Data Science

"I am currently employed as a Data analyst in the banking space. I got the job on the 9th month of enrolling on the PGDip program . I believe it added a lot of weight to my CV as there are only few people with this type of qualification in the country. The value added from this qualification is priceless; from the approaches and considerations leant on why and how to clean data to knowing how to build ML models and properly evaluate them. The program taught me to do my 9-5 job smarter and not harder and yet achieve greater results. For sure when I was a student, I felt like some modules were unnecessarily harder than others but now I fully understand why it had to be that way because the program laid a great foundation for the Masters of Applied Data Science program that I am doing at University Johannesburg. I do have an added advantage over my peers because of this program. My research paper that I did through this program was accepted for publication by the South African Institution of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE) which also shows the quality of the UKZN lecturers and the materials they lecture."

"I was a product specialist in the financial services industry before I entered into the field of data science. However, I have always had a passion for analytics and jumped at the opportunity to enroll in the PGDIP-DS programme offered at UKZN. I started this programme in February 2022 and quickly noted that the syllabus covered in the programme would assist in achieving my goal of becoming a data scientist. The programme not only covers the basics of the data science field but also goes into more advanced topics e.g. understanding various machine learning models both from a theoretical and practical perspective. These are topics that senior data scientists deal with in the working environment and learning this through the programme is definitely advantageous. In addition to this, the programme exposed me to softwares such as SAS and R studio (which I had no prior experience in) and assisted in developing my skills at an advanced level. My goal came to fruition when, within less than a year of being enrolled in the programme, I obtained employment as a data scientist. In my current role, I have worked on forecasting and predictive modeling projects. I was able to land the projects because I was equipped with the knowledge and skills from the programme. It seemed impossible to complete this programme while working a full time job but I managed to do so at the end of 2023 and was recently awarded the top student award for the class of 2022-2023. If you truly have a passion for the data science space, like me, I would highly recommend this programme as it has changed my life for the better."

"I worked at a FinTech firm as a Software Quality Engineer where part of my duties were to analyze data and provide insights to inform business decisions. However, there was a feeling that a lot more could be done with the vast amount of data that was being stored, hence why I enrolled in the PGD program in order to upskill in the latest data methodologies and tools. The program exceeded my expectations; by the end of the first year my data collection, preparation, analysis and visualization skills improved considerably, and throughout the second year I was able to use Software like SAS and R-Studio to build good Machine Learning models that tapped into the vast amount of unused data stored at the firm and provided even better insights to the business. Since then, I have landed a similar role with one of the biggest i-gaming content suppliers in the world where the diploma and my practical data driven approach to assessing and improving Software Quality were significant factors in separating me from other candidates. I would encourage and recommend anyone who works or is interested in working with data to enroll in this program. The part time schedule was perfect for my situation; I was able to complete the program in the minimum amount of time required despite having a full time job and being a parent. It is not easy, but it can be done."

"As a retail planner, this course has equipped me with updated analytic techniques that are useful in understanding customer purchasing behaviour from retail data and drawing insights to unlock valuable sales opportunities. The course was well paced and the online classes assisted me to efficiently manage my time between lessons and work. I have benefitted greatly and revived my passion for statistics."