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It wasn’t our intention to feature two data scientists back-to-back, but their stories (one Home Ec and one Work History) make for interesting juxtapositions on how your career trajectory can affect your income and financial mentality.
While the writer of Home Ec #51 always earned a healthy salary—taking a high-paying job in finance right after college graduation—and now pulls in somewhere around $500,000 per year, today’s Work History writer took a more circuitous route to her six-figure income. She worked as an executive assistant and an online teacher before taking graduate classes online to get an MS in data science. Nearly two decades into her career, her income is almost 10 times higher than it was when she was just starting out.
Below, she details why she made the move into data science and how working two jobs for six months during the Covid-19 pandemic (also known as being “overemployed”) affected her finances. We kept some of the details a little fuzzier than usual to protect her privacy.
I’ll let her tell the rest of her story. If you’d like to submit your own anonymous Work History, you can do so here.
The responses below have been lightly edited and condensed.
Age: 40
Location: Washington, DC
Job title and industry: Director of data science at a health and wellness company
Career length: 19 years
First salary: $28,000 in 2007
Current salary: $230,000
Biggest salary drop? Biggest salary jump?
I took a $20,000 pay cut when I switched jobs to escape a toxic boss. For my first role as a data scientist, I got a $40,000 raise.
Best salary-related advice you've ever received?
Ask! (For the raise, for the higher offer, etc.) The worst that will happen is you hear “no,” but that no is still valuable information.
I had to push hard for my boss to nominate me for my recent promotion; they kept saying, “I just want to be really sure that when I take this to my boss, they’ll say yes.” I kept pushing. I also advocated that I’d rather hear a no with actionable next steps than be guaranteed a yes. End result: zero push back, “a well-deserved recognition of hard work.” Push past the discomfort.
Biggest salary or pay-related regret?
I was in my late 30s before I ever countered a salary offer during a job search. I wish I’d understood my value earlier and pushed through the fear.
How did you learn to push past the fear?
I think it’s critical that more women are coached to counter the offers that they receive. Until the last few years, I was always so excited about the pay bump that I didn’t ask for more income—almost as though my internal dialogue was “be grateful for what you’re getting.” It took me a long time to understand that my worth was not dictated by the salary range stated in a job posting.
I’m still not great at countering offers; it feels incredibly uncomfortable. I’m really grateful for that recruiter who asked, “What salary would make you feel really excited about this role?” That was a true turning point for me and opened my eyes to the idea of my worth.
Sure, companies usually have a base range in mind, but it’s probably a bigger range than you think, and if they want you badly enough, they’ll figure out how to stretch a bit. I still worry that I’m undervaluing myself, to be honest; when I talk to recruiters now, and they ask for my target range, I’m still answering before I ask what their target range is. Ask! Always ask! Then position yourself in the top half of the range.
Are you at all worried about the effects of AI on your current career?
Does being mad about the vilification of em dashes count? On a more serious note, I would say I’m worried about its impact on my field/industry, but not as much for my career.
One of the reasons I transitioned into leadership was that I realized I couldn’t “keep up” with top data scientists. I’m married with two toddlers, so my free time to learn the latest Python packages and modeling techniques doesn’t exist for me at this life stage. I worried I wouldn’t be able to compete in the market as an individual contributor.
Now with AI where it is, it’s helping me more than anything; being rusty with code isn’t a blocker anymore. That said, would I recommend someone try to build a career starting out as a junior data scientist or analyst right now? Probably not. I don’t think those roles will exist much longer with AI pacing as it is currently.
You mentioned that you were “overemployed” at the beginning of the pandemic. Can you explain how that happened and how you managed it?
I was in a role when I accepted an offer for a new one, but since they were both remote, and the first wasn’t very challenging, I thought, “Why not try to keep both for a bit? If it gets to be too much, you just quit the first. Same outcome, different timeline.”
I put my LinkedIn account in hibernation, kept both roles for about six months—long enough to get my annual bonus from Job #1—and then resigned. To my knowledge, neither employer has any idea I was overemployed; Job #1 fought hard to keep me, so clearly they didn’t think my performance was subpar.
The roles weren’t in competing industries, which helped me feel more okay about it. Most of the time it wasn’t terribly difficult; I didn’t have a ton of meetings or deliverables for Job #1, and the ramp up for Job #2 was slow. I did have two weeks of travel (one week for each role) where things got dicey, and I took some of the days off from the other job in each case.
By the time Job #2 really got going, it was too stressful to keep both; I was working almost every evening and some weekends to keep up. But I would do it again if I was able to land two low-stress, low-challenge roles. The few months of earning two salaries really helped make a dent in my student loans!
With hindsight, is there anything you would have done differently at any stage in your career/salary journey?
