Guest

I'm Lindsay Zuloaga, and I'm the Director of Data Science at Hire Vue. We work on helping people be seen in the hiring process and kind of helping fix this broken process where most people are completely ignored. We build machine learning algorithms that look at gameplay behavior and video interviews to try to predict who would be a good fit for specific jobs. I actually studied physics for undergrad and master's and PhD. And then I did a postdoc at a university in Munich, in Germany for a year after that. Then I decided to move into industry, I realized that academia is really, really competitive and I didn't really know if my heart was in it completely. So transitioning into industry I was overqualified in a lot of ways, yet I'd never had a job and I had no connections or anything. So I was kind of just lucky, I feel like, because a big part of working in data science is having a math background. And that's the hardest part to really supplement, like there are data science boot camps where you can learn to code up some algorithms. But the field of data science is really big right now and it's hard to get into. But a lot of what makes a career really rewarding is going down a path where you're interested in it, but you also get good enough at it to really contribute. And sometimes it's hard, and that's what makes something rewarding, is that it's challenging. 

Network! It sounds icky if networking isn't one of your strong suits, but I very much underestimated the power of human connections in getting opportunities. Try your best to connect with people, go to talks or meetups, ask people in the field you are interested in if they can give you 10-15 minutes of their time to chat, etc.

One of my proudest accomplishments is getting my PhD without debt. I worked hard and lived like a monk but I never regret not giving in to acquiring student loan debt. Living frugally built character & was worth it to be where I am financially today.

I struggled to find a job when transitioning from academia to industry. Networking helps. It also helps to know that there are others in the same boat as you; there's nothing wrong with you. A large part of the hiring process is just a numbers game.

I sit between very technical and non-technical people. A lot of my time is spent understanding the technical details of what my team is doing and communicating the important parts to the rest of the business to make big-picture decisions on how we spend our time and what products we want to build.

Lindsey Zuloaga

About Lindsey

Lindsey Zuloaga

About Lindsey

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