Hear from a recent recipient of Data Skills for Work, Kelsey Pearson, who undertook a Data Science (PDA) course with Code Division.

Prior to enrolling on the course, Kelsey already had experience in data, working as a data assistant where most of her work was evolving around data entry. She had also completed a Women in Data Science course with CodeClan and Equate Scotland.

Kelsey found out about Data Skills for Work Individual Funding from a colleague at work who recommended the programme. She says: “I wanted to improve my data skills for my job and to create future opportunities. I also caught the data/coding bug after the Women in Data Science course and wanted to learn as much as possible.”

She chose the Data Science course with Code Division “because it included two tools for data analysis (Excel and Python) and incorporated a data project. I felt this would give me more real-world experience compared to some of the other courses. I was also keen to get more experience using Python for data analysis.”

While Kelsey found the coursework challenging and worried about balancing it with her job as well as personal commitments, the project gave her “the most opportunity to develop (my) skills. I learned how to clean and interrogate data and produce data visualisations in Excel and Python. The tutorials were repeated in the evening and coursework could be completed at your own pace, which was perfect for fitting in with my schedule.”

Now, Kelsey is more confident about data and feels that “the course has improved my abilities to think about data projects, from planning to cleaning to interrogating and creating final visualisations. I still feel I have lots more to learn but I’m excited about the journey.”

Talking about data and why it’s important, Kelsey stresses that “data is key to identifying problems/patterns and changing practices to improve the way people work, how people use data, and how people view data.”

Looking ahead, Kelsey is excited to continue her data journey of developing Python skills and “(I) recommend the programme to anyone who wants to start their data journey or continue it. You also get to meet supportive, like-minded people and find new opportunities to learn.”

If you’re interested in upskilling through Data Skills Credits for Individuals, please visit our page: https://dataskillsforwork.com/data-skills-credits

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