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Lindah Sumbati Shirasala’s story is relatable to many of our recent graduates. After earning her bachelor’s degree in statistics and programming, she struggled to secure a job. Despite her qualifications, the job market was tough; Lindah realized that while her traditional university education had given her a solid foundation, she lacked the practical skills employers wanted.

Determined to change her trajectory, Lindah came across WorldQuant University’s Applied Data Science Lab on LinkedIn. Unlike other online programs, WQU’s focus on a wide range of hands-on projects and real-world applications was exactly what Lindah was missing. A standout project was analyzing air quality data in her hometown of Nairobi giving her applied, practical experience that was missing in her undergraduate education. Her confidence to apply her skills in different industries was boosted: “If you tell me, ‘Lindah, can you solve a problem in the health industry?’ I'm able to go and look for data and just analyze it, train a model, and come back to you - this is something that I can literally do right now.”

Lastly, with her recognized Applied Data Science Lab certificate, Lindah could showcase her skills in job interviews and ultimately land a role as a data scientist. Now working at Hello Tractor, an agritech company that supports African farmers, Lindah applies her data science skills daily. She analyzes data, creates dashboards, builds demand prediction models, and uses geo-data to help the company make informed decisions about where to allocate their services. “The majority of the skills I use are the ones that I learned at WorldQuant University,” she shares. Her work helps farmers optimize their practices while contributing to addressing food security in Africa.

Equipped with the practical skills she acquired as an WQU student and her current job in the field, Lindah is now pursuing WQU’s cost-free Master of Science in Financial Engineering degree with the goal of becoming a machine learning engineer. She encourages others who are interested in data science to explore WQU’s programs: “For anybody who is wondering where they can get started, WorldQuant University is always open for them and it has been a good opportunity and a career opening path for me.”