The Junior Data Scientist's First Month
(Class of March, 2024)

A 100% practical online course. A 6-week simulation of being a junior data scientist at a true-to-life startup.

“Solving real problems, getting real experience – just like in a real DS job.”

Everybody talks about how exciting it is to be a data scientist.

But when you actually want to become one, nobody shows you what you’ll have to do day to day when you’ll go to the office and run real data projects for real businesses. 

In this 6-week online course I’ll show that to you.

Even more: I’ll let you try and experience what data scientists do in real life!

“This is a 100% practical data science video course, where you will get the true-to-life data set of a true-to-life startup and use it to solve true-to-life data science tasks.”

The things data scientists really do...

Here’s a short list of what data scientists do in real life:

As you can imagine, many of these tasks require strong technical skills – as well as critical business thinking and a self-starter attitude.

You’ll have to know how to write complex queries in SQL, 100+ line long Python scripts and how to use an actual data server in the cloud. But you’ll also have to know the business reason behind your data project.

Data Science is complex but you can learn it and train yourself to be prepared for the challenge!

junior data science course - not a real life like task

(1) Reading exciting articles packed with data buzzwords

(2) Replacing keywords in an already written script and use it as is

Ouch…

I mean, no offense for other data science courses… but to be frank: in real life data science projects it’s not enough to replace code snippets in the browser — and/or read exciting theoretical buzz-stuff.

I mean, these can be good starting points for beginners but after a certain point you have to take it to the next level to get real data knowledge. You have to steepen your learning curve!

Let's get prepared for a real data scientist position!

Steepen your learning curve and solve real data science challenges!

When I asked a previous student of this course why he took it, he said:

“Because this is the only data science course where I’ll have to set up and work on a real life data server.”

Yes!
The Junior Data Scientist’s First Month course gets you prepared for real life data science challenges.

But you can get prepared only if you practice on a real life data environment.

Of course, the course is much more than that. I carefully hand-picked the most important (and most common) tasks that you will do as a junior data scientists in your first years. In JDS:

junior data science course real life like tasks

I structured all these and built them up as one 6-week end-to-end case study of a fictional startup. While you are solving it, you will build your first true-to-life data project together with your data skills.

I’ve put a great emphasis on finding the right balance. The course is easy to follow, still challenging enough to keep you motivated for the whole six weeks.

junior data scientist course testimonial nisha

“This course indeed gives you a sneak peek of a junior data scientist’s life. Each and every task is very relevant to the core.”

Nisha, Singapore
Note: Nisha works as a Junior Data Scientist now.

SQL and Python will be your most valuable skills

SQL and Python are the two most popular and most commonly used data science languages. That’s why I chose them as the primary languages we’ll use in the course.

The market value of these two languages are quite high as well. Which means that if you master Python and SQL, you won’t have a problem to get a job in the next 10 years (or more).

Why am I so certain about that?
For two reasons:

So focusing on learning Python and SQL, the two main languages of data science might be the best investment of your life.

The mindset that will help you to solve all your future data challenges

Besides Python and SQL there is one more thing that will make you an outstanding data professional.

It’s the mindset how you approach a data problem.

Data Science is all about thinking critically, solving problems and just in general: finding the smartest way of doing things.

It’s hard to learn this mindset from books – it’s much easier to learn it via practicing.

The Junior Data Scientist’s First Month course is designed so you will meet with data problems that if you can overcome once, you won’t just learn how to solve that specific problem but also how to approach all similar data problems you might meet during your entire career.

junior data scientist course testimonial asmeeta

“It is a different course and this is where you will definitely make a remarkable change in your learning curve. But what makes it even better is the way the coach, Tomi ensures that everyone is on track, understanding the course material and enjoying it.”

Asmeeta, London, United Kingdom
Note: Asmeeta currently works as Management Information Analyst

Are you ready for a real job? Get your data science knowledge evaluated!

One of the most common questions I get from JDS registrants is this:

“Where will I get by the end of the course? Will I be ready to apply for a job?”

