SAS steps up free data skills programme for job seekers

SAS has expanded its free data skills for jobseekers’ programme, aiming it at other individuals which had been adversely tormented by the business fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic

Brian McKenna

Brian McKenna,
Industrial Functions Editor

Published: 23 Jul 2021 11: 55

SAS has expanded the free data skills for jobseekers programme it launched earlier this year. The programme is geared towards inserting in employment other individuals which had been adversely tormented by the business fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic within the UK.

The dealer has added a data science module to the authentic data literacy and data evaluation ones, and a fourth, in data engineering, will seemingly be launched in September, a spokesperson confirmed.

The data science studying pathway aims to present a grounding in programming, data engineering and manipulation, utilized mathematics, statistics, data science innovation, data ethics and data privacy.

Any individual who has benefited from the SAS STEP (instrument, coaching, enablement, placement) is James Lancashire, 47, from Cumbria, who was as soon as made redundant in August 2020 after spending 24 years as an originate air pursuits trainer.

Among varied things, he had place senior executives from the likes of Volkswagen and BAE Methods thru their paces on outside hotfoot leadership coaching – in support of coaching desires evaluation and change behavioural change programmes.

Lancashire has been in a field to declare the abilities supplied by the SAS STEP programme, which was as soon as launched in March, to stable a plump-time, senior characteristic as a data management guide at man made intelligence (AI) firm Butterfly Data, in leisurely June 2021.

He is among the many major to have performed the main two pathways.

After being made redundant, he didn’t stare any work developing unless spherical August 2021, so determined to are attempting one thing contemporary – in data. “I’d averted desk and computer work for decades, and would potentially turned into a transport driver in another case,” he talked about. “Now I’m going thru stakeholders thru computer methods, Zoom, Teams and Slack, whereas my background is terribly powerful in face-to-face.”

“The single ingredient was as soon as the data visualisation. That was as soon as the moment of epiphany”

James Lancashire

Lancashire’s authentic stage was as soon as in cartography and geography, so one other option would possibly perchance perchance moreover had been in digital mapping. “But I felt data made extra sense, and I’ve got the interacting with of us ingredient support,” he talked about.

At contemporary, he is working remotely, and is an example of one thing continuously talked about regarding the pandemic, that companies can now source skill from anyplace, regardless of an employee’s field.

He talked about the two gentle skills modules on the SAS direction, which had been moderately simple for him given his background in coaching, are thoroughly place collectively – “properly modulated, properly weighted, with a genuinely neatly-liked draw of pondering”.

For any individual from a non-mature background, the principle ingredient is no longer to be vexed of the information, talked about Lancashire. “You salvage talked and walked thru it. It’s very hand-on studying. You may well perchance perchance moreover replicate and repeat. There’s various guided self-discovery as to the draw you’ve solved a venture.

“The initial data literacy [course] place things I knew about into context. However the single ingredient was as soon as the data visualisation within the 2nd one. That was as soon as the moment of epiphany. You stare how altering fields comes thru within the visualisation. It took the information from spreadsheets and fields to one thing I would possibly perchance perchance moreover work along with.”

SAS aims to coach 10,000 of us to turn into data analysts thru the direction. To this level, numbers are within the many of, in accordance with a spokesperson.

Delight in others who have accomplished it, Lancashire got an accreditation badge, thru Credly, which moreover advertises vacancies. “I wouldn’t have gotten the job with out the badge,” he talked about.

Simon Overton, director, SAS UK & Ireland, talked about: “There would possibly be gargantuan give a enhance to and fervour among authorities and business customers, coupled with an uptake in coaching among of us on furlough. Scaling out is the subsequent fragment, and it’s very powerful in step with what the authorities is making an strive to enact, in phrases of departments treasure DWP and HMRC, in phrases of data science functionality. It massively hyperlinks with what they are making an strive to salvage. Basically the main banks, too.”

Alternatively, SAS STEP is “very powerful aimed toward jobseekers, whether unemployed or facing redundancy; no longer our customers”, a spokesperson added.

Roderick Crawford, vice-president and country manager, SAS UK & Ireland, talked about: “James’ profession switch is an comely proof of belief for our programme’s attainable to transform careers for these making an strive to upskill and join a brand contemporary industry. Our major goal with the initiative has constantly been to address the business challenges triggered by the pandemic and to reduction other individuals, so it’s some distance vastly spicy to hear success tales treasure this one.

“All individuals at SAS is vastly proud to have played a phase in helping James on his hotfoot in such an thrilling contemporary profession route. Even supposing it has only been dwell for a matter of months, we are able to’t wait to stare extra wonderful outcomes treasure this one as retract-up of the programme continues to rise.”

And Gillian Keegan, minister for apprenticeships and skills, talked about: “It’s exceptional to stare how the SAS STEP programme is already supporting of us to salvage entry to the highly valued data skills they want to salvage forward, helping to form out skills shortages in very important sectors. As we salvage greater from the pandemic, it’s some distance even extra important that all individuals has the varied to study the abilities they want to development and employers have salvage entry to to the high-quality skill pipeline they need for the long term.”

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