding, and understanding hoping I will succeed one day, I want to bridge the gap for between engineering design and interface in a new way ! I got a lot of inspiration from you ! Thanks a lot !! keep up your work !

[@MultiSunix]

Thank you Nick, you story is quite inspring! I'm also trying to switch my career track from project management to data science, this helps a lot!

[@yaojo27]

Pivoting from a music and education undergrad into Data Science for grad school. Probably one of the hardest turnarounds I can think of, so this insight helps a lot. Thanks for the videos!

[@NicholasRenotte]

Go get em! Take a look at Google Magenta, some cool stuff happening in the creative ml space!

[@MM-un7wg]

As always, excellent video. It’s easy to see you put a lot of work in this field to achieve your goal. All the best

[@frankietank8019]

Yup, I’m doing my AI/CS research masters programme and can totally imagine why you felt like that at uni. Uni is really about grasping (and coming up with) underlying concepts, not so much about practical applications and applying concrete frameworks, and many people (even in my class) find it too theoretical.

[@dakshbhatnagar]

Loved hearing your story Nick!!

[@xxxx9ish]

Great video ! I really love the idea as building demo or portfolio and your determination to pull off the interviews.

[@roosanliyons4239]

What a nice journey. I am a Mechanical Engineering graduate student working in the field of Design Decision Making. Your videos are a life saver for someone like me with minimal experience in Machine Learning/Deep learning concepts. Thank you so much for the great content!

[@NicholasRenotte]

Woah, sounds like an awesome field! Thanks so much for checking the vid out!

[@usamanavid2044]

Me too

[@razmandhamarasheed4325]

Great route you have taken. It always comes down on the amount of effort one is willing to make to achieve their goals. Good job!

[@ayang315]

Respect. That's all I can say. Respect for your grit and hard work through it all.

[@knw-seeker6836]

Thanks a lot man very inspiring I´m studying Psychology right now and am trying to learn Python and eventually to break into Data Science Thanks for the inspiration

[@johnpaulvela6816]

This is a really awesome video. Thanks so much for sharing!

[@PUBUDUCG]

Very inspiring . . . . ! I always recommend your YT channel for the people who ask ML help . . . !

[@hannav7125]

And now you are even better than the ones who have degrees and you’re teaching everyone else cool stuff that they will never learn from their sh!t university

[@NicholasRenotte]

Gotta pay it forward my man, I learned a ton for free, just trying to pay it back now! 🖖

[@Jameslululu]

Lmao why does this comment feel so personal? 😂😂

[@user-bo2eg8dq9c]

@@NicholasRenotte You gotta tell us about those free resources now, You owe them.

[@dylanroll5192]

Yeah, I'm sick and tired of companies that always put a CS degree or statistical background as their requirement. Those who graduated from CS and statistics don't mean they have already good at data science. It could be someone with an economics degree who studied data science for years and master some skills needed. Unfortunately, some of them couldn't apply because they're not from CS or statistics background 🤦‍♀️

[@JcOnAFieldtrip]

this is very inspirational. I finished my masters in a very different direction and am trying to break into data science as well

[@mmahgoub]

You really hard working guy you deserve the best just keep at it

[@esteban.marinone]

Damn mate, you really worked hard for nailing that job. Congrats for that and thanks for inspiring us! Cheers from Argentina

[@NicholasRenotte]

Oh man, still working crazy hard at it! Thanks for checking the video out!

[@missjennablejen]

Nicholas you’re such an inspiration!

[@rohankherath]

Wow it’s great.. Thanks Nicho ❤️

[@hydraze]

Brilliant video and tips, what a beast

[@DJPapzin]

Great video. I am a qualified Laboratory Analyst trying to become a data analyst, have been on this journey for the past 6 months. Thank you for the inspiration

[@ahmedhelal920]

what a positive power i got from you , i am accountant , and i am studying machine learning with sklearn , and once finish it , will start deep learning with TF and Kares , i am looking forward to be like you one day .

[@NicholasRenotte]

YESSS! Go getem!

