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From Excel to Python: A Senior Analyst's Journey to Data Science

Learn how Sonia modernized her technical toolkit after two decades of experience as a government analyst.
Matt David
Matt David

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Having worked for more than two decades as a government analyst, for the UK Government and then European Commission, Sonia primarily used Excel for analyzing data. Capitalizing on her career break and her desire to leverage more sophisticated tools like Python and R, she decided to modernize her technical toolkit. She chose Datacamp because of its focus on a wide range of coding software courses specifically targeted at analysts and scientists.

When you're working alongside data scientists who are carrying out a much wider range of analytical work using Python and R, it makes you want to be able to use these more sophisticated tools.

Sonia Jemmotte, Policy Analyst at European Commission

Getting Technical Quickly

Sonia shared how she really enjoys using the platform and expects to continue using for her foreseeable future. She has completed over 30 courses, focusing primarily on Python and Data Science and has earned over 225,000xp on Datacamp, in 2024. Two courses in particular really stood out for her:

  • Python Data Science Toolbox: This course helped her transition from basic Excel operations to writing functions in Python, bridging the gap between her analytical expertise and modern data science methods.
  • Intermediate Importing Data in Python: Learning to combine data from multiple sources opened new analytical possibilities. She has enhanced her skills on importing, transforming and joining data. With these Sonia now feels more excited and confident about going beyond working her usual government databases and OECD statistics to widening the range of databases that she can access.

Being able to do complex analysis yourself allows you to have better conversations with data scientists about their analyses. It's a game-changer for ensuring data is interpreted correctly.

Sonia Jemmotte, Policy Analyst at European Commission

A Clear Path at Your Pace

Coming from a traditional analytics background, Sonia appreciated DataCamp's thoughtful approach to learning advanced technologies:

  • Structured Modules: Starting with foundational concepts before moving to advanced topics helped her build confidence.
  • Self-Paced Learning: This flexibility allowed her to balance learning data science with other pursuits, including French and Buddhism courses.
  • Practice-First Approach: The immediate practice after each concept helped reinforce her learning. Being new to coding she really appreciates the several practice modules that the course/platform offers.

I really love that I can just go to DataCamp and spend as much time as I want, taking as long as I need.

Sonia Jemmotte, Policy Analyst at European Commission

Working Directly with Data Scientists

For Sonia, gaining technical skills transforms her interactions with data science teams allowing her to:

  • Understand and contribute to discussions about model selection and data preprocessing
  • Review and critique complex data science methodologies
  • Collaborate more effectively on cross-functional projects
  • Bridge the gap between analytical insights and technical implementation

As she works toward certification, Sonia's journey shows that expanding your technical toolkit isn't just about learning new tools—it's about becoming a more effective collaborator in today's data-driven environment.

Sonia appreciates AI’s potential in enhancing data scientists’ work but sees how it conversely requires an even keener eye and understanding of the tools, methods and various inputs involved in working, with and presenting the findings, from data.

Being able to do the analysis yourself allows you to have better conversations with data scientists about their approach and findings. Given the importance and impacts of national and EU wide policymaking, it's not just about understanding the conclusions, but being able to critically evaluate the robustness of methods used to reach them.

Sonia Jemmotte, Policy Analyst at European Commission
Matt David

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Matt David

LinkedIn

Matt has taught thousands of people across the world data skills. He loves working on products and content to make it easier for everyone to collaborate on data.

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