What degree did you study at university?
BCom (Hons) Statistics, Stellenbosch University
What is your role at Sanlam?
Sanlam Data Academy Trainee
Can you tell us why you chose this career?
I chose this career because I am very interested in developing my understanding of how data is used to provide invaluable insights as well as exploring the available programming tools to extract these insights.
What’s a typical day like in your job?
The first thing I do in the morning is to check my emails, reflect on the previous day’s work checklist to determine which tasks need to be prioritized for the day. After the daily stand up, I usually plan for any meetings scheduled for the day and then begin working on tasks for the rest of the day.
What are the some of the highlights and challenges of your role?
Highlights: Every day comes with a new idea on how to better work with the data to extract maximum insights from it and I enjoy exploring these ideas. I also value the technical skills that I learn every day from my team members.
Challenges: Time management especially with regards to ensuring that I properly balance everyday work tasks with SDA assignments.
How do you keep up to date with all the changes in your profession?
I normally use a few online resources such as Youtube, Stackoverflow and Coursera to get insightful information shared by others in the same field of work especially when I get stuck on a problem.
What do you enjoy doing for fun outside of the office?
In my spare time I love reading books and watching historic documentaries.