Alright! Another lazy day for Ameen! So I figured the best way to approach this is to make a timeline of what I would like to accomplish during the summer/ steps to take before I get a job. Now the question of the day is this: why even make a timeline in the first place? For starters, it’d help me stay focused and set realistic goals for me as the weeks go by. I know what needs to be done, but I don’t entirely know how I should approach it, so I feel like the timeline would be great for that! Here we go:

Week 1: Brush up on Python

I am familiar with Python, but I desperately need a refresher. Python is essential for many Data Science positions, and this includes ML/AI. Most likely I'll skim through a course or two, and do some Leetcode!

Week 2: Learn Basic Machine Learning/Look at jobs

I have taken a Machine Learning course, where I even got an A, but I feel like I didn't learn anything. Truly try to understand the terminology, possibly watch videos from MIT/stanford/read articles/brush up on math/big data seems important. Find the relation to AI (ML/DL/NLP/Computer Vision)

Try to look for SPECIFIC roles/technologies that you are interested in and identify what exactly you need to learn.

Week 3: Learning advanced machine learning topics

Week 4: Consume more ML content

Read things! Get acquainted with other people's projects! Try to break things apart and see why people do the things that they do!

Week 5: Creating projects/experience

You know that you have to do this. I'm not asking for much here. You need to express how much work/how in depth you go. You just need one or two SHOWING that you can do the job. A simple project will NOT show that, and it also won't prepare you well enough for when you're actually on the job. I've heard about kaggle -> you need to practice Forage?? Forage includes many different programs that can build your resume!

Week 6: Build your Resume

Yes, you already have a resume, but let's be honest, it isn't great. Build it up! Use everything you learned, and make sure you can answer questions about those projects, and yourself! Try to run some mock interviews, I'm sure you will hit this part out of the park (especially once you figure everything out).

Obviously, the timeline is subject to change, given that there will be some weeks where I am more efficient than others. I’m most likely going to do weekly updates (maybe a few times a week) explaining WHY I did what I did. I will also be balancing this timeline with my hobby-specific timeline, so I am intrigued as to how that will turn out. Get to work, Ameen!

Lastly, as I've done more research on what a technical blog post even entails, I learned that what I am currently doing isn't ideal for a technical blog. I'm using this as a means of getting my ideas on paper. I watched a talk from Quincy Larson: "How to write technical blog posts", and it almost feels as if it's more of a way to teach people. I'm trying to figure out an effective way to do that, while still using it as a diary for myself. I'm sure I'll figure it out... Until next time!

~Ameen