As much as I’d like to answer “yes“, my answer is still: “it depends on you“.

I mean, there are great student success stories. Quite a few students got hired right after finishing the course – or just in a few months. So yes, it’s totally possible that you will be one of them, too! In fact, I want you to be one of them!

But that depends on many things:

There are two things I guarantee though:

junior data scientist course testimonial marcus

“During the course, it felt like Tomi was mentoring me, showing his workflow, inspiring me and also challenging me to think critically. This data science course definitely gave me confidence and direction to keep developing myself in this area.”

Marcus, Stockholm, Sweden

How this course works. (Watch this video first!)

As you can see, the Junior Data Scientist’s First Month video course is a 100% practical online data science course, where you will get the true-to-life data set of a true-to-life startup and use it to solve true-to-life data science tasks for 6 weeks.

Let me tell you a bit more about the details!

Here’s a video where I summarize everything you need to know about the course:

The schedule of JDS

If you enroll, you will receive a data science task every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for six weeks. One or two days after receiving each task you will get the solution from me: the code base sent in text format and the detailed explanation sent in video format.

The tasks guide you through exactly on those steps that you would go through as a junior data scientist at a real company.

junior data scientist course testimonial nuno

“I thought: Bash, SQL, and Python in just six weeks? Then the course started, Tomi supplied the materials in chunks to not overwhelm his students and thank god for that. The course was easy to follow, with real-world exercises/problems…”

Nuno S., Cape Verde

Curriculum - The agenda of the 6 weeks

WEEK #1

Monday

Intro videos. Setting up your own data server (with SQL, Python, pandas, numpy, etc.) (with free coupon for DigitalOcean.)

Wednesday

Get the raw data! Download and transforming the raw data of the Send-a-Tree startup.

Friday

Automating the dataload.

WEEK #2

Monday

Putting everything into SQL.

Wednesday

Get the raw data! Download and transforming the raw data of the Send-a-Tree startup.

Friday

Automating the dataload.
Simple segmentation tasks.

WEEK #3

Monday

Complex segmentation task with revenue calculations. (Intermediate SQL task)

Wednesday

Figuring out the right business metrics. Creating the SQL query to get it! (Advanced SQL task)

Friday

Visualization. Presenting and automating the business metrics! (Google Data Studio)

WEEK #4

Monday

Creating funnel analysis to measure the purchase process. Generating the visual for it. (Advanced SQL task)

Wednesday

Warm-up task – cohort analysis in Python for a smaller data set. (Basic Python task)

Friday

Cohort analysis on our real data set. (Basic Python task)

WEEK #5

Monday

Basic predictions with Python. (Intermediate Python task)

Wednesday

Predicting the number of expected registrations with two different regression models! (Intermediate Python task)

Friday

Categorizing the unknown values with classification. (Advanced Python task)

WEEK #6

Monday (The Final Test Task)

You will get a new data set from another fictional startup and a final task to test your freshly gained data science knowledge. You will have 4 days to solve this new task, and if you send me your solution, I’ll personally evaluate it and give you feedback about it through a 1-on-1 Skype session.

Friday

Deadline for the final test task.

You will get access to these things:

junior data science course materials

And one more thing:

You will get lifetime access to all the course materials that are found in this course (tasks, videos, solutions)!

junior data scientist course testimonial stephen

“The course sets you up with everything you need to get going. More importantly, it was clear that Tomi was going to be a friendly and relaxed mentor.”

Stephen, United Kingdom

junior data scientist course testimonial robert

“The Junior Data Scientist course provides a very practical, approachable, and enjoyable tour of the actual processes and tools required to turn raw data into actionable insights. I highly recommend it and Tomi who was responsive and helpful throughout the course.”

Robert, California, USA

A sneak peek into the course curriculum

I’ve created a short screen capture video to make it more transparent what does it look and feel like to be a part of a JDS class.

(I’ve recorded it at WEEK #4 of the Class of March, 2019.)

The Junior Data Scientist's First Month video course will take you here...

