Reflections on my time in the Data School

by Tom Pilgrem

Well that went quickly…

What a whirlwind 4 months it has been. I can’t possibly cover everything we’ve done during training here but here is a selection of highlights, things I’ve learnt and where I’ll be going next.

What I’ve learnt

I take pride in being humble. But I’m not going to be now. To say my analytical skills have gone through the roof is an understatement. The knowledge and skills past on by the coaches at the data school is phenomenal.The training is intense but also a lot of fun, something I can’t encourage people to go for enough. Beyond the technical skills, the soft skills we’ve learnt through client project weeks are invaluable. Being forced into doing presentations every week has been fantastic at improving my presentation skills, and is something I now look forward to every week. Another skill gained from the client projects has been an exposure to such a variety of industries, all with different data needs. These skills in learning how a business functions and operates will hopefully set me up well for the next steps in the DS, consulting.

Favourite moments

It’s hard to pin down one! The client projects have always been interesting and a great way to put our skills into practice. Outside of the DS I enjoyed giving a talk at Tiny Tableau Talks earlier this month. It was a great way to show myself how much I’ve progressed over the past 4 months. When people were coming up and asking questions after the talk it made me realise that I am now an expert in the field, which is hard to accept after such little time learning!

Where I’m going next

My first placement will be at IAG Cargo, a client who we did a project for during one of our project weeks. I’ve enjoyed and looked forward to every one of our training days in the DS, but it definitely feels right to move on into the real world of consulting now! My blog posts will now be over at the Information Lab blog from now on – so if you’d like to keep reading about my progression during placement then check it out here.

P.S If you’re one of the lucky few to have made it into DS9 (or 10!) then I’ll be writing a top tips for future DS’ers blog very soon. So keep your eyes peeled!