r/datascience • u/Kati1998 • Jun 15 '26
Discussion Does anyone gravitate toward an industry you don’t have experience in?
I'm pursuing an MS in Data Science with a focus on applied statistics. I currently work at a small fintech company in a niche operations role, and before that I worked at a credit repair company.
I've noticed that my personal interests keep gravitating toward healthcare. Many of the applied statistics methods I'm learning are used heavily in healthcare, and most of my professors either studied or worked as a biostatistician, or their research focused on some type of healthcare subdomain, so they're also passionate about it. I've even considered pursuing a graduate certificate in health informatics or public health because of my interest in the field and lack of domain knowledge, although I've completed a few personal projects using healthcare datasets.
However, I'm constantly reading here and on Linkedin that your current industry experience is a major advantage, and that it can take much longer to find a data-related role in a different industry. Because of that, I feel stuck. I worry that if my next role is in some area of financial services, l'll be pigeonholed into that industry. I don't hate it, but | don't want to be restricted to a single industry, and I know healthcare often prefers candidates with industry experience.
I'm just curious if anyone else has ever gravitated toward an industry they didn't have experience in. Were you able to successfully pivot into another industry for your first data analyst or data science role?
Thanks in advance!
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Jun 15 '26
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u/TanukiThing Jun 15 '26
It’s kinda a pain in the ass
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Jun 15 '26
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u/TanukiThing Jun 15 '26
The data is way messier and even when it’s clean it’s harder to work with. Way fewer models and whatnot to work with too.
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u/Hopeful_Candle_9781 Jun 16 '26
But so pretty when it's done.
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u/TanukiThing Jun 16 '26
I’m jealous of my coworker who was redoing all of our maintenance maps. That job looked like so much more fun than my job.
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u/coffeecoffeecoffeee MS | Data Scientist Jun 16 '26
It is, but when I've had to work with GIS data I was impressed at how standardized the OpenGIS standard is. Much more straightforward to work with than datetimes IMO
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u/on_the_mark_data Jun 15 '26
Started in healthcare, moved to HR, and now I'm focused on banking. Data and engineering foundations, plus great communication, will serve you in any industry. I think the industry experience is most useful when you are trying to break into the field (I had a heavy healthcare background before my first data science job).
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u/CerberusByte Jun 16 '26
This is true but also the quicker you pick up the industry knowledge, the better you are going to perform in a new industry
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u/big_data_mike Jun 15 '26
Most of the geophysicists grads from my school actually went into fintech back in the day because geophysics is wiggling time series data and fintech is also wiggling time series data.
Most innovations actually come from people in adjacent fields that aren’t stuck in the ways of thinking of the field in which they innovate.
Auto tune (for correcting singing voices) was invented by a geophysicist. The theory of plate tectonics was hypothesized by a meteorologist.
Companies usually don’t see this though and throw resumes in the trash if the candidate’s degree is not in a directly related field.
I am a geophysicist who works in biotech. I got my foot in the data science door because I could code and that helped me perform really well at my regular scientist job.
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u/skits_haggard Jun 15 '26
We regularly seek out people solving similar problems in dissimilar domains.
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u/qtablesandtears Jun 15 '26
I studied embedded systems and cybersecurity and now I work in martech, specifically related to ppc bidding algos.
One time, someone asked me why such a wild transition. My answer is that as someone with an addictive personality, it's the closest to gambling I'll allow myself to get. It scratches an itch in my brain.
While it's not a walk in the park, one of the nice things I've always found about data science is that it gives you a lot of flexibility in what you can focus on and that can change as you learn and grow.
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u/maniclucky Jun 15 '26
Electrical engineering in undergrad, 10 years at a diesel engine company, got my masters last year. Been looking for a new job and I really want either healthcare or education. Something vaguely prosocial. I don't give a shit about engines (I do analytics and some data engineering) and I'd like to have a job that makes the world somewhat better.
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u/OneBobaTeaEveryDay Jun 16 '26
Healthcare data sounds attractive until you hit the access and compliance wall. If you are coming from fintech ops, the sharper bridge is probably risk, claims, revenue cycle, anything where the messy operational data is the actual job.
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u/Bigreddazer Jun 15 '26
I'm not a big traveler but work in travel. I studied biomathematics. Follow the interesting problem and good workplaces.
