Diversity of Career Paths at Videns Analytics: Meeting with Dany Labarre

At Videns Analytics, we pride ourselves on the diversity of our team. Our team is made up of many people with different backgrounds. Musicians, engineers, astrophysicists... you name it! This diversity leads us to ask the following question to several team members: Why did you change your career path to data science? 

The next series of blogs will consist of interviews with our team members to understand what led them to pursue a career in data science and what impact it has had on their career path.

With a bachelor's degree in computer science, a bachelor's degree in music composition and a master's degree in artificial intelligence from Université Laval, Dany excels in problem solving, using his great analytical skills.

With a dual passion for mathematics and artistic creation, he finds his ultimate satisfaction when these two spheres come together.

Hello Dany! What was your professional background before joining Videns?
My career path was very different from what I am doing now! I started by doing a Bachelor's degree in music composition, and continued at the Master's level. I then worked in the arts and culture field until 2016. I worked specifically in the music education industry. I was in charge of the coordination and development of projects in a publishing company that offers tools for music teachers.

Why did you change your field to data science?
I've always loved statistics and math. Even before I changed careers, I was always trying to automate processes. I had developed skills in excel and vba to automate, but I was eager to learn more!

How did you go about training? Did you go back to school?
It was a friend who made me realize that I had a passion for coding and he recommended that I go back to school with him. Thanks to him, I went back to university to do a bachelor’s degree in computer science. At first, I was doing it part-time while working, but after a while, I realized that I had to put 100% into my studies so I quit my job to become a full-time student. 

During my bachelor's degree, I took an introductory course on artificial intelligence, and I immediately got hooked! So I decided to continue my studies and do the professional master's degree in Artificial Intelligence at Université Laval.

What were the difficulties you faced? (returning to school, getting hired, starting a new career...)
Going back to school wasn't easy... since my original background was in music, I had to do some basic courses that I hadn’t taken prior (math, statistics...). It was a constant challenge to catch up with those who had a more traditional background. 

Otherwise, on the financial side, it was also a challenge to alternate between studies and internships/summer jobs in order to finance my studies.

On the hiring side, I already had an idea of what I was looking for in a company thanks to my experience, so the difficulty was to find a company that corresponded to my values, project interests and of course a pleasant team atmosphere. However, it wasn't such a big challenge, when I discovered Videns, it was the perfect match!

What have been the positive impacts on your journey?
I love how I am continually developing my problem solving skills. I find it super rewarding when I find a solution on my own. Also, the fact that there is never just one solution, and that there is always a new challenge, makes me feel more fulfilled in what I do!

What are the major differences between your initial career and your current role?
The work environment is very different, I have changed from a more traditional work environment to one that is focused on innovation. The working conditions are different too, at Videns I have the flexibility to work from home. Also, the opportunities for growth in the company are interesting in a young company like Videns. Here, they encourage us to learn and develop skills that interest us and to grow with them in the company.

How does your initial background help you in your role today?
From Plato to Stockhausen, music and mathematics are closely related. Music composition basically consists of mathematical patterns: predetermined scales and intervals as well as stochastic music! So I have developed a good foundation of mathematical logic through my early career. In addition, my work experience gave me a good idea of what I was looking for as a next step in my career path.

How did you find out about Videns?
One of my professors in the master's program put me in touch with Sarah Legendre-Bilodeau, CEO of Videns, and after our meeting, I knew right away that Videns was the company I was looking for! I saw that Videns has motivating projects, products related to causes that are close to my heart (such as education and autism), they facilitate life/work balance and above all they clearly value atypical paths like mine!

What an interesting journey! Thank you Dany for participating in this interview, we are proud to have you on our team!

The Videns Analytics team is made up of several other members with different backgrounds. Stay tuned for future blogs to learn more about the team and their shift towards data science.