iOLAP Academy Agenda - Insider’s review
July 2022
July 2022
Are you interested in iOLAP Academy, remote practical summer training in IT skills that can lead to an opportunity to get a job straight away?
Through a selection of posts, we offer you the Insider’s Review - the real experience from participants of our first generation, the generation of 2021.
In this article, followed by What participants think about the Academy, and Why iOLAP Academy, you can read more about Jelena's experience, a student that wanted to get extracurricular knowledge and hands-on experience. And guess what, she nailed it and now she is working as a data engineer!
Last summer I had an opportunity to participate in iOLAP Academy, and it was an amazing experience! During these 6 weeks, I gained a bunch of Data & Analytics skills through interesting tasks and projects, including individual tasks as well as team activities. No matter the experience in the IT sector, iOLAP Academy was an interesting experience from start to finish. From the beginner-friendly classes on Python programming to more specialized classes in selected AWS services, we were busy all the time, learning and solving tasks both alone and together with fellow students and mentors. This is how our Academy looked like on a weekly basis.
We started off with learning Git fundamentals which were crucial for the rest of the Academy. Fast-paced Python courses were suitable for beginners and intermediate students. Mentors created tasks for independent work, and we were given valuable feedback every day, showing us what we did good and what could be improved. Some of the things we learned are:
At times we were so eager to start with new tasks and academy in general, we'd forget to do the basic things like edit the correct file... and then we'd wonder why our output was still not what we wanted!
After getting familiar with Python, it was time for SQL.
In the second and third week, mentors prepared for us theoretical and practical tasks starting with basic SQL clauses, like filtering, ordering and aggregate functions.
After getting familiar with the basics of SQL, it was time for joins, subqueries, window functions. It was challenging to visualize the results, fortunately the mentors were always there when we needed them.
Querying was done in AWS Redshift, so it was a good introduction for the upcoming weeks.
For the most of us, weeks 4 and 5 were notably valuable considering we had little or no previous experience with AWS and cloud computing in general.
Getting familiar with cloud computing paradigm made us switch our thinking patterns, we had to understand how AWS services function and how to calculate cost estimates. We went from clicking away our IAM roles and policies for our buckets, to using AWS CDK to define our infrastructure of scheduled API-fetching Lambdas.
Some of the services we used: Lambda, Step Functions, Glue, S3, SNS, SQS, DynamoDB, CloudFormation, Athena... and the list doesn’t end here!
In the final week of our iOLAP Academy, we were divided into teams. We had to implement everything we learned so far.
Develop a Stack in CloudFormation using AWS CDK, fetch data from API, transform , partition and store it in buckets and, using Glue, create tables. Advanced SQL queries were used to extract information to answer mentor questions.
During these activities, we had our mentors’ support and guidance. Regardless of whether we participated remotely or from the office, we had plenty of possibilities to discuss our progress, ideas and questions through daily standup, touchpoints and recap meetings.
High-paced and filled with new discoveries, the Academy offered a good glimpse into how the industry as a whole works, as well as an insight into day-to-day life of individuals and teams in Data & Analytics department. It was a perfect opportunity to connect with like-minded people, learn new technologies, and apply technical and "soft" skills in the near-real life business simulation.
Based on all my experiences, I recommend this Academy to anyone with interest in data and its usage, as well as those looking to broaden their skillset in IT and develop more contacts in the industry.
Want to get ahead in your IT career with expert mentors?
Join our Academy this year and learn from the best! Applications are open until July 24.
