Welcome to The Data Canteen, a podcast focused on the care & feeding of data scientists who share in the common bond of U.S. Military service.

My name is Ted Hallum. I’m a U.S. Army Veteran and former intelligence analyst turned data science and machine learning enthusiast.

By day, I’m a Senior Defense Machine Learning Engineer. On the side, I’m the founder of Veterans in Data Science & Machine Learning, an organization serving U.S. Military Veterans in the data space.

I’m passionate about helping Veterans transition and thrive as data professionals for several reasons. First, it’s personal. I thoroughly enjoy this field and can’t imagine anything more fulfilling. What’s more, few Veterans will find more lucrative employment.

But, let’s be honest, there are challenges, right? The data landscape is vast, the skills & toolsets you need to survive are numerous, and an inadequate network could make for a lonesome journey.

That’s why I founded Veterans in Data Science & Machine Learning, and it’s the reason I’m creating this podcast. I’m not going to lie, it’s a profound undertaking to attain and maintain a data career.

But, if that’s something you want, it’s absolutely within reach! More than that, we have a supportive community of people just like you!

With that community in mind, this podcast serves an audience whose diversity mirrors that of the military in which we served. In terms of the data science journey, our membership spans from enthusiastic aspirants to the highest levels of management.

Maybe you’re just starting out. You know you need to upskill, but how? Should you buy the top 20 books on data science? Take a trip to the land of a 1,000 MOOCs? Or, dive into the sea of Master’s degree programs?

On the other hand, maybe you’ve already undertaken significant upskilling and you’re working as a data scientist or machine learning engineer. You’re wondering things like: How do I stay abreast of our ever-evolving field? What are the best ways to continually grow my skillset? Or, how can I efficiently expand my professional network?

Even still, maybe you’re a hiring manager. While you have strategies for finding and assessing talent, you’re curious what other strategies are being employed across industry. Are they more effective? Are they worth the extra time & effort?

To help you navigate these questions and more, I’ll have conversations with members of our community, Veterans in transition, seasoned data professionals, leaders of academic programs, experts on Veteran education benefits, and hiring managers.

I’m creating The Data Canteen to serve as your sounding board for all things data.

So, if you have a question that I can address in a future episode, go to vetsindatascience.com/thedatacanteen. As you scroll down, you’ll see methods to reach out and contact the show.

I look forward to engaging our guests, learning from the wealth of their collective wisdom, and growing together as data professionals.

So, until the next episode, I bid you clean data, low p-values, and Godspeed on your data journey!

Have a question for me?  Leave me a voicemail or send me a message at:

http://www.vetsindatascience.com/thedatacanteen

The Data Canteen's parent organization:

http://www.vetsindatascience.com/

Join the Veterans in Data Science & Machine Learning Community on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8989903/

SUPPORT THE DATA CANTEEN (LIKE PBS, WE'RE LISTENER SUPPORTED!):

Donate: https://vetsindatascience.com/support-join