Consultant Spotlight: Nathan Mwasuku

Navigating the post-university landscape and discovering data engineering

I went to Manchester Metropolitan University and studied Mathematics which I chose because I felt it would open up my job opportunities a bit more, especially during the COVID pandemic. COVID made studying really tough and I think definitely hindered my progress and my ability to gain the work experience I really wanted. The pandemic meant that I didn’t have the opportunity to shine in the way I knew I could.

At the end of my degree, I knew I wanted to enter the world of technology – mostly because of the employment opportunities it could offer. I didn’t know exactly how to go about it; I didn’t have any experience and hadn’t done any internships. So, I chose to focus my dissertation on data, and I stumbled across something called neural networks which I found absolutely fascinating. That inspired me to start searching for jobs in data.

Every job I applied to came back with a “no”. It was incredibly deflating, and it was a tough time for me. But I was really determined, and I chose to apply myself and do some self-study in the world of data after graduating from university. I started doing a bootcamp which introduced me to data engineering. The bootcamp was quite self-led and I was keen to get some more structure. That was when I found Digital Futures.

The biggest thing that made me apply to Digital Futures was the focus on getting people with no skills or experience into industry. I’d done everything I was supposed to do until that point – achieved a degree, completed a bootcamp, learnt independently – but I couldn’t bridge the gap between studying and industry. Digital Futures would help me do that and I knew I was taking the right step for myself and my career with Digital Futures.

Thriving at the Digital Futures Academy

When it came to starting the Academy, I remember being a bit apprehensive. I did have some experience from my bootcamp, but I knew I had gaps in my knowledge. But at the Digital Futures Academy, everything is set out very neatly. The training has a set structure, and it settled me into a routine. Most importantly, there is an amazing community aspect to Digital Futures, and that helped a lot compared to the other bootcamp I did. I learnt a lot from Lisa and Ryan, but I think I benefitted just as much from learning from my peers on the training.

Everything on the training is set out strategically in a certain manner, helping you build your skills week on week to help you achieve more and more as you go through the process. I didn’t think I’d ever be able to achieve the AWS certification on the programme. I’d never done AWS, it was completely new to me, and it was difficult. But I had my cheerleader in Ryan, and he reassured me that I’d be able to pass the exam, and I managed to do so first time.

Winning a spot at AWS:reInvent

One of the most amazing opportunities I had as part of this journey was winning a place at AWS:reinvent in Las Vegas. I never would have even known about the trip without Digital Futures, and I certainly never would have been able to successfully win a spot there without all of Ryan’s help in putting together my application and reading all the drafts I sent to him. I remember getting the email saying that I’d won, and I couldn’t believe it.

The trip was incredible. I met a lot of people from all over the world and it was amazing for me to build my network. I learnt more about people’s work from across the whole of the tech industry, not just data engineering, and everyone that was on the programme I was on were in the early stages of their careers so we could learn from each other’s experiences. I had the opportunity to talk to all sorts of different organisations, tech companies and employers and I also picked up so much free merch which was amazing and is always one of the most fun parts of these types of conferences. There were hundreds of events on throughout the day; I almost didn’t know where to go half the time but all the sessions I did attend were incredibly interesting. I learnt a lot of valuable things, from workshops where I built data pipelines using native AWS tools, to speaking with mentors who gave me advice on how to position myself in an ever-competitive job market. It was an amazing trip and such an eye opener. I’d love to go back with more experience under my belt and get even more value out of it.

Transitioning into my role as a data engineer

Once I got back from my trip, I was deployed as a data engineer with one of Digital Futures’ clients in the insurance industry. I’m part of the commercial lines team, essentially handling the data for the brokers that sell insurance. In a nutshell, we build and maintain the data pipelines. I did join in the middle of a huge migration, where we were moving data from Oracle to Snowflake. A large part of my role was testing the migrated code, making sure it worked as intended and implementing changes where required. Now that the migration is complete, I’ll be carrying out a lot more project work based on the requirements of our clients as well as continuing to maintain and improve the pipeline that was built as part of the migration.

When I look back at my time in the role so far, I haven’t had a “eureka” moment but that’s because there’s been so much gradual learning. I’m picking up new things all the time. When I look at myself now, even in comparison to just a month or two ago, I’ve learnt so much and I understand how to traverse the data properly in a way that I wouldn’t have been able to before. The constant exposure to new things has helped me understand how everything fits together and I’m still constantly learning. Although I’m far from mastering things, I can confidently say my growth in this short amount of time has been exponential and I am excited to keep on learning.

The ongoing sense of community and support

Being part of Digital Futures feels like a community. The feeling from that Academy continues to when you’re deployed on client site. I’ve recently had a new Digital Futures consultant join my team and it’s good to see the representation within our client and we can say we came from the same place. We can relate to each other and that sense of community building is really strong.

That’s especially important for me because I decided to relocate from Sheffield to Norwich. It’s not the closest of places, but Digital Futures had a really structured relocation process to help me with that and I can’t thank the team enough for that. I love that we have regular socials and get-togethers and it makes you feel that you’re really part of something.