Ai Omote

I decided to study on my course, the MSc in Data Science with Professional Postgraduate Year, because I wanted to specialise in data science while also gaining industrial experience through a placement year.

In terms of the course content, we covered the general aspects of data science in semester one before moving on to more computer science focused elements in semester two. As someone who hasn’t come from a computing background (my undergraduate degree was in mathematical sciences), I found this quite challenging but I have enjoyed it nevertheless.

The placement I will be undertaking is at Unilever which I chose because it’s directly related to what I want to do: data science. As Unilever is a big company, I knew there would be a structured placement programme and lots of opportunities. In particular, given that I’ll be working with data, the availability and quality of the company’s data was a major concern for me. My interview was a positive experience, and I felt that their company culture would suit me well.

I found the placement via Surrey Pathfinder, the University’s careers service, which gave me some helpful support such as checking my CV and cover letter. I also had my presentation reviewed by a lecturer prior to the interview, who provided me with an insight into what employers are looking for and what kind of questions they’re likely to ask.

"Studying on the MSc has enabled me to gain different skills and knowledge such as database and cloud computing, which would have been extremely difficult to study on my own. When I graduate, I aim to work as a data scientist for a company."

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