Name: Jordan
Course: Data Science Bootcamp
Year Graduated: 2020
Location: New York City
Jordan’s Story:
A new career and a new puppy.
Jordan welcomed both into his life at the same time back in 2020. Shortly after graduating General Assembly’s Data Science Bootcamp, he brought home a new best friend and the two have been inseparable since. “He’s my Chief of Staff,” Jordan says of his tail-wagging buddy.
Welcoming a canine into your life is one thing. Transforming your entire career is another—and that’s just what Jordan did with GA’s help. After spending 15 years climbing the ladder as a municipal investment banker, he realized it was time for a change, and found himself pointed in a new direction: “I worked from analyst up to VP and got very tired of it. It wasn’t analytics anymore, and it wasn’t what I wanted,” he says. “So I was actually recommended to try data science.”
With a new target in sight, Jordan snapped into action, attending an online seminar on data science hosted by General Assembly. It was a hit. “I ended up loving it so much that I took the full Data Science Bootcamp and have been doing it ever since.”
Jordan’s upward trajectory has been swift. Once he completed his coursework, he landed a role as a senior data analyst at Gnome Global, a data science consultancy and media agency, where he worked with household names like Sesame Workshop and Viacom.
While he may have made it look easy, Jordan is quick to acknowledge that, when it comes to career change, the struggle is real.
“Getting into a new field was really difficult, since I didn’t have a lot of natural connections,” he says. “But the team at GA put me in touch with a lot of people and, eventually, it worked out.”
(Supporting our learners post-graduation is a huge part of what sets General Assembly apart—you can learn more about us here.)
Today, every industry is a data industry—which means there’s no shortage of opportunity. “No matter what your other passions are, you can really apply it to data science,” he says. “You can use it for sports, financial markets, you can use it for really anything. So, no matter what you ultimately care about and love, there’s a role for you as a data scientist in that field and probably doing something that you’re going to find really, really interesting.”
That said—and anyone who works with technology can attest to this—data isn’t a space where you can rest on your laurels. Jordan’s advice for newcomers to the field? Master the fundamentals first. “Learn SQL,” he says. “It may not get you a job, but it’s going to prevent you from getting one if you don’t know it.”
From there, it’s a matter of staying up to date. “Generally, if you care about the data world, you’re going to stay on top of it naturally,” he says. Jordan recommends that anyone trying to get—or stay—in the field keep up to date on what’s happening. “That can just be, you know, your Pop Science articles, things like that. Just stay interested and stay involved,” he explains.
Becoming a new pet owner and tackling a new career may have some things in common: new skills, responsibilities, and challenges at every turn. But between the data and the dog, it’s the data that’s keeping Jordan focused in the present moment.
“That’s where change happens,” he says. “And it happens very quickly.”
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