SO MANY THINGS. For starters, I wish someone had helped me understand my worth before that first full-time role out of college. I’d always worked part time while in undergrad, and my first salary of $28,000 was easily 35% more than I was earning part time, so it seemed amazing—and I naively thought that once I finished my degree, I’d instantly be more valuable and get a nice raise. When I got my “graduation present” of a $1,500 raise, I felt so deflated.
For most of my career, I was so afraid to ask for more any time I got a job offer. Part of me was truly afraid if I countered the offer, they’d rescind it. I didn’t have anyone around me to mentor me in this area; I wish I had. Everyone needs a career mentor, no matter what stage of their career they’re in.
Anything you’d like to expand on from your submission?
This may be controversial, but I’d advise anyone to discount the bonus percentage and any RSUs in a job offer. Bonuses aren’t guaranteed, and RSUs may never come to fruition (and are often tied to longevity at the company). Even benefits can change drastically: Companies are reducing parental leave lately (SHAMEFUL).
Base is the most important thing, so don’t let a recruiter talk you into a lower salaried role with the promise of a bonus (unless perhaps it’s a signing bonus, but make sure you understand the payback window; most will require you to repay that if you don’t stay for a certain length of time).
Work History
1st job: Executive assistant
Starting salary: $28,000
Departing salary: $29,500
Years: 2007 to 2008
At my first full-time job, I handled the usual calendar and email management and screened phone calls, and some personal/family tasks like planning their entire summer vacation, but mostly I sat around bored as all hell. A lot of days I’d sit at my desk watching Netflix.
I took the job before I finished my undergrad degree, and when I graduated, I got a $1,500 raise to $29,500. I remember thinking that if my degree was only “worth” $1,500 to my employer, I’d never pay off my student loans!
2nd job: Education coordinator at an animal shelter
Starting salary: $16/hour
Departing salary: $16/hour
Years: 2008 to 2010
I’d long been a volunteer at this animal shelter and thought it might be a better fit than the EA job. I handled the newsletter, organized events like spay/neuter clinics and vaccine clinics, and did public outreach to local schools and community groups to talk about animal care.
I was paid $16 an hour, and it was a part-time role with full-time benefits. They said, “Don’t worry, we’ll let you work full-time hours.” That worked great until about a year in, when they finally got in trouble for this, and my hours were capped at 24 per week. I scrambled to fill the income gap with temp admin roles and restaurant work until I landed a new full-time role.
3rd job: Assistant account executive at advertising agency
Starting salary: $40,000
Departing salary: $45,000
Years: 2010 to 2012
In this role, I was client-facing, effectively the go-between for clients to creatives and higher-up strategists. I lived in my inbox and shuffled color-coded folders up and down the hallway for creative revisions.
I got my first promotion in this job, from assistant account executive to account executive, which came with a $5,000 raise. Unfortunately, it was short-lived, and I got laid off a few months later.
4th job: Online teaching and operations
Starting salary: ~$45,000
Departing salary: ~$45,000
Years: 2012 to 2016
My fourth job was really a combination of part-time roles within the same company. One of the stop-gap jobs I picked up when my hours were cut at the animal shelter was an online teaching gig, and I held onto it for extra income. So when I got laid off, I picked up more classes and then added a part-time operations assistant role, where I basically triaged incoming help desk tickets.
After the first year, I qualified for full-time benefits, since I’d averaged enough weekly hours the year prior. My hourly rates between the roles varied a bit, but my annual income amounted to around $45,000.
5th job: Student outreach specialist
Starting salary: $56,000
Departing salary: $56,000
Years: 2016 to 2017
I was looking for a full-time job, and in this role, I basically sent surveys to students to follow up on their progress after graduation.
I remember when I got the call from the hiring manager with the offer, he said, “The salary is $56,000, and I’ve been doing this a long time, so I’m going to be honest that this is the best we can do.” I was too ecstatic to have a full-time role again to even care.
About a year in, I was laid off. I kept up my part-time role teaching online, so that helped a tiny bit with the sting of lost income. And I had just started my online graduate degree in data science, so that helped occupy some time.
I realized that to advance in my career and keep growing my income, I needed a graduate degree. Data science was still somewhat new and sexy at the time, and I’d always been strong in math, so I decided to go for it.
6th job: Analyst
Starting salary: $56,000
Departing salary: $56,000
Years: 2017 to 2018
I was very lucky to find a replacement full-time role very quickly, with the same company where I was still teaching part time. It was my first analyst role, and it was also remote. (They were ahead of the pandemic remote-work shift.)
They agreed to match the salary of the role I’d just been laid off from: $56,000. I was never sure whether I could have asked for more money. I had a feeling my peers were making much more than me, but I was so relieved to have steady income that I didn’t consider asking for more. That said, I only worked two to three hours a day for that job, so in that sense, the hourly rate was amazing.
