Before I applied to the Data School I attended a meet and greet, and it made me so much more confident in my application. In this blog, I will list all the benefits of attending a meet and greet and state why it may actually improve your chances of getting accepted into the data school.
Firstly, what is the meet and greet like?
The meet and greet is an opportunity to come along to the office, ask questions to people who work at TIL, and get some tips and tricks on how to use Tableau Desktop and Alteryx. Overall, it is a very relaxed atmosphere when you first come in someone will ask you if you want a drink straight away and be super friendly. I remember coming alone after university to the meet and greet and I was feeling very intimidated but the moment people at TIL started speaking to me I started enjoying myself and felt like I could ask anything I wanted without judgment.
After you are settled in (~30 mins in), the presentation will begin in which current data school consultants will introduce the culture at TIL, discuss data analytics, explain the recruitment process, and how placements work, discuss tips for the application, demo tableau and Alteryx. I know that is a whole lot, so you will definitely be more clued up by the end of the meet and greet. Don't worry too heavily about taking notes, as the slides will be sent to you after the session. However, it may be good to take notes during the Tableau Demo, as you can implement these tips into your application!
After the presentations, there will be pizza (I ate so many slices when I went heh) and you will have the opportunity to network and ask any more questions you may have. I highly recommend spending the time to ask whatever you like! When I attended I connected with current DS consultants on LinkedIn so I could gain some feedback on my application dashboard, they gave me great tips which ensured I was putting my best work forward. Moreover, during the networking part of the Meet and Greet, I got a feel of the culture of the company. I personally really enjoyed the human-centric approach everyone had as well as the prospect opportunities in the placement schemes, this motivated me further to start my application.
What you can take away from a meet and greet to aid your application:
- Use the slides with a breakdown of the processes and resources to help you throughout your application.
- Take note of the tips during the tableau demo, such as the use of padding, containers etc. These may seem like small nuances, however, implementing these shows best of practice which will take your application to a higher level of quality (i.e. how a current DS consultant would do).
- Make the most of the networking opportunity and feel comfortable asking any questions you have faced during the application. You have access to experts who have been through it already, so you can be reassured you will be getting the best tips and tricks.
- Networking does not have to just be at the event, ask to see if people at the DS are willing to connect with you on LinkedIn or Tableau Public, so if you have any further questions in the application you will have a person to ask for advice
- Be yourself, be confident, and speak to as many people as you can! If you leave a memorable impression early on amongst people who already work at the Data School, you are already building a positive rapport with the company. You may even come across people who would be interviewing you, so being able to speak to them first can ease the first impression nerves.
All in all, best of luck with the application journey and maybe I'll see you at an in-person M&G! ~ Numa