Data Scientist: Trainee/Intern Review

My role ranges from working with large public data sets and finding useful insights from them by using data visualisation software like Power BI or Tableau to researching into businesses to see what applications of emerging technologies would benefit the business and what emerging technologies would disrupt it. My role also constantly reporting to my manager(s) about my progress.

I've learned more about data cleaning and constructing large queries for SQL tables using Python and BigQuery on Google Cloud Platform. I've been introduced to unsupervised topic modelling algorithms like LDA and I've picked up how Tableau and Power BI work and the possibilities within those applications. I've also developed my understanding of how businesses operate and how they are structured to operate so well.

The programme is very technical which makes it very challenging and keeps me constantly engaged. I'm learning new things everyday which never makes the work, that's assigned to me, feel repetitive or boring. I'm always in a positive environment in the workplace regardless of where I am within the firm.

The programme is very structured. Half of my placement has been dedicated to a technical heavy workflow while the other half was dedicated to more business oriented tasks that required a lot of knowledge around how businesses work. I understand that organising a programme on a 'first' cohort isn't easy but I appreciate what's been done.

I was in constant contact with my employer during the placement where my progress was reported to see if I was struggling with anything. Sometimes, the same work was reviewed multiple times until they came to perfection. While I was in University, I would have regular catch up sessions with my mentors from PwC that took place in local coffee shops.

I received a lot of support from my training provider. After every lecture, students have the opportunity to ask questions one to one with the lecturer. We also have tutorials where we go over lecture content and exam style questions with a tutor who guides us throughout the session. We are also in direct contact with the Pro Dean who is responsible for the University side of the Data Science Apprenticeship scheme.

Through my training provider, I have learned a lot about the theory of what is being used in industry. This helps a lot with getting to grips with what is actually used regarding software and programming languages. Once the principles were visited, applying them in different areas in the technical fields became second nature. However, there is no training on business acumen which can cause us computer scientists to always focus on the solution rather than the problem itself to be more efficient.

There is definitely a lot of extra-curricular activities at PwC, from sports sessions to social events that consist of drinks every week. We have had some innovation training sessions that goes through the benefits of problem centric thinking. I've taken part in professional networking sessions (via meals) during the induction day and during the placement where I got to meet some of the partners and board members within the T&I line of service where I had the opportunity to know more about their roles.

Yes

PwC is a very friendly, people first, firm where you have the freedom to lead your own work. You decide how technical you want the solutions to be as long as they are easy to follow (for someone else at PwC to continue your work) and concise (for clients to understand without much technical background). It's also a place for someone to learn more about their strengths and weaknesses with so much support. It's also a place to learn how to understand a problem and deliver a solution in order to, at the end of the day, build a portfolio.

Employers at PwC are looking for commitment, it sometimes doesn't matter how good you are technically. It's your ability to work well in a team if you're put into one and to keep trying even if you know you are going to fail multiple times, as long as it doesn't hurt the brand image of PwC.