Journey from an intern to a Data Analyst
Lejla Vardo has been an Atlanter for over a year, but our collaboration started much earlier. Our first contact was through Atlantbh Scholarships, we continued getting to know each other in ABH Internship, and finally, our perfect match was confirmed when she started to work as a Data Analyst in Atlantbh.
Inspired by the interview
“In my personal Atlantbh journey, the ABH Internship has been an obvious next step after receiving the ABH Scholarship,” said Lejla, remembering she both read about it online as well as heard several personal stories. This was her next goal, and she put a lot of effort into achieving it. The ABH Internship interviewing process has, in fact, helped her find her way in the IT field. Before preparing for the ABH Internship interview, Lejla had very little knowledge of the Data Analyst career. Interestingly, she realized this position was a perfect fit for her during the selection process.
One of the most valuable things that the Internship showed her is that there are other careers in the IT industry other than the most popular, such as Software Developers and QAs. That’s why she is sure that everyone, even slightly interested in IT, can find the perfect career path they’re searching for if they educate themselves about all the possibilities this branch offers. Doing the interviews will often show you if a certain position is suitable for you.
Part of a bigger picture
You will learn many new skills during the Internship, but these are the benefits you don’t usually consider. As a young person, you still have to find out what career aspects you like or dislike. We are aware of the importance of the bigger picture, which is why our Internship is structured to empower the Interns in various aspects.
Lejla emphasizes that being an ABH intern prepared her very well for her position. Not only has she worked with certain technologies and improved her domain knowledge, but it has also helped her understand the business logic. It is extremely important for every position you apply for and can best be learned through experience.
Mentor support through challenges
“Once the Internship started, I must admit, I faced many challenges in understanding new technologies and applying previously acquired knowledge. However, all of those challenges pushed me to work harder than I probably would if I stayed in my comfort zone. By the end of the second month, I realized I had learned so many things on such short notice that I couldn’t believe all the new skills I had acquired. Right after my second-month demo, I was sure of the career path I wanted to pursue,” says Lejla. Shortly after, she applied for the Atlantbh Junior Data Analyst job opening and has been an Atlanter ever since.
Interns must work hard and put a lot of effort into their tasks. However, the mentors will gladly share their experience and expertise with them. That is that little push needed to surpass the obstacles and challenges.
The career of the future
The demand for Data Analysts is growing by the day. Almost all the most successful companies are turning toward data-driven decisions, and Data Analysts are the ones who provide them with the foundation.
“I have found it very difficult to describe my current role of Data Analyst to my friends and family, “says Lejla. “To try and sum it up, the main part of our job is to investigate a wide broad of datasets to either find patterns which describe the data or to determine the quality of the dataset itself. However, most of the time, the previously described ‘analysis process’ is only a small part of the job that needs to be done. First, we usually have to prepare the data and ‘pull it through’ many preprocessing procedures so we can even approach it. Additionally, a big part of our everyday activities includes regular communication with clients and stakeholders. Of course, presentation of the results and findings of our analyses,” she concludes about her day-to-day tasks.
Becoming a part of the culture
Like many other young people starting their careers, Lejla had her concerns about becoming a part of a team. Also, as she was studying at the time, the other concern was if she could maintain a work/life/university balance.
Atlantbh invests a lot of effort into providing a good work-life balance for Atlanters. Unlimited vacation, flexible workplace, and working hours offer opportunities for education and personal obligations. Also, having strong teams is one of our core values, and we achieve that by having frequent team-building activities.
Unfortunately, when Lejla was an intern, the world was an-online-kinda-place (we won’t name any names, Covid). During those Internship cycles, we tried our best to provide interns with the best experience possible. We proudly say that we have realized all the aspects of the Internship, except one – office life. Nowadays, Interns are back in our office! They have their own workspace, where they can collaborate, work independently, hold meetings, feel the office atmosphere and hang out.
“Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect besides what I’ve seen in the movies or heard my acquaintances talk about. However, right after my first bigger ABH gathering, a barbecue at the office, I knew I had made the right choice deciding not to wait until I finished my education to start working. I was fascinated by the culture Atlanters brought into my life and how everyone understood my school-related responsibilities. This experience helped me manage my time better, and even more important, it helped me discover what I was capable of. Besides all the domain knowledge I acquired in the last year and a half I’ve been working at Atlantbh, I must say I’ve also learned how to work on improving myself constantly, how to deal with bigger responsibilities, and how to organize awesome team gatherings (just kidding, or maybe not :D),” Lejla concludes.