Data Scientist Review

My time is split between University and Work Experience. In total, I will spend 6 semesters at university, have 2 summer placements as well as 1 year in industry at the firm. My time at university is exactly as normal for a uni student. At work, officialy I am an intern. In practice, I am treated as if I was a graduate new joiner. The day to day jobs will vary depending upon which business area you work in. I am currently working on projects that involve a lot of data processing and calculation.

At university I have studied Maths, Statistics, Economics and Computer Science to a 3rd year level. At work I have been introduced to data processing tools, databases and visualisation tools. Working with these tools and ideas is the skill I have developed most. At both work and uni, I have also been given soft skills training.

Overall, I enjoy my program and I am very happy with the skills and knowledge base it has equipped me with. University is as enjoyable as the modules are. For me this means very enjoyable for most modules but personally there are one or two compulsory modules which I find less interesting. I enjoy working with the firm. It is an engaging experience being part of a team and solving data problems day to day. I believe the business area that I have been put into is particularly exciting.

My programme is very well structured. There are many within the firm that oversee the program and its various components. The plan has always been clear as to where and when I will be working. There are regular meetings and review sessions throughout the 4 year period. When first starting placements there has at times been a lack of certainty, but this is mostly put down to the dynamic nature of the way in which the firm operates (i.e. projects and requirements change all the time).

We get lots of support from the firm. We have a programme lead, two work placement managers and a Learning and Development lead on the overall Apprentice Programme who are all available to contact. Within our role we have buddies, a business contact, a career coach and everyone within the team that we work directly with.

We receive all the normal university support, plus a tutor that handles Apprentice specific help. Everyone at university, be it lecturers, tutors or assistants are always extremely open and always provide any support they can. We might have 10 lectures a week, 2 tutorials a week, 2 exercise classes a week and on top of that, there are always extra opportunities for contact.

So far, the computer science elements of my degree have made the most significant impact upon my ability to work within my role at the firm. This includes skills such as programming, but also the more abstract introduction to data as a whole and the challenges and considerations to take into account when working with it. My degree is not data specific, it is a broad introduction to Maths and Computer Science but such a background encompasses data science well.

There are sports activities arranged at the various offices. I know of football groups, running groups and netball groups. There are lots of social clubs to join, particularly ones that focus on some kind of social development. There are also team and project related social events planned, but covid has often disrupted these.

Yes

I have been given a university education through no cost of my own in an area that to me is engaging. The skills that I have developed so far in my time on the programme are absolutely invaluable and, in my opinion, the demand for people with a data/ computer science background will only increase in years to come. It is a huge growth area but also one that is genuinely exciting to me. As far as I can tell, this programme exists because the firm, and the wider world, needs people with these technical, problem solving skills.

The firm needs capable people adept at problem solving in mathematical or computer science contexts. These skills are massively in demand and if you have them I would make sure to mention them. I think another good thing to try and convey is that you have a genuine passion for the type of work that you are applying to do. Talking about examples you have seen, or developments in the world that you follow, is a good way to demonstrate your interest in an area. As an example, I think I spoke in my interview about how I was interested in a certain electric car company and how they are using data and machine learning to develop self driving cars.