From Chemistry PhD to Data Analyst: Ahmad's Story

Meet Dr. Ahmad Alsawaf, a PhD holder in Chemistry and a Data Analytics bootcamp graduate. Ahmad moved to Berlin from Syria in 2017, and completed his doctoral studies here. Following his studies, he began looking for a position in the private sector – and realized that practical data analysis skills would help him find the ideal job for his ambitions. With his eyes set on becoming a chemical researcher, he joined us to help make that goal a reality.

My name is Ahmad. I finished my education last April, so I got my doctoral degree in chemistry. I’m 35 years old and I originally come from Syria. I came to Berlin in October 2017, so I have completed 8 years here. Now I’m searching for my next opportunity, to start a job in Germany. I’m curious to start my next chapter and find my career soon.

What are you studying?

I’m doing the data analytics course, to learn about how to collect, process and analyze, and also to interpret data, to have visualizations how we can deal with (the data).

How has your experience at bootcamp been so far?

It is a new challenge for me. It’s a bit tough as I come from a different background. As I said, I studied polymer chemistry, organic chemistry; it’s a new challenge to learn about coding and programming. But I’m in my second week now and every week I feel there is progress, and I’m learning something new.

What do you like most about the bootcamp?

I like the practical learning environment (the most). Teachers here are very supportive, and you can always reach them via active channels, via Discord, so we can always have support. Whenever we run into a problem spot or problems, we can always reach them and they are helpful to give us answers and solutions.

What made you want to do a bootcamp in this specific field?

As I finished my education last April, I started searching actively for a position in the industry, and I found some positions require practical knowledge in a data analysis course. That’s why I started searching for a course to do, to upscale my knowledge so that I can increase my opportunities to enter the job market.

Why did you choose to do a bootcamp and not something else?

In comparison with other teaching platforms or formats, a bootcamp provides an intensive, practical approach to mastering new skills within a short time.

How did you hear about the bootcamp?

Through social media. I found you on Facebook, also Instagram. I contacted the administrations and they were really helpful to process my documents, and also helped me to get a bit of knowledge about the course and what I’m planning to have from this course, and which skills I will cover.

What work are you looking for after you graduate?

I would like to work as a researcher in my specialty, and use what I have learned in this course to apply it in my field, to get deeper knowledge and also present my data in a different way. These skills would be helpful for me to master my specialty.