“The job at Inviso has made it really tangible for me what I can bring to a company. It’s given me some really specific skills that are in big demand”
Frederik’s fellow students are often surprised when they hear that alongside his course at CBS he is also working as a data and analysis consultant at Inviso. But these two areas actually go well together. An understanding of business is essential when helping clients add value through their data.
You are studying International Business & Politics and also work as a Data & Analytics Consultant at Inviso – how does that work?
What we do at Inviso is mainly creating a basis for clients to make decisions from. At CBS, working with data doesn’t always sound sexy. But that’s because people don’t always understand what the work involves. Data isn’t just about numbers; it’s about creating knowledge that gives companies value – and that’s where my job gets really interesting.
Many of the companies we meet are completely unaware of how to use their data. They may not even know what data they have. We help them gain a perspective on their data and investigate how their data can benefit their business. That’s why it’s particularly useful to have a background in business economics, as the job involves a solid understanding of the business side of things.
But don’t you need to be a data nerd to work at Inviso?
At CBS we have a great understanding of numbers from subjects such as statistics, economics and corporate finance, which I regularly apply in my job. You don’t need to be a data whizz kid to begin with – you just become one.
It was not until I became employed by Inviso that I gained an in-depth knowledge of what you can do with data. Inviso runs a six-month intensive onboarding course for new employees, where you receive thorough training in our Alteryx and Tableau programs. You learn a specific trade by using the programs to produce and visualize data in ways that appeal to different people and types of companies.
I would sometimes feel frustrated in my studies because it was so theoretical, general and at times a bit superficial. I often found myself thinking ”what the hell can I actually do?” I no longer feel like this. The job at Inviso has really changed what I can bring to the company into something tangible. It’s given me some really specific skills that are in high demand.
What else do you learn when you work at Inviso?
At Inviso, it’s not your previous experience or your age that counts. It’s your ability. In fact, you are employed as a consultant at the same level as those who are fully qualified and work full time. You are allowed to run your own projects and be part of the entire project’s life cycle – right from the sale and pitch to expectation-setting with the client, implementation and handover. It’s really cool.
So, you also have client contact as a new consultant?
Definitely. Sometimes when you’re working at a project on a client’s site, you are the person in the room who knows the most. That’s when you really feel like people are listening to your opinion. It’s very different from those student jobs where you’re only allowed to sit in the back office doing part of the work for others.
If you’re the type who likes getting out to visit the companies, then there are plenty of opportunities – including the clients we have abroad. Several of my colleagues have been posted at big companies in places such as Amsterdam and Chicago.
It sounds like there’s plenty of opportunity to get out of the office and away from the screen?
Yes, we do a lot of things together in Inviso. Every year you get to attend a conference in Alteryx and Tableau somewhere in Europe, to learn about the latest trends and user cases, where big companies like Coca Cola and Spotify use the programs in new ways.
We’ve also been on a field trip to San Francisco. That was a really crazy week, where we visited one of the leading drone technology companies, talked machine learning and data ethics with Unity and visited our partners Tableau and Alteryx. I would say that if you like flying, you’ll like Inviso. But we also have fun back in the office. It’s informal and really cosy. We have a Friday bar and sports events – and you’re allowed to wear trainers in the office.
You invest a lot of your time and energy there, but then you also really feel that they invest in you as an employee. The software programs we work on are of course super cool, but the management know that their most precious resource are the employees here at Gammel Kongevej.
