Got a Job after 8 months with Codecademy on Data Science path

I just feel like I should share my story as a gratitude to Codecademy and encouragement for all fellow learners.

I started on the Data Science Path in December 2019 and got my first coding job (in August 2020) as Information Analyst working for NHS (National Health Service) in the UK. I was able to easily transition from using Pandas to Pyspark to analyse Big Data (Prescribing of Medicines and Hospital Admissions in England). Huge databases, trust me. The very first job I truly enjoy. I am 33 years old.

I hope not to bore anyone to death so will try to be brief, but here’s what I consider relevant:

  • I am a MSc Psychology graduate of 2012 (solid base for scientific method and statistics when working on my research thesis)
  • I worked in HR, not really by choice but chance
  • I never considered coding as a career option
  • Me and my team colleagues were responsible for calculating employees’ annual leave which turned out to be challenging for some, including someone who worked in HR for 8 years. I asked them how they were able to do the job in their previous position and they explained they had a Excel calculator where they could input 3 pieces of information and output the result
  • I decided to create such a tool for the team and this is how it all started. I had to google some answers, learned about setting variables etc. I was hooked with how much I enjoyed working on that problem and realised this was a basis for coding.

I don’t recall where I first heard about Codecademy but it was at that time and it feels like Codecademy found me :slight_smile:

I lost my job in July 2020 and after 7 months with Codecademy had been gone through all data manipulation, visualisation and statistics modules (around 70% of the Data Science Path at the time). I didn’t feel like close to ready for getting a coding job but started applying for both HR and Data Analysis jobs. Guess what… I got no HR interviews and 2 interviews for data analysis with Python and SQL. I wasn’t successful on the first one but got an honest and constructive feedback. I nailed the second one.

I was excited, scared and extremely motivated.

First tasks involved developing SQL queries to check already calculated results by another government agency. I was then assign a task of migrating an existing process from SAS to Databricks writing in Python. I was given 3 months and completed the program in 2. My bosses were very happy and since then I am being involved in more and more projects. I help my colleagues with writing loops in Python and using dictionaries to increase efficiency. Everyday, I learn and find more and more creative ways to apply the knowledge and skills acquired here.

I just want to express my gratitude to all Codecademy team. The work you are doing is amazing! I was able to start off a job successfully, having no coding background before learning here. I now realise how well the modules are designed and how comprehensive the lessons are. You gave me my skills and sculptured the way I think and approach problem solving.

Advancing through more and more challenging projects is a masterpiece of simulating real life work scenarios. Kudos to you all!

I am more confident then ever before in my life. I learn on the job everyday and while still working to finish the Data Science Path. It is getting more challenging I am more motivated then ever before.

I know a great and enjoyable career is on my doorstep.

So, yeah… Please, believe in yourself (and your learning path here)

In my case, due to not high enough self esteem, it would probably take me a bit longer to start working with coding, should I not lost my job.

Meanwhile, it proves the skills Codecademy equipped me with, even if I didn’t fully realise it.

Best of luck,

Jan

P.S. I’ve had a few concerns about the depth of Statistics module but it got updated twice since I started.
P.P.S. Window Functions where one thing that wasn’t covered and created a challenge for me at work. This has recently been updated. The topic was covered better then any resource I could find online before it was added to the curriculum.

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Wow!!! Congratulations!! :partying_face:

Thank you for sharing your story! It will definitely serve as inspiration to other learners.

Welcome to the forums as well!

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Awesome post Jan! Thanks for sharing; very encouraging.

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That’s awesome! I’m really happy to hear that!

I’m currently torn between completing my CS degree, or using my Full-Stack career pathway to solicit a job without a degree. The pay is better with a CS degree, but I’ve got four kids to take care of, and I’m not sure how possible it is in reality to only have me work part time.

Do you have any suggestions on landing your job in the field? I was currently thinking of building a pretty strong portfolio. A personal website/blog, a small local business’s website, and some powerful back-end web applications.