I wanted to create a unique online course.

(As far as I know) this is the only data science course where the whole curriculum is based on a simulation.

Again, in JDS: you will get the true-to-life data set of a true-to-life startup and use it to solve true-to-life data science tasks.

I fine-tuned this course for years and now at its final format I really believe that it’s a different data science course:

Two frequently asked questions

The dataset grows day by day during the course as the new user data flows in. (Just like in real life!) By the end of the course, in total you will work with a data set of 2.5 million lines and around 12 million data points.

We will mainly use SQL and Python. And we will also use a little bit of bash. In this data science course, we won’t work with R.

Send-A-Tree, the hypothetical startup you will work on

(a video from the intro section of the course)

Who is this data science course for?

The Junior Data Scientist’s First Month video course is designed for aspiring data scientists and for those who wants to generally see and experience what does a data scientist do.

But I’ve seen a few common profiles in the 500+ students who already took this course.

Let’s break it down:

In either one of these groups you are, the Junior Data Scientist’s First Month course is the perfect choice for you.

If you are in none of these groups and unsure whether this course is for you or not, send me an email to tomimester@data36.com and we will figure it out together. (Don’t worry, I won’t want to make you enroll if I don’t see that this is the perfect fit for you.)

A personal thought

  • Learning data science is not easy.

It will take a lot of work, a lot of energy and a lot of time from you. I know that a few online education platforms imply the opposite.

  • “Just change one word in this query. Run it! And boom, you learned SQL…”
  • “Just watch this video course of the instructor running Python code, and you will know Python, too…”
  • “Just play around with this interactive chart and you will understand regression analysis immediately…”

Two years ago, I interviewed someone for a junior DS position. He didn’t have any hands-on experience, but he learned SQL on a popular “just-type-your-code-into-the-browser” kind of online learning platform. (I won’t name the exact platform here. :-))

I gave him a computer with an SQL manager open – and a simple real-life task. He had to JOIN two SQL tables, then do a simple segmentation. He couldn’t solve the task! He ran into syntax errors, he couldn’t debug his code, he didn’t get the context, he couldn’t discover the data…

And that’s when I realized that many of these online schools give people only the illusion of data science knowledge. I created my course to give people real data science knowledge, and that takes time.

I wanted them to solve real tasks with real code in a real data environment.

  • In JDS, you don’t have a “just-type-your-code-into-the-browser” solution. You will have to set up your own data server instead! (One that’s exactly like the ones that we use in real-life data projects.)
  • In JDS, if you do something very stupid, you can accidentally mess up your previously built data pipelines and you can lose hours of work… (This actually happened to one of my students.) But you know what? Doing stupid things is okay. We all do stupid things in real life data projects, too. At least, I did in my junior years — and it cost me a lot of extra work-hours. But that’s how we learn! We make mistakes, we learn from them and we don’t make them again. (And actually, it’s much better to make them now rather than in your first week at your first company during your probation time…)
  • In JDS, you might have to think hard if you can’t solve a data science problem on the first try.

Learning data science is not easy. If you can’t accept this fact, then maybe my course is not the best choice for you. But if you are okay with learning data science the hard way, this learning period of a few months will be one of your best long-term investments. You know: if there’s a will there’s a way! So don’t be afraid, and learn data science the hard way!

Your presenter and mentor

Tomi Mester is a practicing data analyst and researcher since 2012.

He has worked for Prezi, iZettle (acquired by Paypal) and several smaller companies as an analyst/consultant.

He’s the author of the Data36 blog where he writes posts and tutorials on a weekly basis about data science, AB-testing, online research and data coding.

He’s an O’Reilly author and presenter at TEDxYouth, Barcelona E-commerce Summit and Stockholm Analytics Day.

Check out the intro video for more info >>

Details

Start date: 18 March 2024, Monday
Registration period: 11 March 2024 (Monday) – 15 March 2024 (Friday)
— note that the max number of attendees is 40!

You will receive a data science task every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for six weeks. After that, you will have unlimited access to this course and for all the tasks for as long as you like.

