I've been trying to help several talented peeps get jobs in data science or ML, and have learned it's a lot harder than people think... largely because I think they're sort of behind even software dev in their hiring practices.

I've found (obvs ymmv) that these departments are

more likely to REQUIRE advanced degrees than software engineering. It's the worst kind of gatekeeping because almost no one has a legit degree in data science, data engineering, or ML since so few schools grant them... and to be frank there is still a lot of debate over whether

these fields are DISCIPLINES, in other words well-understood and distinct methodologies with which the world can be generally interrogated. I came up when front-end dev had this same problem: back-end devs with CS degrees and little experience in actual software eng would not

hesitate to tell you that web technologies were not "real programming languages" or what have you -- largely based on the fact that when/where they went to school CS did not teach anything useful about the web. For quite a large part of my career a front-end dev would have to

interview in C, C++, or Java to have a shot at any job.

Also I think data science in particular suffers from ambiguity about where it fits in the org -- especially whether it's a core part of software engineering, or whether it's more like UX design: a very important discipline

that gives insight to software eng but must rely on engineering to build out their ideas. As every UX designer knows, this is not a comfortable relationship.

And finally I think smaller companies don't necessarily have a great idea of why they need data science... so they hire

a junior person who really needs more guidance from a team, or a more senior person who will not learn anything in the job because there's no room for growth. The ideal size team for a junior to learn is probably like 5 - 10 people, that's rare in data science.

I hope that data

driven fields will eventually go the way of front-end dev and be accepted as a core function of eng. But we all need some leadership here! It would help if the big data science programs like Berkeley would be transparent about their alumni career ladder and how it fits into tech.