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New York, April 5, 2016 (Newswire.com) - General Assembly (GA), the global education institution specializing in 21st century skills, today announced a new partnership with data analytics leader Tableau, a leading company in data analytics, to develop a long form, full-time data science course. The new course combined with several other programs designed for individuals to gain and develop skills in data science and data analytics, will help to expand the talent pipeline for employers. 

Demand for data science skills is real, having tripled over the past 5 years, according to a joint study from Burning Glass Technologies and GA. Per McKinsey & Company, the U.S. will reach a deficit of 1.5 million managers and analysts with “the know-how to use the analysis of big data to make effective decisions.”

"Big data is not just a buzzword. It's a way for companies to gain a competitive advantage — it's grown from a tiny afterthought to a core driver of strategic decisions and operations."

Jake Schwartz, General Assembly co-founder and CEO

“The ability to see and understand data has become a fundamental part of every job. This makes data education extremely important in today’s industry.” said Ellie Fields, Vice President of Product Marketing at Tableau. “This course is a big step in helping meet the demand for these skills.”

GA already offers data science workshops, courses and online circuits for both students and companies and will continue to confront the data science skills gap through the following initiatives: 

• Data Science Immersive Course Offering – Piloting initially in San Francisco and Washington, D.C.in April 2016, GA’s Data Science Immersive course is a full-time, 12-week course that will challenge students to take on real world problems by analyzing data sets and presenting findings using statistics, programming, data modeling and business knowledge. Data Science Immersive will prepare students for entry- and mid-level jobs such as data scientist, financial analyst, business intelligence analyst and marketing analyst. 
• The NYC Tech Talent Pipeline Series A: Data Program – Created in direct response to industry need and developed in partnership with New York City employers, the NYC Tech Talent Pipeline’s Series A: Data program will prepare New Yorkers for careers as Data Analysts. Based on newly designed curricula and training models, the program will offer training to participants free-of-cost and connections to jobs following the program.
• Data Analysis Online Circuit – Designed to familiarize students with key systems and concepts over a 10-week part-time online course. As data analysis skills are increasingly desired for jobs that are not traditionally data-centric, this mentor-guided course is built to help students upskill regardless of industry or job.
• Summer Internships in Data Analytics – GA has created internship programs in San Francisco geared at undergraduate students who are looking for an accelerated classroom experience paired with real world undertaking in a data-driven role.      
• Bespoke Enterprise Workshops on Data – Expanded corporate development and training offerings to upskill existing workforce and improve literacy on big data across entire companies, including half day classes on “Consumer Data”, “Storytelling with Data” workshops and “Introduction to Big Data” classes.

Gautam Punukollu, an alum of General Assembly's Data Science part-time course who went on to TA for the course, was looking for a career change after 6 years in Finance as a business analyst. Following GA's 10-week course, Punukollu landed a role as a Deployment Strategist at Palantir. Punukollu comments: "GA's well balanced educational experience, which bridged the gap between abstract concepts and hands-on skills, allowed me to leverage my existing technical experience into more exciting and current analytic skills. I specifically spoke about the projects I had started at General Assembly during job interviews and felt that I was equipped to to hit the ground running and add value immediately, which is a great feeling."

“Big data is not just a buzzword. It's a way for companies to gain a competitive advantage — it’s grown from a tiny afterthought to a core driver of strategic decisions and operations,” said Jake Schwartz, General Assembly co-founder and CEO. “General Assembly’s blended learning approach is aimed to position adults to seize the tremendous opportunities available across industries that require an understanding of machine learning and data analysis, as well as tools like Tableau, Python, and GitHub.”

All of GA’s courses are built with an education-to-employment approach, aimed to set students up for success outside of the classroom. This includes leveraging industry research, subject matter experts and insights from our network of employers in course development as well as having practitioners as instructors, leveraging their real world experience and expertise to further students’ understanding of how these skills will be applied outside of the classroom. GA’s blended learning approach will combine class with online modules, speaker series, data labs and community events like field trips and happy hours. 

 “We are excited to bring the resources of the NYC Tech Talent Pipeline to bear in developing a new data science training curriculum to deliver quality jobs for New Yorkers and quality talent for New York City businesses,” said Gregg Bishop, Commissioner of the NYC Department of Small Business Services. “Designed in partnership with General Assembly and our employer partners, the launch of Series A: Data marks the latest in the City’s continued efforts to provide 21st century education and opportunities to all New Yorkers.”

More information on GA’s Data Science Immersive course: http://ga.co/DSI
More information on GA’s Summer Internships: http://ga.co/summerU
More information on GA’s partnership with NYC Tech Talent Pipeline: https://generalassemb.ly/nycttp

About General Assembly
General Assembly (GA) is a global educational company on a mission to empower a global community to pursue work they love. Focusing on the most relevant and in-demand skills across data, design, business and technology, GA is confronting a skills gap through best-in-class instruction and providing access to opportunities. GA works with students online and in person across 15 campuses in 4 continents. GA also works with companies as partners in course development and graduate placement as well as helps companies stay competitive in today's digital landscape. Additionally, GA’s focus on affordable and accessible education combined with our education-to-employment approach is helping to create a diverse talent pipeline. For more information, follow us @GA. 

Media Contact
Marissa Arnold, General Assembly
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