Bing's interpretation of _an otter coding furiously in an attempt to pass a coding test_

How hackable are automated coding assessments?

Exploring the hackability of speed-based coding tests, using CodeSignal’s Industry Coding Framework as a case study.

May 26, 2023 · Yanir Seroussi
[Mage](https://www.mage.space/)'s interpretation of _horse versus car minimalistic_

Remaining relevant as a small language model

Bing Chat recently quipped that humans are small language models. Here are some of my thoughts on how we small language models can remain relevant (for now).

April 21, 2023 · Yanir Seroussi

The mission matters: Moving to climate tech as a data scientist

Discussing my recent career move into climate tech as a way of doing more to help mitigate dangerous climate change.

June 6, 2022 · Yanir Seroussi

Some highlights from 2020

My track record of posting here has been pretty poor in 2020, partly because of a bunch of content I’ve contributed elsewhere. In general, my guiding principle for posting is to only add stuff I’d want to read or cite, e.g., because I haven’t seen it discussed elsewhere. Well, no one has compiled a meta-post of my public work from 2020 (that I know of), so it’s finally time to publish it myself....

April 5, 2021 · Yanir Seroussi

Software commodities are eating interesting data science work

The passage of time makes wizards of us all. Today, any dullard can make bells ring across the ocean by tapping out phone numbers, cause inanimate toys to march by barking an order, or activate remote devices by touching a wireless screen. Thomas Edison couldn’t have managed any of this at his peak—and shortly before his time, such powers would have been considered the unique realm of God. Rob Reid After On Being a data scientist can sometimes feel like a race against software innovations....

January 11, 2020 · Yanir Seroussi

A day in the life of a remote data scientist

Earlier this year, I gave a talk titled A Day in the Life of a Remote Data Scientist at the Data Science Sydney meetup. The talk covered similar ground to a post I published on remote data science work, with additional details on my daily schedule and projects, some gifs and Sydney jokes, heckling by the audience, and a Q&A session. I managed to watch it a few months ago without cringing too much, so it’s about time to post it here....

December 11, 2019 · Yanir Seroussi

Reflections on remote data science work

It’s been about a year and a half since I joined Automattic as a remote data scientist. This is the longest I’ve been in one position since finishing my PhD in 2012. This is also the first time I’ve worked full-time with a fully-distributed team. In this post, I briefly discuss some of the top pluses and minuses of remote work, based on my experience so far. + Flexible hours...

November 3, 2018 · Yanir Seroussi

Advice for aspiring data scientists and other FAQs

Aspiring data scientists and other visitors to this site often repeat the same questions. This post is the definitive collection of my answers to such questions (which may evolve over time). How do I become a data scientist? It depends on your situation. Before we get into it, have you thought about why you want to become a data scientist? Hmm… Not really. Why should I become a data scientist?...

October 15, 2017 · Yanir Seroussi

My 10-step path to becoming a remote data scientist with Automattic

About two years ago, I read the book The Year without Pants, which describes the author’s experience leading a team at Automattic (the company behind WordPress.com, among other products). Automattic is a fully-distributed company, which means that all of its employees work remotely (hence pants are optional). While the book discusses some of the challenges of working remotely, the author’s general experience was very positive. A few months after reading the book, I decided to look for a full-time position after a period of independent work....

July 29, 2017 · Yanir Seroussi