accountant-to-ai

[accountant-to-ai]

20200705 2224

1. These days, I find solving algorithm tasks quite relaxing. Unusual, I guess. It reminded me of the hype for coders and those coding boot camps a few years ago. When I just got to college, people were already talking about how software engineer/developers were overpaid, and how easy it was to transit to tech career: you decide whatever path you want to take, enroll in an intensive coding course, focus on your portfolio, take a 3-month internship and voilà, you are an engineer now. 

Algorithm is the very core of computer science, as it hones your problem-solving skills. But those engineers/coders are cornered when it comes to a complicated matter since they are taught to solve everything possible by available tools. By this, I mean unnecessary tools, like how you try to calculate 1 + 1 by a financial calculator.

2. Now, the hype came back. People turn to data science, blindly jump into it. Parents force their children to learn Python, hope they could catch up with the data scientist trend. Students, those got sick of their low-paying job,… rush to any center possible. They try to learn Python, while 4 out of 10 lessons are just how to set up the environment and its syntax - which can be reached easily by googling ‘python doc.’ 

Then they get bored right away when a problem arises, and there is no library available to solve it. They proceed to TensorFlow, PyTorch, and other trending AI stuff. Using available notebooks on the internet, crawl a random dataset on Kaggle. And voilà, they call themselves a data scientist. History then happens again when so-called scientists have to face a real business problem…

3. My dad believes firmly in traditional jobs; one of those is (obviously) accountant (you can guess why I switched to tech career despite being an accounting bachelor). Unfortunately, his daughters broke his expectation in a not-so-gentle-way (again, you can imagine how angry and disappointed he was). Still, the man is persistent. Even when I already stood my ground, he always tries to persuade/force/beg me to come back being an accountant. 

My answers are ever the same. Initially, I found this annoying, then turned to appreciate it later. Talking to my dad from time to time reminds me of my own advantages. It’s not easy to dive headfirst into a battle. You only just know how to use a machine gun, and people around you already practiced with it since ages ago. Finding another way around should be the way, and a long way indeed. But it worths it. 

4. I resigned from my last job in the middle of the COVID-19 epidemic breakout in Vietnam. Then my career just went on and off with countless freelancing gigs and remote jobs, which will never be written into my resume. A 6-month sabbatical period, long enough. Even with an income, it was still depressing for a woman in her early 20s to stay home. She had to watch her friends from the same batch of her class going on their business trip and throwing jokes on “đi khách” and stuff.

It took me a week or two - or maybe a month (?) to come to terms with it. That whatever I do, my top priority is still to graduate. And again, what can I do while being at home and stuck with school stuff? I decided to go back to classes, reach out to my lecturers and teachers. As expected, people were surprised at my resume and whatever I crafted throughout the years. I got that all the time, by “that” I mean the reaction when people heard that I was an accountant and could do Python. However, the “surprise” I got that time was pleasant. I was acknowledged for my own abilities - not for the fucking stereotype that “accountants are dull and tech-blind."

5. I have never imagined myself to say this, but I miss being a college student now. Before, I tried to detach myself from my class and classmates. My wish was to leave college as soon as possible, as I was comfortable being by myself. Being a student again for 6 months made me realize how much I missed in my 20, yet I enjoyed it even for a short while.

Apart from that, these were my most valuable lessons:

- Never stop learning. Even when you leave college, it never hurts to learn something new.

- If you do something, do it to your heart’s content so you won’t regret it later.

- Learn how to ask for help. You might be okay, or even excellent in your field, but you are still a human. Asking for help is not weak or indebted to someone; it’s merely to lighten the load on your shoulder. And also, people process their information in different ways. Asking for their insight might give you an idea for what you are stuck on.

- Screw people. I mean, don’t do stuff just because people say it is the trend. Doesn’t mean you have to oppose the mainstream - just ask yourself if it worths it.

Still, long way to go.Hanoi, 05/7/2020 10:24 PM.