Some testimonials regarding the Microsoft Azure Academy for Women:
“I was one of the lucky ones who were selected to participate in the first class of the Microsoft Azure Academy for Women. It was an amazing experience! Not only did I learned new hard skills (never ever thought that I will create my own Machine Learning model) but I will always treasure the experience with a group of women in the rollercoaster named the Data Science Track. We laughed, we cried and on our way we were slaying snakes and fought pirates but we had lots of fun and showed everyone that we can are able to finish the whole program in 11 weeks! The program gave me new friends and increased my curiosity to learn more Data Science, AI and Big Data. This was just the start and I’m sure I will never stop learning!” – Poké
“De afgelopen maanden was ik elke dag in Johan Cruijf Arena. Nee, niet om naar voetbalwedstrijden te kijken. Met 24 andere vrouwen mocht ik een training volgen aan de Microsoft Azure Academy for Women. Hier heb ik de Data Science track van Microsoft in samenwerking met Techionista en DataChangers gevolgd. Uit de 200(!) aanmeldingen was ik een van de gelukkigen die het programma mocht volgen. Wat de kracht van het programma is, is dat je coaching krijgt van je de teamleden, maar ook van professionals uit het vak. Tezamen met een uitgebreide soft skills training en een business case is het de ideale mix. Wat ik eruit meeneem is een waardevol netwerk en kennis om data science toe te passen in het bedrijfsleven. Ik raad iedereen aan deze track te volgen en nieuwsgierig te blijven.” – a participant
“I had the privileges to experience the Microsoft Azure Academy for Women. This track is a sophisticated programme, of continuous on the spot developing. Not only from a technical point of view you will be thought everything needed to provide solutions for the new ‘datadriven society’, but also the personal development part of the track is of such a level, that you learn continuously. On top of all of it, the community of women provides a warm nest. So if you’re passionate about innovations, learning, the curious type and want to be ready for the questions of tommorow? Than this is your path!” – a participant
“For me, the data science track was my first experience with data science and IT. The first steps of the courses were in Excel, from there the program rapidly and smoothly takes participants into learning SQL, Power BI, Python, Azure Machine learning, Spark, … all you need for data science. The most important thing I learned was about myself: I love data science!” – a participant
“Is het mogelijk om in 11 weken de basis van Data Science onder de knie te krijgen?
Na 11 enerverende weken kan ik dit met een volmondige “ja” beantwoorden. Het Microsoft Azure Academy for Women traject is 11 weken lang bikkelen. Je hoofd breken over Data Science vaardigheden, soft skills en een business case.
Diepe dalen (kom ik ooit door deze module heen 😉 en hoge pieken (yes! weer een certificaat binnen). Een achtbaan aan inzichten en emoties die ik zonder onze begeleiders en mijn medestudenten niet had kunnen uitzitten.
Voor mij was het een levensverrijkende ervaring en het brengt mij ongetwijfeld een stap verder in mijn carriere!” – Seba
“After long searching for new inspiration, I enrolled in Microsoft Azure Academy for Women. It was not an ordinary online self learning course. It was carefully designed to engage women to become more of a driving force in the digital world. Data Science Track was the theme. If I was asked ‘What does it take to get Microsoft Data Science credential?’. I would say resilience and tenacity are the most important traits. Data science has more dimensions than just crunching and munching data. It entails the ability to spot the irregularity, the ability to see connections among features, the ability to communicate the aforementioned to others, and ability to find a way forwards. The capstone project was the crux of the course. It involves a continuous process of data cleaning, data visualization, data munching and crunching, data modelling, model testing and tuning. It was an ultimate test of one’s depth of knowledge and the ability to apply the knowledge. I am proud to be part of the first ever MAAW and now a certified empowered female data scientist.” – a participant
“Despite having a non-IT background, I found myself enrolled on the Microsoft Azure Academy for Women by showing a never-ending curiosity towards the field of data science. And I’m glad to have been part of such a once-in-a-lifetime experience where everyone’s stories, from coaches to candidates, were inspirational, helpful and empowering. For me, the additional strength of the overall track is the continuous and overlapping training of hard and soft skills, and the fact that they complement each other extremely well. In the road to developing yourself on the technical and personal aspects, you’ll find yourself taking data decisions and challenges with more confident and, more importantly, in your own unique way.” – Roseline