7th job: Junior analyst
Starting salary: $68,000
Departing salary: $68,000
Years: 2018 to 2019
I finished my MS in data science in 2018 and shortly after got my first data science job as a junior analyst, data scientist. The salary was a nice jump from $56,000, so I didn’t consider asking for more; I was still in the mindset that the employer must know what I’m worth.
A year or so in, I dropped the “junior” from my title with a promotion to analyst, data science. There was no pay bump with the promotion; at the time, I was focused on title growth, knowing that would open the door to larger salaries down the line.
8th job: Analyst
Starting salary: $72,000
Departing salary: $72,000
Years: 2019 to early 2020s
I was laid off yet again but managed a lateral move inside the same org. This role was more strategy focused than anything, and my boss ended up being horribly toxic, as did another of my coworkers who liked to treat me like his personal assistant.
My breaking point was when the coworker berated me in a meeting. Someone else in that meeting reached out to me after and encouraged me to chat with HR about said coworker’s behavior. I did, and then my toxic boss called me on my personal cell on a Friday afternoon to further berate me. I was then laid off during a round of Covid-related mass layoffs.
9th job: Data scientist
Starting salary: $115,000
Departing salary: $115,000
Years: Early 2020s
With this job, I was over the moon: I’d crossed into six-digit territory! I don’t remember negotiating anything, but I do remember stating an expected salary range in the application.
I also remember having massive imposter syndrome, thinking there was no way anyone was going to pay me that much money; it was unreasonable to expect that salary when my last had only been $72,000. A great, tangible lesson in learning that your past doesn’t define your future.
10th job: Data scientist, level 2
Starting salary: $165,000
Departing salary: $172,500
Years: Early 2020s
I’d been working as a data scientist for a while when a recruiter reached out. I remember toward the end of the initial phone call, they asked me, “What salary would make you feel really excited about this role?” I thought that was such an interesting way to phrase the question. I was caught off guard by it a bit, and I think my exact response was, “Oh, probably something in the $160,000 to $170,000 range?” Skip forward some interviews to the offer: $165,000. I felt empowered. It was the first time I’d played a part in defining my worth.
I was super excited for this role, which was a title bump and a pay raise! I felt like my career finally had a stable trajectory. (Remember, by this point, I’d been laid off many times.)
It was a start-up, so things moved fast, which was a fun change of pace for me. At my first review, I got a raise to $172,500. Unfortunately, with the waxing and waning impacts of COVID, they did a round of layoffs. While I was lucky to keep my role, my manager did not, and after some internal org shuffling, my new manager was identified and promoted from within; we’ll call him George.
George didn’t have a background in data science. I was also the only woman on the team. Intentional or not, that often left me feeling as though George spoke down to me when he didn’t understand something, or he would push back significantly if I said something wasn’t statistically sound while taking my male colleagues at their word.
I approached George’s boss, we’ll call him Jeremy, about what I was experiencing, and his response was, “I think it’s probably all in your head.” Hard nope. I started looking for another role almost immediately. And you better believe I detailed the reasons I was leaving in my exit interview. No surprise: Jeremy is still there, and his team is now all men.
11th job: Lead data scientist
Starting salary: $155,000
Departing salary: $155,000
Years: Early 2020s
This role marked the first time I countered an offer—they offered $155,000 and I countered with $170,000, go me!—but the giant multinational corporation wasn’t willing to meet it.
I wrestled with that decision a lot. I didn’t want a pay cut (who does?!), but I knew big companies usually couldn’t compete with start-ups where compensation was concerned, and part of me worried that maybe I’d actually been overpaid at my last role.
In the end, I justified the move by hoping the “lead” in the title would pave the way for future career development. I had a lot of conversations with my boss (before and after I took the role) about my desire to move into leadership; I was already starting to sense the speed of the industry was outpacing my ability to keep up with it, and I worried I’d get left behind and my career would suffer if I didn’t pivot away from individual contributor roles.
12th job: Director of data science
Starting salary: $200,000
Current salary: $230,000
Years: 2024 to present
Another cold recruiter outreach. By now, I had gotten used to those on LinkedIn, and most of them were for roles I had no interest in. But this one piqued my interest, so we chatted.
I was starting to worry that my growth path to leadership in Job #11 wasn’t unfolding as quickly as I wanted (great lesson in the snail’s pace of large corporations), so I entertained the idea of pivoting to another IC role. After the interview with the hiring manager, the recruiter came back and said, “The interview went great, but I actually want to pitch a different role to you…”
They wanted me for a data science manager role instead. I was elated! They offered $195,000, and I got bold (ha!) and asked for $200,000 instead (I wanted that “2” in front!) and they accepted. I recently got a promotion to director of data science, with a $30,000 bump.
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