Understanding of product analytics, metrics and A/B tests is a critical skill for data science consultants. While I have had some experience with these through former projects, it is a skill I am actively researching and studying to prepare for future engagements.

Before moving into data science consulting, I started my career in marketing. After university I was in advertising for a year, then moving into the market research industry for a further eight years. Looking back on the experience, I learnt a lot about consulting, marketing and market research techniques. I had the opportunity to leverage my data science and market research experience for a client while at Boston Consulting Group, and I hope to leverage these skills again in the future. As I progress in my career into new and exciting areas, I decided to write up a review of my experience. This could be a useful reference when working with clients in the future, or to go into further detail alongside my resume.

I have put together a list of data science projects I have worked on and their business impacts. This helps to highlight the depth and breath of my consulting experience. It may also be a useful supplement to my resume and for discussions.

I started work at BCG in July this year, and was eager to do my job well and settle in. Starting with a top consulting company can be an exciting, anxious and stressful time. On top of assimilating a new company culture, I was also experiencing a new city and culture. To perform well, you need to have a clear understanding of the expectations on you. In particular with consulting, we land in new environments and need to get up to speed fast. After six months in, I have a firmer grasp on the expectations and how to succeed at the job. I wanted to write up a reflection on this starting period and provide some advice for others. I want to provide some practical tips on getting orientated at the company and getting up to speed on cases.

Everyone has experienced frustration while using computers. You have an important task to do and it can feel like the computer is getting in the way of allowing you to get it done. Sometimes it can be so bad that we experience a computer crash, data loss, or some other problem where we can't recover and don't know what to do to resolve it. After experiencing enough of these problems some people may give up on technology all together and claim that they're not 'computer people'. This is completely understandable and not the users fault.

Weighting is an important - but often misunderstood - technique used to ensure research data is representative of a total population. We developed a vlog to explain the basics of weighting.

In market research, segmentation projects are some of the most rewarding projects. I can particularly remember one such project involving a workshop with more than 50 client staff to present a new segmentation. We had tables littered with props, butcher's paper and markers. The workshop was a great engagement exercise. It enabled connection to the research and formation of their own ideas about the segmentation. I have seen some projects follow segmentation analysis with focus groups. It is amazing to see a room full of 'segment A' and immediately see the contrasts to 'segment B' in the next group.