Hi there, I am halfway through training in DS46 and wanted to share my story of how I got into the data school.
Prior to the data school, I was working as a recovery worker, supporting individuals with drug and alcohol addictions to lead a happier life.
I first heard about the data school in October 2023, and I spent about 4 weeks working on my initial application before submitting it for feedback. I had never heard of Tableau before, and I learnt how to use it by following YouTube videos.
When deciding what topic to do my dashboard on, I looked through previous application vizzes for inspiration and I noticed a lot of them were about sports including the Olympics, but none were about parasports. I looked on Kaggle for a dataset about the Paralympics and went from there (I'd also recommend Data World as a good resource for data sets). This is an oversimplification - I did spend a lot of time searching for a dataset, feeling worried I was going to pick the wrong one, or I wasn't going to pick a topic unique enough. I'd recommend trying not to over think too much, but if you start exploring a dataset and there is not much of a story to tell, or much data exploration to do, then look for a larger dataset with more dimensions (categories that segment the data e.g. sport ) and measures (numeric fields/quantitative fields e.g. number of medals won).
See my very first application viz here : https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/georgia.webb3644/viz/Whoisthemostsuccessfulnationattheparalympicgamesandwhy/Dashboard1
Tip 1) submit your dashboard early before the deadline to give you the opportunity to receive multiple rounds of feedback
I had one round of feedback, which I submitted this dashboard for https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/georgia.webb3644/viz/Thirddraft_Whoarethewinnersoftheparalympics2/Dashboard1 before I was selected for an initial screening interview.
Tip 2) read the feedback carefully, and ensure you implement all of it. Part of being an effective consultant is being able to take on feedback from stakeholders. Don't be discouraged by any negative feedback, it is there to help you improve your viz.
I had my initial screening interview in November, where you present your application dashboard and answer some motivational/consulting questions.
Tip 3) think about why you have decided to present the data in the way you have.
Tip 4) interact with your interviewer, ask them about their experience and try to turn the interview into more of a conversation rather than strict question and answer.
Tip 5) practice, practice, practice your presentation.
The Information Lab were not hiring another intake until the next year, so I was informed my final interview would be at the end of February. I had about 3 months to brush up on my tableau skills so I watched/ followed on with lots of Makeover Monday Youtube tutorials.
Approximately 10 days before your final interview you are sent a dataset, for which you need to design a dashboard. My dataset was about political violence and here is the dashboard I made.
I am quite proud of this dashboard, especially as I was working during the 10 days and commuting quite far so I didn't have as much time to spend on it as I would have liked. The feedback for this dashboard was that it didn't feel cohesive enough, and that it was not being driven by one narrative, it felt more like a few different insights I had found and put together on a dashboard. In addition, I suspect that my dashboard was quite similar to lots of other people's, and I hadn't found a niche story to tell.
Tip 5) try to tell the what and the why of a story (even if you can't definitely say this is the reason why something is, you can say the data suggests this may be the reason why).
Tip 6) Create an explanatory viz to show off your analytical side, as opposed to an exploratory dashboard.
Sadly, I was not accepted after this interview, but I was offered to return 3 months later to complete another final interview in May. This time, I really focused on finding a niche narrative that showed what was happening, as well as how/why (I was also able to take 5 days of annual leave in the 10 day period we were given to make the dashboard).
Fortunately, my second final interview went really well and I produced this dashboard. We were given a very large dataset about greenhouse gases and I analyzed the impact of forest fires.
Tip 7) Another general bit of interview advice would be to ensure you have researched consultancy and the challenges consultants face.
The day after my interview I received the best phone call where I was offered a job at The Information Lab/Data School for August.