‘No data scientists in Swindon’

Arguments about whether they actually exist have been raging for years, but, according to one National Trust chief, it is virtually impossible to hire data scientists when you are not based in London.
Now some may claim that is because most people do not call themselves that in the first place – simply data professionals – but Dean Jones, who is head of data science at the National Trust, reckons that being located in Swindon is a real challenge, and not just because of the traffic choas surrounding the so-called Magic Roundabout.
He is currently looking to expand the data science team, but believes that the location of the National Trust’s HQ is adding to the difficulty in making hires.
“It is the case that it is difficult, especially as we’re not based in London; we’re based in Swindon, so there’s a different challenge there,” Jones told Computing magazine, adding that there is “a much bigger pot” of data scientists in London.
Part of the charity’s answer is to develop its own data team by luring staff from other departments.
“We’ve found a lot of our recruitment has happened internally, because we had a lot of these people who were sitting in different teams,” Jones explained. “People who had a lot of experience with producing visualisations, a lot of experience with targeting for marketing campaigns, people who had data analytical skills but elsewhere in the organisation.”
Last year, HP marketing director Dan Wood joked that data scientists are rarer than the Yeti.

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