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it really encourage guys who are learning date science as a beginner.thanks.

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Hi Jan,

This is really great to read! I can somewhat relate to your story, only up to the fact that since about 3 weeks I am fully invested in learning coding.
I am currently about 35% through the computer science path, and I’m just wishing i had more time to learn during the day, as i still have a full-time job. And also 2 young kids :slight_smile:
I started in a pretty similar way, I wanted to create a budgeting and money-tracking excel-sheet for myself, as i could not find any that were doing exactly what i wanted to do.
slowly but surely i found out how much fun i had creating things, and after taking a detour in Unity, I found that the scripting/coding part was definitely what interested me the most.

The hardest part was basically to fin out where to start if i wanted to learn more on the little time i have. Also because there’s so many options.
Here at CodeCademy I have really found that i learned the most in my time, and I just cant wait to start working on some projects and building a portfolio, eventually start applying.

reading about you getting a job like this, is really motivating. I realize it might not be easy. But I’m highly motivated to switch out of my current job, which obviously I do not like :wink:

Good luck in your future adventures and thanks for sharing your story!

Daan.

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Really a good motivation. thank you for sharing.

How did you process your Codecademy experience in your aplications? Did you build a portfolio?

Brian

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Very inspiring! Just started the Data Science path today, and I’ve been preparing for about a 2 year plan using Code Academy and a variety of other sources down the line until I see benefits career-wise, and that’s a timeline I’m mentally prepared for even though I’m still staying in a field where I have expert knowledge - your story gives me hope maybe things will come sooner than I think (but prepared for the long-haul regardless, I enjoy my current job but preparing for future shifts in my industry).

Thank you for sharing your story!
Kyle

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Hi, sorry for this late reply. I don’t use forums much.

I didn’t have a portfolio. At the interview, I talked about Codecademy work and projects as well as the data analysis I did for my masters.

In my CV I made sure Codecademy skills were highlighted on the first page. It looked sth like this:

2019 - ongoing: Codecademy Data Science
I am actively self-learning & completing projects in SQL & Python data analysis:

  • queries & aggregate functions across multiple tables
  • use of Pandas, Pyspark, Databricks, Matplotlib/Seaborn, Jupyter for data analysis & visualisation
  • Numpy & Scipy: summary statistics & hypothesis testing
  • data cleaning with Pandas and Regular Expressions
  • NLP: Text Preprocessing, Bag-of-Words, Tf-idf, Word Embeddings

Hi,

All I did really was taking care of my CV and apply as much as I could. Apart of strong CV, I think there was an element of luck (or demand) in all of this (the entry level job in my local area).

I think, getting as many interviews as possible creates more opportunity for a constructive feedback. I got this job after my second interview with the organisation. I got a really helpful feedback after the first one. This helped me to prepare well.

I also attended many job interviews in my life. Successful or not, it’s a valuable experience.

Good luck!

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So motivational thank you for sharing your story!

Hi,

Thank you for sharing your story. As someone who has recently began the Data Analyst career path, this gives me a lot of hope for the future.

I have struggled with learning any coding previously and became frustrated quickly and gave up. Since finding Codecademy, I am advancing at my own pace and taking time to digest what I am learning. It seems to be working and I can hope I can continue my education and advance to employment like yourself.

One thing I struggle with when it comes to coding is understanding at what point should I be employable enough or have the skills to become valuable to an employer. How do I know when that time is?

I also worry that I will forget things or that there is simply so much information I may struggle to remember everything.

But like you said, it could all be about confidence.

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This is so wonderful to hear, congratulations. Very motivating!

Congratulations, you live my dream!!
As I am doing the Data Science Career path too (which is sometimes frustrating) your post gives me new motivation and is a great example to see that it is possible to get a job as a career changer.

Thank you for that :pray:

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Awesome story! Congratulations to everything you have done so far!

Such an inspiring story - thank you for sharing, Jan!