My name is Brieuc Boonen. I studied mechanical engineering at UCL, in Belgium. After submitting my thesis, in which I had to process a tremendous amount of data, I realised that I had very little experience in this field (Matlab was cool, but Python looked even cooler ). This made me want to learn more about this topic and attending a Data Science bootcamp seemed to be a great opportunity to deepen my knowledge.
What did you like about the bootcamp?
It was a great experience! Even with a technical academic background, I learned new concepts that I was not familiar with.
The greatest added value of Le Wagon is the presence of competent teachers, available at all times to answer questions, and to bring their expertise to best tackle "code challenges".
I really enjoyed the roadmap, which aims to discover all the principles that drive data science.
What is your role now?
Since finishing the Data Science Bootcamp at Le Wagon in 2020, I've been working as a Data Scientist at
Agilytic. We are a growing consultancy firm helping companies across many industries (such as banking, insurance, telecommunications, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, automotive, and more) to achieve their goals through the smarter use of data.
I really like my experience in this role. Since day one, I have acquired a certain level of responsibility and ownership. In fact, I am responsible for every project I’m part of, from data analytics and modeling to data storytelling and providing recommendations. If I need help, a Senior Data Scientist is always there to offer guidance. In my spare time, I also can study various certifications to continue expanding my knowledge and improve my skills.
So far, I have already established a segmentation, a dispatching algorithm, developed a web app interface using Flask and passed my first certification: Power BI. Next up between two projects, I look forward to acquiring both DataBricks and AWS Cloud Practioner certifications.
If you're interested in data science or data engineering, Agilytic is hiring! Check out www.agilytic.be/careers
How did your job search go after graduating from Le Wagon?
The IA/Data Science field is still relatively new in Belgium, in particular in Brussels. I discovered this opportunity, mainly through word of mouth, but also via social networks, thanks to the
BestRegards podcasts (co-created by our Data Science alumni, Joanna Vitiello). I had four interviews, one of which was purely technical. Fortunately, Le Wagon gave me confidence in my Python programming skills to succeed.
A piece of advice for people looking to start their journey in Data Science?
1. Take the time to learn all the mathematical and programming concepts behind it. Once you have the fundamentals down, it is much easier to add an extra layer of knowledge.
2.Data science allows you to exploit data from top to bottom. You can easily get lost. It's your job to stay focused on the objectives and build a story around the data. In fact, this is almost the most difficult thing in the field
Enjoy!
