Title: How Thorsten Completed the Data Analyst Path in Less than 4 Weeks

Thorsten Scholl, a Senior Partner Manager

Meet Thorsten Scholl, a Senior Partner Manager at Pinterest, who went through Dataquest’s Data Analyst in Python path in under a month. His story shows how continual learning can add a fresh angle to anyone’s career, no matter their job title or past experiences.

Journey Before Dataquest

Thorsten grew up in southern Germany and later moved to Hamburg for his studies in history, psychology, and politics. He shares, “I worked in a TV station’s PR department after my studies, got an MBA, and spent a decade in different roles at Google.” In 2019, he made a career shift and joined Pinterest as a Senior Partner Manager. But even with such an extensive career, Thorsten felt the need to explore new opportunities for growth.

Choosing Dataquest

While working at Google, Thorsten started learning Python. When Pinterest gave him a chance to deepen his Python knowledge, he saw it as a perfect fit. He says, “Learning Python is fun,” showing his enthusiasm for the topic. That’s why he chose the “Data Analyst in Python” path on Dataquest.

Learning Experience

Starting his journey with Dataquest, Thorsten felt both excited and anxious. He mentions, “I was a bit nervous when I began self-learning Data Science with Python. But when I started with Dataquest, my excitement grew.” Despite his initial plans of studying for a few hours a week, Thorsten found himself studying nearly every day. His hard work paid off as he completed the path in less than four weeks. Thorsten appreciated Dataquest’s approach of interactive, in-browser coding. He says, “It was a good experience. It’s easy to get started, and seeing your progress immediately is great.”

Impact of Dataquest on Thorsten’s Career

While Thorsten has yet to experience a direct career advancement since recently completing his course, his newfound skills have unquestionably impacted his role. He’s mastered data structures in Pandas and Numpy, sharing coding projects with Jupyter, and visualizing data with Matplotlib.

Thorsten’s colleagues at Pinterest know him for his analytical approach to opportunities, usually supported by data points, a skill that has only been amplified through his learning at Dataquest.

Advice to Future Learners

Thorsten believes in the ‘snackable’ format of Dataquest’s courses that can fit into any schedule, no matter how busy. His advice to anyone considering starting at Dataquest is, “Don’t limit yourself because you can’t do the learning on top of job and/or family.”

Conclusion

Thorsten’s journey with Dataquest is a real-life example of how consistent learning can lead to new skills and possibilities. In less than a month, he added new tools to his skillset, applied them in his job, and stoked his interest in programming. His story is an encouraging reminder that dedication and the right resources can boost professional growth.