Price: $997 (plus your country’s VAT if you live in the EU)

The max. number of attendees is 40!

ps. If you are from Hungary, please email me before you register: tomimester@data36.com.

Guarantee

In the last years I worked really hard to make this course the best. 500+ satisfied students already took it.

And if you made it this far with reading, I assume you want to take it too.

I understand that enrolling in an online course is not always an easy decision, so I made this decision totally risk-free for you: there’s a 30-day 100% money-back guarantee.

data science course badge guarantee

Registration

Registration for the Class of March is closed. The registration for the next class (Class of October, 2024) opens on 7 October 2024, Monday

If you’d like to be added to the waiting list, just enter your email address below, and you’ll be the first to be notified when I open registration.

Testimonials and reviews. (Previous Students Say...)

junior data scientist course testimonial nisha

“A big shout-out to Tomi for coming up with this remarkable course. As the name suggests, this course indeed gives you a sneak peek of a junior data scientist’s life. Each and every task is very relevant to the core. I strongly feel that this is a perfect learning platform (including the blog!!) for someone who wants to get into the field of data science and has a limited programming background.

Yes, I was one of them and it did help me in getting the basics right and I hope it will help others too. Good luck to the future participants.”

Nisha, Singapore
Note: Nisha works as a Junior Data Scientist now.

junior data scientist course testimonial balazs

“I presented Send-A-Tree (the hypothetical startup project from the course) as a sample case study during my interview session for a Data Analyst job. I’ve got hired. Now, I am working there as a full-time DA.”

Balazs, Hungary
(Note: Balazs works as a Data Analyst now.)

junior data scientist course testimonial asmeeta

“Following the promising reviews for JDS course, I registered and successfully completed the course. My aim was to refine my data analysis skills. It is a different course and this is where you will definitely make a remarkable change in your learning curve.

But what makes it even better is the way the coach, Tomi ensures that everyone is on track, understanding the course material and enjoying it. In my case, I really enjoyed the course and did not feel it stressful even if there was a lot of new material. I would therefore, highly recommend it if you are seeking to start or improve your analytics skills. Big thanks, Tomi!”

Asmeeta, London, United Kingdom
Note: Asmeeta currently works as Management Information Analyst

tomi gelo

“This course provided me with a lot of insights about the necessary coding skills as well as the business thinking which every Data Scientist should have!”

Tomi G, Berlin, Germany

niklas tomi mester review

“I learned more from this Data Science Course than I thought was possible. The course walks you through the fundamentals in how to solve data science related problems, and have left me with both the knowledge and confidence to attack real life problems at work.
In addition to being pedagogical teachers, Tomi and Tamas really invests time in you. There are not many teachers that would take the time to discuss Python coding with you over Slack until 11 pm. To sum it up, I would recommend the course to anyone who wants a stable foundation to build upon.”

Niklas, Stockholm, Sweden

junior data scientist course testimonial greg
“The BEST online training course for Data Science on the market, in my opinion! I learned more from Tomi’s JDS course than I’ve learned from the two previous online courses I enrolled in—COMBINED!”

Greg, Pennsylvania, USA

junior data scientist course testimonial nuno

“I’ve been following Data36, and I knew that Tomi was a great Data Scientist but I never thought that he was this good at teaching. When I saw the syllabus I was afraid that six weeks would be too short for it. Bash, SQL, and Python in just six weeks? Then the course started, Tomi supplied the materials in chunks to not overwhelm his students and thank god for that.

The course was easy to follow, with real-world exercises/problems and a dedicated teacher that was available via Slack, Email and Call. If you ask me, it can’t get better than that.”

Nuno S., Cape Verde

junior data scientist course testimonial marcus

“This course is very well designed and well paced. The videos and tasks took just the right amount of time to be completed, exactly what I needed to stay engaged to be able to finish the course on time.

During the course, it felt like Tomi was mentoring me, showing his workflow, inspiring me and also challenging me to think critically. This course definitely gave me confidence and direction to keep developing myself in this area.”

