The Education Services team's primary goal is to help customers and partners become self-sufficient and confident users of The Quantexa Platform. We are trying to accomplish that in several ways.
Firstly, we create lots of eLearning content related to the platform architecture, its features, the front and back end, and business use cases.
We also deliver smaller learning assets, such as Managing Quantexa Projects, User Foundations, Technical Foundations and AML Investigator. Building those assets is a challenging but rewarding process, involving intense collaboration between Subject Matter Experts, instructional designers, and eLearning developers. Longer learning experiences, referred to as Academies, may lead to accreditation. You may have seen the badges that we issue, posted on LinkedIn by happy graduates. We always feel proud to see those.
In addition to content development, our Team is on a mission to launch comprehensive face-to-face training sessions and boot camps for learners who prefer this approach to a fully digital experience.
However, content development is only part of the process. Equally important is the tailored support that we provide to partners, customers, and fellow Quantexans through their learning journeys. This is handled by Academy Team Leads (ATLs) who act as mentors, instructors, and technical troubleshooters, and by our dedicated administration officers.
By working together, we are doing our best to offer a seamless and user-friendly learning experience.
In this article, we find out from Will what being an Academy Team Lead is all about.
Meet Will…
I joined Quantexa in March 2022 and have been an ATL in the Education Services team for 14 months. Before joining Quantexa, I completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) in Mathematics and taught in two state schools in Bristol.
Before that, I completed a degree in Electronic Engineering at Kings College London and enjoyed doing a variety of summer jobs whilst at university, with my favourite one being gardening. If you want to know how to stripe your lawn, let me know!
I love to meet new people and chat, try my hand at various sports, and also kick my feet up whilst watching a good movie.
My other interests include cooking for my flatmates Chris and Twain, playing for the mighty Quan Spark Rangers, and fashion (debatable to some, given my usual outfits).
How do you normally start your working day?
That really depends on whether I am off to the office or working from home. We are talking about two different lifestyles. If I leave, I grab a quick snack, have a cold shower to discipline my character, and take a relaxing walk to the station, whilst listening to KayCyy or Metro Boomin. If I am at home, I treat myself to a nutritious omelette with peppers and onions, a warm shower, a coffee, and a natter with my flatmate, Chris.
How would you describe a typical day?
On any day, I have at least two assessments to review. We review assessments submitted by clients, partners, or Quantexans to check that they understand how to code when on a project, configure parts of the product, and understand the core concepts behind the code.
We may ask a colleague from Delivery to do a technical review and provide a second opinion of someone’s work. This helps us to make our content more relevant to the practical needs of Quantexa deployments.
Shout out to all of you Delivery folk who put in a shift for Stefan, Dan, and I.
I also usually join an Education Services stand-up, run an internal Academy stand-up, grab a coffee or two, and take support calls for the Data Engineer Academy and the Scoring Academy.
What do you enjoy most in your role?
Helping people who live in different countries with diverse cultures to get the best out of our product.
To be able to do that every day for at least a few hours during reviews or support calls is brilliant. Somewhat tiring, but brilliant, nonetheless.
What are your main goals as an ATL?
My main goals include the following:
- Helping customers and partners become confident and self-sufficient users of The Quantexa Platform.
In practical terms, I’m the driving instructor, Quantexa is the car, and they need to learn how to use it effectively, efficiently, and with a sense of enjoyment.
- Improving my own understanding of the platform, data science, and the realm of IT in general.
- Helping our designers continuously improve and create new training material.
- To constantly listen to others. If our customers, partners, and colleagues have some insightful comments or feedback, we are sometimes the first to hear their thoughts about the platform and how to configure it.
What are your most memorable moments?
I have a few:
- ATL stand-ups with Dan, Stefan, and Annabel are always a riot, in the positive sense.
- I recently helped someone solve an issue with their
CreateCaseClass, without the benefit of seeing their screen or their code. So they read out their code line by line. This felt very 19th century, but we got there in the end. - The recent Education team outing to Brighton where we zip-lined, went up the i360, played cricket, bought fudge, and had delicious fish and chips.
What do you think are the most important attributes of an ATL?
An ATL must be patient, enthusiastic, and most of all, approachable.
An understanding of Scala and the platform comes in handy too.
What are you excited about?
In general, learning more about coding, AI, and seeing how Quantexa can help make a positive change in the world.
Also, having a curry from the market for lunch this Friday!
