National Coding Week: Hear from our Analysts
As part of National Coding Week, we've been asking some of our analysts about their day-to-day work with coding and if they have any advice for those looking to learn coding themselves.
Here Rich, Senior Analyst in Credit Risk (Affordability), shares how he got into coding and tips for those who want to learn.
Tell us a little bit about your role at Vanquis.
I am currently a senior analyst within the Credit Risk Affordability Team having previously worked in Decision Science and the Policy teams here.
How do you use coding in your role at Vanquis?
Coding is a part of my everyday role. Typically, I primarily use SAS for the majority of my analysis but SQL is definitely incorporated and great for data manipulation purposes
What led you into a job in coding?
Originally, it was from someone I knew from football. Like me, they did maths at uni and I ended up doing work experience for his team in Credit Risk and once I had finished my degree, it seemed like an interesting career choice.
What’s the most rewarding part of your job?
It's incredibly rewarding when finally manage to tackle a problem or an issue that you've been working on for a while. If you've been set a task or a piece of analysis and you get the results that are required with some good old fashioned hard work, you get some great satisfaction from that.
What was the hardest part about learning?
I think it's knowing where to start when you tackle a problem. It can take the same amount of time to understand the best way to approach a task as actually solving it. Getting that understanding can be hard at time but persevering, patience and practice will put you in the best stead for the task and future tasks.
Are there any tools or resources you would recommend?
A lot of times, you will hear that Google is your friend. It's not wrong but I think the best way to pick up some coding techniques is from others around you, that way you are able to find out not just how to solve an issue but why you are doing it a certain way.
Top tips?
Don't be afraid to get code wrong, no one has ever written a big bit of code and it's worked first time - use the log, understand the errors and it will help you to understand the code you're writing and the product you're using
