At Digital Futures, we believe in providing opportunities for people from all backgrounds to launch their career in tech.
In this article, we spoke to Dora Barišić, who is currently placed as a data engineer with a global bank. Dora came to Digital Futures with a background in biochemistry and genetics and through her studies became incredibly interested in the process of working with data. Despite careers in data engineering being a new concept to her when joining our Academy, Dora has since been able to launch her career, working on Extract-Transform-Load (ETL) processes and large language model (LLM) projects
My background is very much in Biochemistry and Genetics, with no formal coding experience at all. I started off doing my bachelor’s degree at the University of Nottingham and then I went on to do a master’s degree in applied Genomics at Imperial College London. In my master’s year, part of the course was focused on technological advancements and that was what started to draw me towards a career in tech. It was then that I worked with a large-scale dataset for the very first time. The process of working with that data was incredibly interesting to me and that drew me to looking at tech jobs, which led me to start independently learning and building up my coding experience.
Between making the decision to pursue a career in data and eventually starting with Digital Futures, I subscribed to DataCamp because it has a lot of data science, data analytics and data engineering courses which I was able to get stuck into. It was at that point that I started to take data seriously as my future career path, but I did have to confirm to myself that I can actually code! I set my mind to it and started off with SQL and Python courses to build up those tech skills and my coding experience.
When I chose to pursue a career in tech, my job search was tough. I was initially hoping that I could land a job in the biomedical field, just because I have that educational background. But those companies didn’t really care that I’d studied biology; they wanted computer science graduates or people with lots of tech and coding experience. I quickly realised that I didn’t have the right qualifications, and that biology wouldn’t be my “in” for a tech job. Eventually, I found Digital Futures, which was my entry point into the industry.
"I really appreciated that Digital Futures looks at the potential of a person and if you can prove that you are curious and proactive."
Dora Barišić, Data Engineer
Until I found the Digital Futures Academy, I really thought there was no way I could get a career in tech because I didn’t have the experience companies were looking for. I really appreciated that Digital Futures looks at the potential of a person and if you can prove that you are curious and proactive. Personally, I think you’re better off hiring someone that is really proactive even if they have less experience, so I really valued that Digital Futures was giving a chance to people based on their potential and how they show their drive rather than their experience.
When I started at the Digital Futures Academy, I found it very challenging. The hours are long, and you had to be efficient with your time but that was a great learning process. The main takeaway I had from the Academy was that we weren’t just taught technical skills, we were taught the importance of those skills. You didn’t just learn how to code; you learned how to be a good coder. The 1-to-1 meetings I had with my instructor Alex were always really insightful and the professional skills we learned were also really important. I got to work on my presentation skills and became much better at working in a team. Any job, but particularly tech jobs, require collaboration and teamwork so that part was really valuable.
Since graduating from the Academy, I’ve started my career as a data engineer in my placement at a global bank. It’s funny because I hadn’t really heard of the role of a data engineer before Digital Futures. I was drawn to data engineering because of its focus on coding. There was also something about the problem-solving aspects of data engineering, in terms of getting data from A to B, and some of the challenges that come from that which I found really interesting. It’s almost like a puzzle to solve, and I really enjoy that kind of work.
The projects that I have been able to work on during my placement have been amazing. When I first started my role at the bank, I was working in a delivery team on a classic data delivery project. That gave me some really good experience in the classic Extract-Transform-Load (ETL) processes. I’d extract data from multiple sources, transform it in the way the stakeholders wanted and then make sure it goes through the correct pipeline to be delivered as a single data product to the stakeholders.
More recently, I’ve progressed to a new project where I’ve started working on a Generative AI use case. This is a different type of project to the delivery one and is called a “proof of concept” project. We’re building the framework for how the data is going to be processed to work with the LLM that we’re using. This project is more experimental than what I was working on before. I now have a lot more agency in the way that I work. On the delivery project, we knew what the stakeholders want and that’s what we needed to deliver. On this new project, we know roughly what our stakeholders want, but the way that is delivered is up to us as the data engineers. So, I have a lot more freedom and I am able to be more creative now. I’m also able to interact with others more, particularly the LLM product owners.
“The Academy was such an important milestone in my journey, and I’ve grown so much from that experience. We weren’t just taught technical skills, we were taught the importance of those skills.”
Dora Barišić, Data Engineer
When you first come out of the 12-weeks of the Digital Futures Academy and go into your placement, it can be overwhelming. But the way the client embraced us, even when we were brand-new, was amazing. We are encouraged to ask questions, and we’re rewarded for being curious and proactive. It’s a supportive environment for growth. I’ve always felt listened to and that my input was taken on, even when I was fresh in the role. We’re really trusted to get the job done.
A huge element of that support network on client site is the Digital Futures community. There are quite a lot of Digital Futures engineers here, and we really look out for each other. When we’re starting off with something new, we’ll always reach out to each other to see if anyone else has experience and whether they can show us some starting points. It’s a nice thing to know you have “your people” there alongside you.
The community Digital Futures has built is a really safe space. Digital Futures makes sure we’re listened to, and our engagement managers are our first point of contact for upskilling or anything else we need. I also appreciate all the opportunities available to get involved with different initiatives. I’m personally involved in helping with Academy competency interviews which I’m really enjoying because I get to speak to Digital Futures trainees about their experience and background. The Academy was such an important milestone in my journey, and I’ve grown so much from that experience, and I love that I can contribute back to it.
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