Diving into the data school programme with Keven
Diving into the data school programme with Keven
Keven Molaba
Data Analyst
Mazars in South Africa
What drew you to data science?
My interest in data science was driven by my curiosity in how individuals and organisations use reliable data to influence their decisions. I think there’s a lot of value in being able to derive meaningful information from a data set and share the knowledge in an easily understandable manner to stakeholders, both data analyst and non-data analysts’, effectively.
Tell us about the data school programme at Mazars.
The data school programme is quite the journey. The programme takes fresh university graduates with no experience and helps train them to become data analysts and data scientists. When I first started the programme, I became even more enticed with the topic, but then I also became confused and frustrated all at once – especially as I started learning the basics of auditing and accounting. While I had a background in data science, I had little experience in the audit world, so I needed to get past the learning curve and the programme helped guide me through it. I think this programme really helps give inexperienced and new graduates a different perspective about their possible career paths within the computer science field.
Why did you apply to this programme?
I was actually referred by a friend that I studied with in university. In our conversation, I was curious about what a computer science graduate was doing at an audit firm —I had assumed that likely meant they were a software developer or in a similar role. Little did I know that computer science can lead to many possible career opportunities, which is how I found my place here, pursuing my passion of working with data.
Being a fresh university graduate in this country is not easy: all the desired career paths require extensive years of experience, and it sometimes takes graduates multiple years to find employment. For me, the programme was a great opportunity to break into the corporate world and establish myself as reputable data analyst within my space of work and company.
What led you to pursue your current role as a junior data analyst in IT audit?
Data analysis in audit firms is growing at an exponential rate as audit firms are incorporating it more into their testing when assisting external auditors. Assurance data analysis is a fast-paced and rather competitive field in computer science, so it was an interesting opportunity to pursue, and it allows non-accountant/audit graduates to expand their knowledge of the audit world.
Can you tell us more about your role, what you enjoy about this position and what your goals are for the future?
I focus mainly on the execution and delivery of external audit data to support various business cycles, including journals, revenue and inter-company loans. These data analytics allow auditors to extract and analyse large volumes of data that help them both understand the client and identify audit and business risks.
It’s a great opportunity to work with data and derive conclusions based on the results of the testing. It’s a mutual exchange of information where I collaborate with the audit teams to understand their audit requirements, scope and objectives and then work to develop bespoke data scripts to drive a variety of data analytical functional tests.
While the future remains uncertain, the next step will be for me to explore other data tools available and learn more about how to incorporate these with the ones we currently have in our department. Of course, in terms of my career, I hope to grow and one day become a senior data analyst.