A few days ago, the Open Data Science meetup Moldova event took place at Tekwill. It was an educational event in the field of Data Science for Moldovan developers. The initiator of the event was Nikolay Manolov (XOR), who invited Ivan Trusov as the second speaker.

Ivan was introduced as one of the most experienced professionals in the field of computer-aided learning and data analysis. His technology stack includes: Scala, Apache Spark, AWS, Databricks, Kafka. He successfully used technological tools in such major companies as: Beeline, MTS and Sberbank, Zalando SE.

Knowing XOR and Nikolay Manolov, agreeing on an interview with Ivan was a matter of technique.

Once Ivan has come to Chisinau in order to share knowledge, I’ve decided to reshape our conversation in a set of information that can be useful or interesting.

What is Data Science

After thinking for a second, Ivan said the following: “This is a specialist who solves various business issues with mathematical optimization tools, probability theory and programming languages”.

Since only an experienced Data Scientist is able to understand and accept this formulation, the two of us translated it into the human language using an example that is common in Moldovan agriculture.

Apple crop can be sold immediately or can be stored in a refrigerator and sold later. The price of apples fluctuates throughout the year. The behaviour of other sellers also affects the market, they try to sell everything at once or are also ready to store apples. The market is affected by importers and apple crops in other countries.

A good Data Scientist collects all this information, processes it not manually, but using software tools, and advice the apple owner how to sell apples during the year. If the advice is correct, then Data Scientist is paid a salary and a bonus, and the businessman has a higher profit.

How to earn money with Data Science  

This is easier to show on the example of Ivan. He was educated at the intersection of mathematics and economics. The exact name of the specialty does not matter, but this is where they learn to use statistical models to forecast values ​​and events. It’s a mixture of computational mathematics, probability theory, knowledge of micro and macro economics.

With this pool of knowledge Ivan got a job at one of the Russian telecommunications companies as an analyst intern when he was a student. Knowledge of mathematics and programming helped automate the processing of tasks pretty well, which was carried out manually until then.

Again, translating into ordinary language, what Ivan did. For example, a marketing campaign with a large budget is being conducted. I want to understand how effective it is. To do this, customers are selected from the subscriber base, their reaction to certain aspects of the marketing campaign is studied and conclusions are drawn for the company's management. We drained a million into the sewerage system, or earned one million two. And most importantly, why this happened. This “why” helps a lot to act more consciously.

Besides the telecommunications company, Ivan also worked in a bank. Having made forecasts on how the subscriber base of the mobile operator will change after the introduction of the new rate plan and having built a couple of credit scoring models for that bank, Ivan decided to work abroad. New experience and new impressions.

What is the moral of this paragraph? If you like math, then after getting a good education you will earn decent money due to your knowledge. And here is the second side of the coin. If your business has outgrown the size of a kiosk or a garage, then modern mathematical methods and the guys with the Data Scientist profession can help you increase profits.

How to get a job in a Western IT company?

It’s worth reading at least as an example for correct decision making. The point is not only changing the job. I turn it over to Ivan:

“When I decided to gain international experience, I thought about a number of filters. I chose these ones: a city in Central Europe, a large one, so that it would be easy to travel from there, existence of many IT companies there as an opportunity to change one company for another.

After examining the map and other data, I chose Berlin. Almost a perfect match with the selected filters. I sent my CV to 20 companies. 5 responded. One was from Munich, the other 4 from Berlin.

I was invited to an interview on the spot, in Berlin. Flight and accommodation is covered. My advice is to always arrive one day earlier to relax and tune in before the interview. And do not schedule two interviews for one day. All interviews took 4-5 hours and I was completely exhausted. After spending an incomplete week in Berlin, I returned to Moscow and the next week I had 4 job offers on hand. I took into account the location of companies and accommodation, the provision of an interpreter to fix bureaucratic and organizational issues at first, and a number of factors. I chose the best offer in terms of all factors and moved to Berlin”.

What is HR tourism (we inform, but do not recommend)

This is just a fun information that I never thought about. Quote from Ivan:

“By the way, now, in certain circles, it has become fashionable to travel at the expense of potential employers. You do everything that I did, get a job. You send out your CV, arrange an interview on the spot. But the purpose of the negotiations is not to get a new job, but the opportunity to take a ride, for example, to London or Barcelona at the expense of a slightly deceived employer. Unethically. Ugly. But people have already seen and felt the essence”.

What good things can Ivan Trusov do for you

Let Ivan speak.

“I came to Chisinau for two reasons. We are discussing with XOR a certain amount of work and services for one of the Moldovan telecommunications operators. Both me and XOR have a set of competencies that are interesting to it (the operator). And the second reason is that I sincerely believe that if you have knowledge, you need to share it. Therefore, we conducted a meetup at Tekwill about Data Science and I plan to come to Moldova again and again to talk about what can be useful and interesting to Moldavian programmers, both the current and future ones.

Comment of Moldova

Have you managed to see something? What are your impressions of Moldova?

Amazing wine, beautiful women and great food. Wait, let's talk about women pretending that you, as a journalist, finished writing, otherwise my family can misunderstand me at home.

Well, I tell you what, I’ve written about women, and you only praised the wine and food. And where have you already eaten besides Andy’s, where are you and I sitting?

“Sarkis”, “Gastrobar” and today we are going for wine tasting at wine.md

Don’t be offended, but how can a Russian programmer of your relative young age be great on wine? You are just praising us automatically.

Not I’ve been interested in wines since I was 22 years old. At first it was red French wines, then, given that I moved to Berlin, I switched to white wine, mainly to Riesling. So, I’m not just praising you, Moldovan wines are really very good, you have something to be proud of.

It seems to me that at this point we can end the interview about Data Science.….

Pavel Zingan