Ask HN: Opportunities to get paid to learn software engineering or data science?

2 pointshighwayman473 comments

I'd like to pivot from biotech to software engineering or data science. However, I am at a level in my career and financial situation where I cannot take a pay cut. What is the best way to transition into this field so I can still make $150-$170k? Thanks

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Maybe I missed something important in your description, but to clarify: you want someone to pay you to teach you something you don't know, and that takes years to master? And not just pay you, but to the tune of $150k? And you can't take a pay cut?!

Maybe you should stick with what you have.

I thought the starting salaries for some of these roles was in that range?

Not sure what your job is like, but I also work around biotech and there are usually lots of opportunities to do programming and data science. I'm on the software side but even my wet lab colleagues often do non-trivial data analyses using Python in Jupyter notebooks and the like. You can start by developing the skills in your spare time, then look for opportunities to apply them in your day job. Ask your manager to shift some of your effort into that direction. If you're making $150-170k I'm guessing you're not a low-level pipette jockey and so you'll likely have some flexibility in your job definition.

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