[@vantuantran225]

that's inspriing me so much, i'm a mechanical student, and wanna be data science too, thanks you

[@coderaditya3]

Very inspiring video. I am a 10th class boy currently and have started python and data science currently. I would like to learn more as what it needs to be an expert. Now after your video, I just got the thing why I should make yt videos and be an active on kaggle. I am looking to learn JavaScript after my exam for a reason you already mentioned. Thank you for it and I will try to learn every complex thing related to data science before my college starts.

[@cong1393]

Great journey Nick 😁 love the learning schedule earlier on. TM1 looks real dank!

[@NicholasRenotte]

Ayyyy, waddup Cong! Thanks man!

[@curtisnewton895]

great tips dude thx for sharing

[@Nohandle95]

Awesome journey nick! right on spot 💯 ✨

[@NicholasRenotte]

Thanks a million!

[@irugal8964]

I was about to request this kind of video and you have read my mind, thanks nic as i always say you are the best👏👏👏👏👏🍀

[@NicholasRenotte]

Ayyyy, thanks so much for checking it out!

[@user-wr4yl7tx3w]

the camera lightning and audio for your videos are always perfect

[@NicholasRenotte]

Ohhh, that means a ton, I've been trying to improve the lighting!

[@Borzy247]

I’m a 4th year coop student at York University studying software engineering with a 3.2 gpa, and it took me about 120 applications to get my first interview (this was in second year). And last year, about 60 apps to get 3 interviews, just keep applying folks!!!

[@NicholasRenotte]

WOAH! 100%, gotta keep applying!!

[@sadiahshaikh9142]

You are an inspiration man!! 🥳

[@kevinozero]

Great video thanks! Surprised that IBM had no coding interview as part of the interview process.

[@markusbuchholz3518]

Form my humble point of view your company has excellency in capturing the talents and brilliant minds (beside the remarkable technology). The other "features" are probably minor factors. Important "components" but the human being, his personality, outstanding personal attitude and capability to perform are decisive. Congratulation. Keep fingers for you success, goals and YT channel.

[@NicholasRenotte]

Thank you so much @Markus!

[@user-wr4yl7tx3w]

great video, really helpful

[@vikashchand.]

9:23 🔥🔥 Killing it Nic! 🤘🤘👌

[@NicholasRenotte]

Vik!! Thanks for checking it out man!

[@kin_1997]

amazing work Nicholas

[@GBlunted]

Dope story! 👍🏽

[@ashleysami1640]

Such a good insight! 👍🏽

[@dan3370]

and an amazing journey!

[@NicholasRenotte]

Thanks guys ;)

[@candidlyvivian]

Fellow data scientist and small KZbinr here, thanks for sharing your story Nick, super inspiring ☺️

[@michaelrobinson8382]

I follow your page

[@NicholasRenotte]

Heya Vivian! Awesome vids, hopefully you've had a few more chilled days since that last crazy one from your vid!

[@akshathabs356]

Inspiring journey!

[@NicholasRenotte]

Thanks a mil!

[@user-xp4cr2zq2m]

Excellent video

[@nicbleu]

i have been studying data science for 2 day now all on my own :D, i start by learning neural network first 😊

[@MikaylaMelisand]

Great video.

[@dr.aravindacvnmamit3770]

Great amazing motivational words !!!!!!!

[@anmoldwivedi7205]

I love your content!!

[@NicholasRenotte]

Thanks so much!

[@ARAQJRX14]

Inspiring!!

[@jaytab3686]

Thanks for sharing you're experience with us. I know nothing about coding. But find it interesting.

[@NicholasRenotte]

Hey! Thanks for checking it out, keen to learn coding?

[@jaytab3686]

@@NicholasRenotte yes but I don't know where to start.

[@ccanyways8297]

Just applied IBM, and the KZbin algorithm sent me here lol. Love the content, can you recommend to me some resources that I can prepare for the interview? Thank you !!

[@shanrockz4104]

I am a mechanical engineer,but now I am an aspiring data scientist student because I got inspiration from you. It's One of the best inspirational video for data scientist.

[@ricardocaballero6357]

Ohh buddy the same as me, I am a mech engineer too, I've been doing programming for about a year now and I think it was a clever decision. I am heading towards data science. Good luck pal keep on going.