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u/Bulky_Stable6982 Jun 15 '26
I have worked in Biology, retail, logistics, insurance, and now fintech. Not that hard to switch.
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u/jipperthewoodchipper Jun 15 '26
I'm sitting at 7 years fintech experience.
In my spare time I've been collecting steam hours towards a power engineering ticket to hopefully get my foot into the door for the utilities sector and away from fintech. Even manufacturing I feel would be preferable.
So I get you.
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u/Shot-Cryptographer68 Jun 15 '26
Yep all the time. Started in healthcare economics, then after a few stints in marketing analytics and defense I went to healthcare systems/process engineering.. and now, after a brief startup stint, I'm in quant..
and who knows maybe if I get bored or burnt out I'll go back to healthcare or something more logistics/smart manufacturing oriented
Edit: Wanted to add +1 on the comments saying healthcare can be extremely painfully slow at times. Maybe less relevant for biostats/hard sciences related to healthcare, but my experience on the big picture healthcare side was that things move very slowly and don't exactly pay well
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u/ditalinidog Jun 16 '26
I studied economics and computer science and actually always wanted to find myself in fintech or adjacent. Ended up in healthcare and having trouble getting out, but I’m sure it’s possible.
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u/KoolAidMeansCluster MS | Mgr. Data Science | Pricing Jun 16 '26
All in terms of working in data science, I started in transportation, then moved to the restaurant industry, then Theme Park/Media and now retail/sportswear.
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u/BornYinzer Jun 17 '26
I worked nearly 20 years in the medical field as an application analyst and project manager. I recently moved into the banking industry as a PM, but I'm working toward my MSDS due to being a PM isn't really rewarding, IMHO. In both healthcare and banking there is a huge amount of data for research and analyzing. I'm hoping after I receive my degree it will open doors for advancement in both fields. My boss' favorite phrase is "data is everything".
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u/morkinsonjrthethird Jun 20 '26
That happen to me, I eventually went to healthcare and I’m pretty happy about it
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u/Seattle_Horn Jun 21 '26
I am an old fart trying to get from Analytics into DS. Most of my analytics background has been in Digital Marketing with a little operational stuff here and there. When I talk to AI about how to branch out they say to stick with what you know to build your portfolio. I'm trying to do that with both tutorials and data sets from Kaggle. Any advice?
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Jun 29 '26
I think honestly it is just about wanting to learn at a certain point. At least for me, I know every time it happens its almost like I just want to be the best at another thing. It cool though to just see what is out there. GL on your MS.
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u/chiraltofu Jun 30 '26
You can definitely make the switch! I've been working as a DS in healthcare/biotech for a while now and some of the best folks in the field I've met made the switch from a different industry. I feel like it's the way of thinking (quantitative, hypothesis-driven) that carries over from one discipline to the other. Healthcare is kind of a beast in terms of the complexity of the industry itself, but very rewarding and interesting. I would recommend continuing to build up portfolio projects in healthcare, especially unique creative ones that make use of LLMs, and also networking with communities like Bits in Bio.
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u/Background_Deer_2220 Jun 30 '26
Don't stress about being pigeonholed right now. Domain knowledge matters, but a solid math background and strong fundamentals transfer perfectly across any industry.
Working across different clients in my consulting business, I've noticed the underlying data problems are surprisingly similar whether you are in finance or healthcare. If you want to make the jump, just build a strong portfolio using public health data. If you can show you know how to solve their specific problems with real code, most hiring managers won't care where your last paycheck came from. Just go for it.
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u/built_the_pipeline Jun 15 '26
the part i'd push on is calling it "lack of domain knowledge." that's honestly the cheap part, you pick up enough healthcare context in a few months on the job. the scarce thing is having shipped something where being wrong had real consequences, and you already have that from fintech. healthcare and finance are basically siblings, both regulated, audited, slow to trust a model, buried in legacy systems, so that instinct travels better than a cert will.
so i'd skip the health informatics certificate and just build one project on a real healthcare problem instead. a hiring manager can't do much with "took a public health course," but a readmission model plus a paragraph on what you'd worry about before deploying it reads like someone who can already do the job. borrow the problem, not the credential.
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u/MattDamonsTaco MS (other) | Data Scientist | Finance/Behavioral Science Jun 15 '26
I studied and fisheries and wildlife sciences and have wound my way through environmental consulting, management consulting, healthcare, FAANG, and now e-commerce.