This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Dawn Choo, the 34-year-old founder of Interview Master, based in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Her identity, employment history, and salary have been verified by Business Insider. This story has been edited for length and clarity.
I interned at Facebook in college, and my dream was to get a data scientist job at Instagram — but I didn’t get an offer.
I took the first offer I got in college because I had interviewed so many times at so many different places. Finally, I got a finance offer from Bank of America, and I took it because I needed a job to stay in the country, even if it wasn’t exactly the industry I wanted.
It was a quant role, but it wasn’t very data-heavy. I did backend work, like building models to help predict if companies that took a loan from us were going to default on the loan. I was there for three and a half years, but I started applying for tech jobs about a year and a half into the job.
Again, I tried so many times. I was not the best at interviewing. I applied to about 100 places, interviewed at maybe 10, and then finally I got an Amazon offer in 2017.
I took a roughly 40% pay cut and a step back in my career
The Amazon job was for a business analyst role, and it was a really big pivot.
When I applied, I knew I was taking a step back in my career given the scope of work, but I didn’t realize I would be taking a roughly 40% pay cut.
I was living in New York City in a one-bedroom with a roommate, so that 40% really made a big difference.
Despite what felt like moving backward, I could see the upsides of taking the job. Amazon’s a big company, and I knew it was a step toward where I wanted to go. I had to make some adjustments, like eating at home more. But I also felt like it was a step back in my career because I suddenly stepped into a service-desk role.
I didn’t love the work I did at Bank of America either, but at least I was building models and writing extensive documentation. At Amazon, I felt like I wasn’t really learning much, and many times, I wondered, “Why did I take this pay cut? Why did I make this transition? Should I just go back?”
At times, it didn’t feel like the right move, but I recognized that I had agency over that decision. I chose to be there, and it was a privilege for me to be able to make that choice.
Things got better
The upside of the work being very repetitive and simple was that I could automate it. The automation project started as a pet project — I randomly came up with the idea and pitched it to an executive. He loved it so much and kept pushing me to do it that eventually, I did.
I was promoted from business analyst to business intelligence engineer. What was initially my site tech project became a full-staff team of five business intelligence engineers.
I worked for Amazon for two years before getting my dream job as a data scientist at Instagram.
I interviewed at Meta so many times previously. After my internship, I applied about seven times and interviewed maybe four or five times. I almost canceled my final round of interviews because I couldn’t get rejected again.
I think my experience working in tech and product changed my application. I also had a lot more leadership experience since I spearheaded a project. Plus, I matured around interviewing and presenting myself.
I worked at Instagram for about three years and three months. The office was beautiful. The people I worked with were incredible and made me feel challenged. I made a lot of good friends, and we went through COVID together. They were part of my pod.
Bets take time to pay off
For others thinking about making a career transition, I would say take the pay cut if you have to. I’ve always feared regret more than failure. I knew if I didn’t take the Amazon job, I would be upset for not betting on myself.
It’s also important to recognize that some of these bets take a long time to pay out. It took me two years, which wasn’t that long, but I know other people where it took longer to get that payout.
Sometimes, even after the payout, you see other people in your situation and you think, “Wow, this person got this data science job at Facebook right out of college.” So, at that point, I was about eight years older than this person doing the exact same thing. And it didn’t feel great. So, maybe don’t compare yourself to other people.
I will always say take the bet on yourself — and I’m doing it again. I pretty much took a 100% pay cut this time. I went from my comfy corporate job with insurance, travel perks, and stability to work for myself, and I hope the payout will come soon.
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