[@TaniTech1111]

Great inspiring video!! Could you please share what software you’re using to create your animations? Thanks

[@andricgonzalez4372]

Great video man, thanks so much, greatings from Argentina. I am 28 years old and I am studying actuarial science right now, and I am very interested in data science, but I don't have any programing knowledge, do you think is to late to start learning?

[@manuelnovella39]

Another proof that hard work gets you results! Congrats, man. And btw, R does suck, sorry. It may come in handy at times but its documentation is definitely a nightmare

[@NicholasRenotte]

LOL, it's not that bad. Don't get me wrong it's not my fav though 😂

[@renukadeshpande3967]

Thank you for such positive post, inspiring! I am preparing for entry leve associatel data scientist position in IBM. Any tips on how to go about it? The online test as well as the interview? I have been on a break from jobs since last 4 years, so sometimes job hunting can feel overwhelming.

[@anmolbajpai2001]

Nick, you💯

[@business_central]

Also, btw, my fav part was the fact that u also picked up JS. I'd be curious to be able to use JS alongside ML to make great apps. Please make a video about it 🙏

[@NicholasRenotte]

Def, have you seen some of my Tensorflow.js vids?

[@business_central]

@@NicholasRenotte alll of them! Following the kivy series now

[@phoque6]

inspiring! :D

[@shazinhotech2155]

I have similar story just like you, I am a physics grad and I worked my ass of, developed projects, connected with a lot of people, and finally 5 days ago I got accepted as an AI Engineer.

[@tybaltmercutio]

May I ask which courses you took and how long it took you to land that AI engineering role (from deicing the route to landing the job)? I also got a graduate degree in physics and also wanna land a job either as a data scientist or ML engineer.

[@apollodavis4090]

where?

[@najiibrashiidabdi5014]

Thank you nicholas you encourage me actually but " my problem is where i start and where i can get the job because i am from somalia" but my chance is to learn hard even though i have free time you worked hard thank you i have done lot projects you done😄😅🤣😉

[@K0uzan]

What an absolute gigachad

[@Gamifuruu]

sir could you do a parking detection using tenserflow js

[@yosolonopuedo]

Very inspiring journey. PS: what is the model of that tablet you are using?

[@NicholasRenotte]

Heya, it's an iPad pro!

[@edilmonica386]

Hi Nicholas even i am a person who have completed Mcom and took PGDSBA in great learning and now i am looking for data science job. guide me on it.

[@yamenkayyal5295]

Such another great video nich, can u be so kind to provide that cheat sheet for ibm?

[@business_central]

Could you make a video about the salary/total compensations for Data science careers in Australia??

[@NicholasRenotte]

You got it!

[@lukasmendes4625]

Nick, I have two professional certificates from IBM, Data Scientist and Data Analyst. I have been having trouble getting a job as a data scientist. I have several projects and I'm always learning more. I don't have a degree in computer science, I think this is being a big obstacle. What do you think? do I continue studying and doing projects? it is worth it? I love the channel, congratulations!

[@NicholasRenotte]

First, it is DEFINITELY worth it. Second, what's your experience like? I would try getting some job experience doing ml stuff anywhere just to boost my resume!

[@lukasmendes4625]

@@NicholasRenotte Thanks Nick! I already work in IT, to apply ml on my job is easy and would be apreciated, the problem is th find data 😅 but i will manager this. Thanks, you motivated me a lot.

[@BetatestBanned]

Hi. I really dig your channel. Is your salary at IBM as Data Scientist is more than 6 numbers?

[@armaansanghavi8826]

What undergraduate major would you be if you would go back into college?

[@ameerazam3269]

Start course on that DS and ML ...please

[@NicholasRenotte]

in progress 😉

[@swiiph]

So would you say that all masters are a waste of time? Or would you have went through with the masters if it was more affordable! Thanks!

[@NicholasRenotte]

I would've stuck with it if it was hyper cutting edge. But at the moment, the field is moving hella fast and I think I personally benefitted more by learning solo.

[@thecomment4381]

Hey nic how to save yolo5 trained data model in to TF.js . Is it possible to save that in to TF.js?

[@NicholasRenotte]

Ahhhh, the drowsiness detection model? don't think so, that's built on PyTorch, should be able to export to ONNX though.

