“I turn messy data into clean, compelling stories.” 

Before applying to the Data Analytics program at Nashville Software School (NSS), Rob Kirkpatrick was a dueling pianist. Data began to spark his interest when he would listen to economics podcasts where he would hear researchers craft compelling stories with the data they worked with. 

Whether as a business operations specialist cleaning data or entertaining crowds as a musician, Rob understands the importances of knowing what matters to each audience. “Data analytics lets me take my skills and do interesting, valuable work,” he smiles. 

What was your favorite part of your NSS experience?

“How the NSS team works together to help its students. The instructors were very patient, helpful, and taught us a lot in a short amount of time. The Career Development team works really hard to prepare us for the job market. Seeing how our course material was immediately applicable to lots of real-world problems was very satisfying. We were also given training on HOW to get a job, what employers look for, and how to leverage what we did in class to get us into a good job.”

How did you choose the topic for your capstone project?

“I've been performing music for over 20 years. I wanted to see what features popular songs had in common. This project gave me lots of great experience using the Spotify API, cleaning data in Python, and creating clean visuals in PowerBI.”

What advice would you give to current or incoming NSS Data students?

“Do not be afraid of the following: 

1. Breaking things 
2. Asking questions 
3. Asking for help from instructors or classmates 
4. Using Google”

HIRE ROB

Rob is currently on the search for his first job in tech! Listen to Rob's podcast to hear about his NSS experience and capstone project. Connect with Rob on his LinkedIn page. 

Meet more of the graduates from Full-time Data Analytics Cohort 3 by visiting their class website!