Marcus, Stockholm, Sweden

junior data scientist course testimonial stephen

“I found Data36 while thinking about what to do with my career on a sandy beach in Bali. After going through a number of Tomi’s SQL tutorials and webinars I decided to go a step further and take the course.

The course sets you up with everything you need to get going. More importantly, it was clear that Tomi was going to be a friendly and relaxed mentor. The course content set you up with a technical foundation but also the mindset that gives you the capacity to approach the tasks successfully.

The course was more than manageable with a full-time job. When I did feel slightly against it, Tomi was more than happy to extend the deadline for personal feedback. I felt like I had achieved a lot after 6 weeks, so a big thank you to Tomi!”

Stephen, United Kingdom

junior data scientist course testimonial robert

“The Junior Data Scientist course provides a very practical, approachable, and enjoyable tour of the actual processes and tools required to turn raw data into actionable insights. I highly recommend it and Tomi who was responsive and helpful throughout the course.”

Robert, California, USA

junior data scientist course testimonial greg

“I’m so, so happy that I enrolled and finished this course. And that I changed from market research to data analytics. ~0.5 years after the course I started to use the knowledge I gathered on a part-time gig. Now, it’s full-time a full-time BI/data analyst role where I can practice Tableau and SQL further. :)”

Laura, Budapest, Hungary

data36 review amy

“I took the JDS course after first completing the 7-day SQL course on Data36. I was a bit worried as the timing of the course coincided with the busiest period in my day job. But I didn’t need to worry because the course is broken down into manageable tasks and I was able to fit it in around work.

I learnt so much from this course because it’s set up so that the students do all the work themselves, whether that’s setting up a server or analysing data. It’s therefore very similar to a real life situation and that’s what makes this course so fantastic.

And if you get stuck, Tomi (the course instructor) is on hand to help – you can email him or speak to him and others on the course in a Slack channel. Tomi was always so helpful when I asked for help and was so patient even when I accidentally created an infinite loop (I’ve learned my lesson!).

At the end of the course there is one final task which is evaluated by Tomi and he gives you personalised feedback on your work. This is a great opportunity to learn which areas you need to improve on and also ask any questions. I would highly recommend this course to anyone looking for a career in data science – it is definitely worth the investment in both time and money and it has made me even more motivated to continue to learn now that I have so much more knowledge under my belt. Thank you Tomi!”

Amy, London, UK
(Note: Amy works as a Data Scientist now.)

tomi mester review by Shilpa

“The Junior Data Scientist course is well structured and aimed at guiding new entrants in the field of data science. I enjoyed the course content and projects which Tomi has developed. This course allowed me to learn the tools, coding programs, and the process of using data to generate valuable insights from the same. I highly recommend this course to anyone looking to enter this field.”

Shilpa, Illinois, USA

tomi mester review by nickson

“I have been on and off with a number of online data science courses, I came to the JDS course because I wanted to understand how much I know and how much more I need to know before I start looking for internships or change of position in my company. The 6 weeks of the JDS was full of fun, doing things that I didn’t know were important before, I learned some things that I never knew I needed but also I had a good chance to practice things that I already knew. I recommend this course to anyone who is serious about data science and most importantly those who are trying to start Junior data scientist roles.”

Nickson, Ghana

delio review tomi mester data36

“I tried to take several online courses in the past year. But I think they are all very abstract. The JDS course is a combination of theory, practice and personal guidance. In 6 weeks, I learned tools lik bash, SQL and Python. As a result, I can access the data differently, I’m more confident and I have more fun at work. I would recommend anyone who wants to become a Data Scientist to start here.”

Delio, The Netherlands

photo_testimonial_alex_review_data36

“What would you do if you got a lot of data and very few ideas on how to get value from it? You can choose the JDS course to get things running and make you business-smart. This is what I did and Tomi’s course was an exciting experience.

