Wednesday July 7, 2021
Podcast Episode of the Day
Episode #67 of the Real Python Podcast. This one was about package security. It is something that I would like to investigate more.
The PyPI (pronounced /pai-pi-ai/ Python Package Index) is community maintained. The guest, Dustin Ingram, is the guest for the podcast and one of those who maintain PyPI. The security of packages is something I wondered about at the beginning of installing packages and then just got used to blindly installing things, trusting that if there is sufficient documentation then it must be okay. I would like to revisit this episode to get a better idea of this. However, Ingram says there is no magic solution that is feasible. Basically, we just need to be individually vigilant. There was a suggestion about getting a lock file and turning on hash verification. I will look into that. Here is a link.
Job Search Seminar
I attended another job search seminar with Andrea Alvarez, a recruiter for Aictina Consulting in Barcelona. This was a very engaging presentation that required a lot of participation. She was very insightful in helping us see solutions for each of our individual situations. Her experience was clear and galvanized my conviction that my CV and Cover Letter is not really enough to give recruiters an idea of who I am. I have been to many job search seminars and generally find that I am doing most of the right things. However, like they always say, the job search is a long and difficult process.
Some things that I will make more effort in is contacting people directly. I came to that conclusion some weeks ago and need to really tackle that better. Join groups on LinkedIn and put myself through the battery of practice interviews to smooth out my presentation. I really would like to spend time improving my skills as a Data Scientist, but I must take measures to my presentation more effortless.
To be honest, I’ve hit a trough in my job search. Sending out applications is starting to feel useless especially when you have sent 5 CV to the same company and have tried to reach out to them and nothing really comes back. I had my first interview a two weeks ago by phone where I fumbled a lot of what I wanted to say. I was speaking Spanish as well and didn’t give myself time before accepting the interview to prepare a little. Next time I will give myself at least a half hour window to look up the company and review the job description.
So coming off an extended period of sending CVs (I’ve sent out over 100) and having my first interview catch me off guard, it is hard to get back up. It brings me to think about the Stoic ideas of detachment from the effects of negative emotions:
“First say to yourself what you would be;
and then do what you have to do.”Don’t sabotage yourself by unwittingly adopting negative, unproductive attitudes”
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So, I am doing what I can to conserve my momentum. But I think the feeling got to me yesterday and I was not very productive today. The only thing I was able to do was give someone some feedback about their data project and try to make some visualizations on my own project.
And here’s to tomorrow, that I blow off this fog and look at it more clearly.