[@divyeshmakwana3482]

Iam geeting a error in tfod Problem I am facing is I cannot intall pycocotools on my windows machine Error related to building wheel

[@NicholasRenotte]

Try using Python 3.7.3, i had issues with later versions as well!

[@furkansemihdeveci5656]

Hello, I am civil engineering 4th grade student in Turkey. I am planning to pursue in Data Science. I've started IBM Professional Data Science Certificate in Coursera. I am wondering by taking online certificates and civil engineering bachelor's, Can i become a Data Scientists?

[@blackhello9028]

Hi, Nicholas. I had studied for the Python Crash Course book. And any suggestion book for the next step for Data Science?

[@NicholasRenotte]

Definitely this: learning.oreilly.com/library/view/hands-on-machine-learning/9781492032632/

[@blackhello9028]

@@NicholasRenotte Thanks

[@business_central]

I commented earlier, but seems my comment didn't go through...weird :/ Anyway, congrats on the journey 🎉🎉 🥳

[@NicholasRenotte]

Ha, I might need to dig into it! Thanks a million for checking it out!

[@thewiseman3788]

I am an undergraduate student in mechatronics and I need a job as data scientist, other than internships I don't have any real job experiences but I did some courses on machine learning and EDA ...etc.,what should I have to do to get the job ?

[@NicholasRenotte]

Honestly, if you have an office job right now, start trying to apply your expertise there. Find stuff you can analyse or automate. If not, volunteer or try to reach out to small startups that need data expertise!

[@thewiseman3788]

@@NicholasRenotte alright man thanks ❤️

[@akhilajithnair3838]

Did you learn Data Structure and Algorithms? Is it required?

[@venkatesh2788]

Sir can we connect aws sage maker to nodejs without creating flask api Please reply me sir 😫🙏🙏💓

[@NicholasRenotte]

Ooooh, not too sure tbh, haven't played much with sagemaker.

[@venkatesh2788]

@@NicholasRenotte ok sir, thank you for your reply

[@leadon9386]

bro can you do body gesture detection using javascript??🥰

[@NicholasRenotte]

You got it!

[@michaelrobinson8382]

Did you start with math first. What sources did you use.

[@NicholasRenotte]

I had more coding under my belt before I took a look into math. Tbh I kind of understood differentiation basics, I enjoyed it in high school so it stuck with me. The coding bit helped tie it together.

[@michaelrobinson8382]

@@NicholasRenotte sam here with math. To me I want to learn the math but it may be better to learn the code/algo first then the math sorta a top down approach

[@graisammaantony7762]

IBM is will not accept resume if don't have college degree

[@PoliticaV]

They hired you bc your smart.

[@smartboy8918]

the video seems laggy, maybe check the FPS its set at

[@NicholasRenotte]

Yeah I don't know what happened. Still trying to debug. Thanks for the heads up :)

[@abdulrahimjalloh8469]

Currently using Hands on ML 😂🔥

[@nickhall1632]

you need to keep your slides and text information up longer on the screen and maybe speak a bit more slowly.

[@NicholasRenotte]

Thanks for the suggestion Nick!

[@nickhall1632]

@@NicholasRenotte But otherwise, yes, great content. Thank you for sharing your knowledge! I'm checking out the memory palace technique to work on some programming stuff. Sorry if the og comment came off a bit critical.

[@waliyudin86]

Waw

[@Powercube7]

Ight imma ask for the last time cuz i think I am annoying ML with Gaming? :)

[@NicholasRenotte]

Tbh, I'm prepping new content this week. Will amp that up!

[@dotdotdotdotdash]

How I became a Data Scientist (No CS Degree / No Masters)....."So yeah guys I took a banchelor degree and got a job at the reserve bank of Australia..."

[@wyasantana]

fun fact: federal reserve bank of the US is not federal.

[@NicholasRenotte]

Ya true, ECB or BOC are better examples!

[@abrahamowos]

Hi Nicholas, Could you smile a bit in your introductions? And please try to start with a warm chat sometimes.

[@TheApolloBlu]

"I graduated from a tech school" lmfao...

[@soikatabd4120]

Your thumbnails are really creepy.I hope you keep that in mind.