Employee Spotlight: Recruiting Instructors and Building Out DataCamp’s Live Training Program

What was your journey to joining DataCamp?

I had previously met Jen, DataCamp’s Head of Instructor Success, through her work at General Assembly as an Introduction to Data Analysis Instructor. I was a student in her class, and she recommended me to GA for an Instructional Assistant position, which I ended up doing for a full year.

She then reached out to see if I would be interested in a part-time internship as part of an experiment to help her locate and message potential DataCamp Instructors. As our needs for more instructors grew, my internship moved from 20 hours a week to 40, and I was offered a full time position in June 2019. So even though my “official” start date was June 24, 2019, I’ve actually been with DataCamp since November 2018.

Describe your current team. What do you find most interesting about your role?

I work with the Instructor Success Team. In a nutshell, our goal is to take care of current DataCamp Instructors and find new ones to develop content for our learners. I also helped build the current Live Training program, where I schedule and onboard instructors, as well as run the sessions themselves. So far, what has interested me the most has been learning all about the world of data science through the people I’ve met and worked with. Sign up for our upcoming live training sessions!

How has your career grown since joining DataCamp?

I started out as a part-time intern, and now I’m running instructor webinars and helping coordinate the new Live Training program! Along the way, I’ve learned a lot about using technologies I haven’t before—such as the Google suite, Gem, Google Colabs, and GitHub.

What are you most excited for in 2020?

Seeing the Live Training program take off and grow has been so exciting—we’ve had some incredible topics and great feedback from our users, who really find value in them. I can’t wait to see what new topics we roll out, and how these sessions continue to evolve!

What do you like best about working for DataCamp?

I love getting to meet new people from all over the world, and getting to work with people from different industries and backgrounds. Everyone has something to offer and contribute.

What are your favorite DataCamp cultural values and why?

Care for DataCampers. DataCamp does a great job taking care of its people, and we take care of each other. The response of the executive and people team during the pandemic was quick, and they did everything they could to look out for our safety and health. The past few months, everyone has been great about checking in with each other and staying social, and even though we’ve been social distancing, I’ve never felt more connected to my team!

What’s the weirdest job you’ve ever had?

When I was a teenager, I worked for four summers at the Colorado Renaissance Festival. This festival is one of the only ones in the country that has permanent structures (not tents), and it’s huge! There was a full court full of characters and tons of rides, shops, and restaurants. We were expected to stay in character, using terms like “magic money box” instead of ATM machine, and pronounce jalapenos as “jah-lop-pen-os”, and every time someone tipped, we shouted “Huzzah the tipper!” at the top of our lungs.

Would you like to join Kelsey at DataCamp? We’re currently hiring in New York; London; Leuven, Belgium; and remote locations. Check out our open roles.