Where do analysts study?

At the beginning of summer, a course on product analytics ended in Contour. We spent it for the second time. Students successfully defended graduation projects and completed internships in the company. Julia Zaks, the head of all our analysts and the organizer of the course, told how the training went this year, what the cadets learned and when the next course starts. And also - from which faculties the best analysts come to us :).

Frame from the film “Mind Games” dir. Ron howard

How was the preparation for the new course?

Last year, the course was conducted in the fall, and this year they decided to hold it in the spring, so that after the training the children could immediately go to summer practice. We started looking for students in February, and in March we had 250 applications!

What tasks were in the qualifying exam?

We selected 100 applications and invited their authors for in-person selection. This year it was held in the format of the exam - two hours the guys solved problems right in the audience.
We expect skills from an analyst to write well, clearly, correctly, in detail. We check whether students can work with information, search for it, process, systematize, highlight the main and secondary in the text. The task here may be, for example, to read the legislative act and formulate a key idea, or to formalize what has been read in the form of an algorithm.

We also check the imagination of candidates. For the analyst, it is important to be able to think out new things and propose different solutions, and then choose one of the most effective ones. Wording skills are important too. Often the wording in the legislation is inaccurate or the users cannot exactly express what they want, but the developer must eventually get a clear algorithm. And this ability to clearly and clearly formulate a task is very important.

Probably the best analysts are journalists and philologists?

I have a different opinion. Humanities students have problems with formalization. They can describe everything widely and beautifully, but they systematize it worse than those of the same Matmekhovists. Although we do not test technical knowledge, but mostly students and graduates of mathematics, physics, radio and other technical faculties come to us.

How many cadets were this year?

We have formed two groups. First, we enrolled 21 people - all these are senior students. And in the second group we recruited eight graduates, already working specialists, and eight of our young analysts.

Of the 37 cadets, 33 reached the end. Moreover, three of them listened to the course until the end, but did not defend their final work, because it coincided with the preparation for state and the defense of theses at the university. This was our mistake, we concluded that the course should be started and finished earlier so that undergraduates can safely take up diplomas. Now we are in touch with the guys, maybe soon they will come back to us and protect their projects.

In both groups, the programs were exactly the same. The only difference: we gave students more simple and understandable examples. For example, the algorithm for selling tickets to a concert through VKontakte. And to the group where there were adults, we explained everything with real examples with tax and reporting.

And what about the faculty?

This year, 12 people worked with students: seven teachers and five assistants who checked homework. We were able to devote enough time to each student. The students liked the fact that different people come to them, with different experiences and different presentation of the material. The teachers were also able to pump well.

- I studied the system analysis of books and videos on YouTube, and I got my first experience on an internship at Kontur.Market . The course allowed to look at the work of the analyst, without becoming attached to the specifics of one project, to ask those questions that the book would not answer, to communicate with beginners and experienced analysts. I really liked the practice: work on a specific task that needs to be done in a short time with the team and at the end present the result. Did the course help me in my work? Definitely yes. Now I am differently formulating questions for the interview, in a different way I look at the metrics. And most importantly, I know where to look for the right information and what tools for work can help me in a difficult situation, ”comments Mila Kovaleva, a student of the course.

What else was taught on the course?

We talked about how the analyst works on the task, covering all aspects of his work. As initially, he understands that the user has a problem, how the product should solve this problem. How to collect feedback from users at the end, how to understand that you did what you need. Talked a lot about teamwork analyst. Who else is in the team, how do all these people interact, what is expected from the analyst.

Everything we talked about was immediately tested in practice. Practice takes place in groups. Moreover, each lesson of the group was mixed, because it is important for the analyst to be able to work in a team and negotiate with different people. We also had a lot of homework, I want the guys to try everything we teach them. For the entire course, we had almost no children with unfulfilled homework, all very motivated and responsible.

How to protect graduation projects?

At the end of the course, the guys together with the mentor (Kontur analyst) performed graduate work. Working with a mentor is an opportunity to ask about how the work of the analyst in the Contour is arranged. For mentors, this is also a unique experience that has pumped them.
- I was amazed at the support from my mentors: these were cozy friendly conversations. The guys asked great questions and helped develop ideas for the project. Thanks to the work on the graduation project, I learned what the staff of other departments are doing. I was able to communicate with the guys and understand where and whose knowledge we can use without reinventing the wheel. It is also very cool that this special course occurred in our life, because I had new friends and acquaintances, - says Sonya Arkhipovskaya, systems analyst and student of the course.

At the end, the guys presented their project to mentors, students, and all those interested in contour. We believe that the presentation format best reveals the ability of the student to talk about the results of their work. This is one of the main qualities of the analyst.
Following the results of the defense, we invited 12 people for an internship and 4 immediately hired, which we are very happy about :).

Will there be a new course this school year?

Yes, and we will hold it twice! In the first and second semesters. Accordingly, the internship will also be two - winter and summer. Those who graduate from a course in winter will be able to choose when they come for an internship, and summer cadets will be baptized in the summer. This time the selection will be homework in which you can dive and calmly decide.
Anyone can take part in the course, details about the set will appear in the beginning of September in the VK group of SKB Kontur educational programs . Do not miss! I want to go to the course!