This is the time of year graduates start coming over and asking advice, especially those who studied data science at AUM. I wanted to make a post to give these students my top points of advice in writing.
1. Show off your work
Showing a portfolio of work, especially printed out, is a great way to impress an HR person, and the hiring manager they hand it off to. Add charts, explanation, and aim for a semi technical explanation without getting too technical, especially with machine learning projects.
Often hiring managers are looking for experience with specific domains (housing, finance, even cars) so sprinkle in a mixture of different topics in your portfolio. When discussing these projects try to gauge the technical competency of the person. Sometimes they might know a LOT about a domain, but might not understand the data sciency stuff. Other times they might know both. Assume they know their business and give a non-technical explanation of the project. Who, what, why, where, when are all good things. And don’t forget “so what?”
2. Don’t work somewhere just for the experience, especially audit
This is super controversial, because I actually think you should work in your early career with a focus on experience. But that shouldn’t be the only goal. You should also find a workplace that gives you room for advancement, treats you with respect, and gives you the proper tools.
I say this especially about audit. Audit in Mongolia is a race to the bottom project, often with fixed price contracts. I consider it unethical to have a fixed price audit of any kind. With fixed prices, audit companies will be pressured to provide a completed audit within a specified budget. What if there is more work? You guessed it, unpaid overtime and tight deadlines with questionable quality.
3. Your starting salary matters
Many former students don’t put a lot of emphasis on starting salary, as they simply want to work somewhere to increase their experience. This is a great goal, but it also creates an opportunity for companies to take advantage of you. When you leave this first job, many companies will base your new salary on your old one. Raises also happen usually as percentages.
If you can get 15-20% more for your first job, you will probably end up with a higher salary in 5-7 years. Don’t short change yourself.
4. Ensure the company gives you access to AI tools
If your company does not have a corporate Codex, Claude Code, or even Muse account for you, I would think twice about working there. Today a single experienced analyst using AI tools can do the job of 4-5 employees from 5 years ago. These tools can securely handle customer and company data (remember the CIA is one of Anthropic’s biggest clients). If it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for your company. Zero data retention means the AI company never saves your prompts or the results.
Any company in Mongolia today hiring analysts, data scientists, or coders without these AI tools deserves to lose all of the best and brightest Mongolian minds. They simply don’t deserve you.
5. Turn overwork into your advantage
If you boss keeps coming to you to get more work done, this is an opportunity, not a problem. If you help them out now, they owe you one. Take a bit of pain for a few weeks to help them out. If they don’t pay you back, never help them ever again with anything. Business works with mutual trust. If your coworkers work within this system, they will value you, and you will value them. For those that choose to take advantage, remember them and never help them again.
That’s all I can think of for now. I’ll add to this later if I can think of more.
