Meet Our Instructor: Farzana Amir

Meet our instructor, Farzana. A petroleum engineering graduate turned data expert, Farzana has been playing a part in equipping talent with digital skills with General Assembly since March 2021, while analysing data with ADA as her full time position.

How did it begin?

Farzana’s  journey into data started purely through self-learning. Initially,  a petroleum engineering student in Heriott-Watt University, Farzana thought that her path was pretty much set. In her sophomore year she did an internship with a local oil and gas company, and just before graduation,  managed to secure an internship placement with Petronas. Just like most aspiring petroleum engineers in Malaysia, that was the perfect opportunity. 

Then, Farzana realised that she wanted to branch out further. She began her training period with the Center of Applied Data Science in their Data Star programme. For three months, Farzana went through an intensive training period where she learned all things big data, data visualisation, data storytelling and machine learning. “In my time there, I also managed to successfully learn several programming languages like Python, SQL and PySpark, and I’ve been adapting it into my day to day work ever since.”

What was it about data analytics?

Farzana’s time with CADS made her realise how vast one’s path can be with data analytics skills. Data—it’s everywhere. The demand for talent who can extract, analyse and figure out what to do with data is skyrocketing, and Farzana wanted in. “I first heard about data science from my lecturer when I was in university, way back in 2015.  I kept hearing iterations of the importance of equipping oneself with skills ready for the IR 4.0 (Industry Revolution 4.0), and as someone who wouldn’t pass on a chance to improve myself, I started to look up what the IR 4.0 is all about.“ From Python to Internet of Things to Artificial Intelligence, it was initially overwhelming—but Farzana was intrigued by these new age technologies and its jargon.  

At the same time, the oil and gas industry was having a downward movement. As a petroleum engineering student, Farzana realised she had to find a backup plan for her future, but didn’t know which path she should pursue. That was when she decided to dip into Python programming. “I dreaded it at first as computer science was not exactly my favourite thing in the world.”

But Farzana decided to give coding a chance, and from then on, she succeeded. “It was easier and much less complex than I thought… I learned that I just had to keep an open mind and keep motivating myself to try new things.” This is the same mindset she had when it came to pursuing data analytics.

What should be expected when learning data analytics with GA?

At General Assembly, we nurture open minds to prepare them for a digital future.  For Farzana, she holds a similar principle. “I’ve always been passionate to learn and develop new skills and knowledge to shape a better future of IR4.0 in Malaysia.” Since the beginning of her data journey, Farzana has had the opportunity to work among various stakeholders within the digital advertising and marketing industry across Asia. With GA, she hopes to play a significant part in imparting digital skills in Malaysian talents looking to embark on a new career path, and bringing awareness to the importance of preparing for the digital age.

When it comes to teaching data analytics, it’s important to be interactive. At GA, our teaching methods are rooted in hands-on learning, and we allow students to put the skills they’ve learned into practice, in class. Although this method rings true across all of our classes, it’s especially relevant with data analytics. “It’s important to teach the learners step-by-step, side-by-side, and have them see how Excel, SQL, and Tableau would function when they would have to tackle real challenges in the field.” Farzana believes in fair and balanced communication between instructors and learners. As an instructor dedicated in supporting the students’ learning and career goals, she makes it a point to curate helpful, individual feedback and guidance to each and every learner. 

Advice for career development in data analytics?

The mindset one has coming into the data analytics scene is really important. With data analytics, there needs to be a lot of critical thinking. You have to constantly ask questions--how do I extract this dataset? What do I do with it? What can I compare it with? What problems can it solve? For Farzana, she considers herself a meticulous worker.. “I myself am a meticulous and strong multi-tasker. I love to engage in critical thinking in order to analyse data that provides objective answers, that will then influence the decisions that an organisation takes. As a data expert, seeing the business outcomes that results from her data analysis is where she finds satisfaction within the job.

In terms of carrying out the task of understanding, extracting, and analysing data itself, understanding data visualisation is crucial. Farzana is currently a data analyst with ADA, where she prepares and analyses data for client pitches and insights to drive business decisions, along with preparing consumer insights and segmentation. For aspiring data experts, Farzana emphasises in finding the right data visualisation language, and letting it speak for you. “I let my visualisations do the story telling.” Farzana executes this by equipping herself with Python, Spark, Tableau and Excel skills and by constantly improving her capabilities in these data tools. “Data analysing satisfies my curiosity--whatever questions I have, I know the answer is within the data.” 

Take the first step in becoming a data analyst with General Assembly. Request a syllabus from our Data Analytics Bootcamp today.