I found out about tools used in real life and about business thinking, explained with the proper mix of theory and hands-on exercises. If you get stuck at some point, Tomi and Tamas are there, willing to help you out. Especially the business thinking was new to me and I enjoyed both the practical examples and detailed discussions of the results. The explanations are supplemented by additional resources if you want to dig deeper into the topics.

Overall this course provides a solid foundation for real-world projects in this fascinating domain. Definitely recommended as a starting point for your future career or if you simply want to know how things work in Data Science.”

Alex, Romania

christina han testimonial jds

“The JDS class bring concepts to life and in a format where you can grapple with technical concepts. The approach to data analysis is practical and will serve as useful tools in your career. It was challenging, but guided enough for me to follow and learn something in every session in order to level up my skills working with large sets of data.”

Christina, New York, NY

nnamdi review mester tomi course

From an email:

“Hi Tomi,

Happy new year and have a prosperous 2021. Taking the course has had such a tremendous impact on my career.

I want to share my latest win, my company has decided to start a Data Science team and I am the first member![…]”

Nnamdi, Nigeria

Deen tomi mester review

“I have looked at many online courses and none of them have been as straight forward in delivering a solid foundation for any aspiring jr data scientist. Tomi has done an amazing job of being able to clearly summarize and demonstrate the materials in a methodical way. The course is structured in a way that allows for you to easily follow along, digest new concepts and techniques while learning new skills. I completed the course and am 101% confident that I got the most knowledge for my time. It was totally worth it and I plan to take Tomi’s other classes as well.

Deen, USA

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do I have access to the course?

How does lifetime access sound? After enrolling, you have unlimited access to this course for as long as you like.

How big is the data set we will work with?

The dataset grows day by day during the course as the new user data flows in. By the end of the course, in total you will work with a data set of 2.5 million lines and around 12 million data points.

What languages will we use in the course?

We will mainly use SQL and Python. And we will also use a little bit of bash. In this course, we won’t work with R.

What if I don’t know Python, SQL and bash yet?

If you don’t know SQL, Python or Bash – or none of them – don’t worry, most of the course participants are in the same situation. The point of this whole course is to show you the missing pieces of your current data science knowledge – for some this is less, for others this is more – and make you learn those missing parts via practical exercises. Just so you know, I’ve even had participants who started the course without knowing any of these data languages and they successfully finished it… Of course, they had to work harder than other participants but I think it was definitely worth it for them.

How much time does a task take?

A task will usually take 1 to 3 hours of active work, depending on your current data science knowledge.

What if I fall behind with a task?

This is an online course where you have lifetime access, so if you fall behind, don’t worry, the course is flexible. You can open the task and the solution anytime you want.

If you don’t have that much time during the week and want to play catch up on the weekends: no problem! With that said I recommend to lock out 2-3 hours in your calendar for each task.

That will make it much easier for you to keep in line with the course pace and stay motivated throughout the entire 6 week while you see and feel your continuous progress.

Will I get a certificate?

Yes and no. If you finish the course, right after the closing 1-on-1, you’ll get a PDF document (signed by Tomi) that you can attach to your CV, Linkedin, etc. This shows that you have finished the course — but from legal standpoint it doesn’t count as an official certificate. Yet, it still looks good on CV. 🙂

Will I get an invoice?

Yes. Individuals get a receipt in the email. Companies get an invoice. EU-based companies get VAT-invoices. If you need something even more special, just reach out to me (tomi@data36.com) and we will solve your administrative issues!

I want to have this for my whole company!

Happy to hear that! Send me an email to workshop@data36.com and we will sort it out! (I hold 1-day live workshops, too.)

What if I am unhappy with the course?

I would never want you to be unhappy! If you are unsatisfied with your purchase, contact me in the first 30 days and I will give you a full refund.

For Hungarians only: Is this a “felnőtt képzés”? 

No, this is not a “felnőtt képzés”, as this is not a live course. Participants can choose when they work on the course materials and the course author doesn’t have any direct effect on how do they do so exactly. Further more the course doesn’t give out any official certificate, neither promises anything regarding getting a job. ✌️

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