Personal Development

Attention data scientists - the Cross Company Programme is entering its second round!

In 2016, Swisscom launched the first Cross Company Programme together with AXA Winterthur and Zühlke Engineering. A lot has happened since then! We have found our three Data Scientists Manuel, Janine and Jerome. All three started their assignments at the three companies in September 2016, which are slowly coming to an end. They had the opportunity to enrich their backpacks with new skills that they had learnt from big data experts in three completely different industries.

By Tulu Budesa

7 February 2022

Manuel, who are you?

Manuel, who are you? My name is Manuel Kuhn and I've been working in the Big Data department at Swisscom since January 2017. After a commercial apprenticeship with BMS, I studied industrial engineering at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW). The course content is better explained by the former degree programme title "Data Analysis and Process Design". I quickly realised that my future lay in data analysis, but I didn't know exactly which industry I wanted to work in until the end of my studies. As my bachelor's degree was coming to an end and I was looking for a job, I was spoilt for choice: many job advertisements sounded exciting and yet I and my fellow students were always left with questions such as: "Do I really want to work in the same field for several years? What if I don't like the projects after a few weeks?" For this reason, I wanted to talk to various employers directly and attended the ZHAW graduate congress a year ago, where I became aware of the "Cross Company Programme": An internship programme, which is unique in Switzerland and is offered by AXA Winterthur, Swisscom and Zühlke and involves a 4-month stay at each of these companies. I immediately realised that this was a unique opportunity that would meet my exact needs. Namely to gain an insight into three different companies, sectors and fields of work.

And what have you experienced so far?

Now that I have completed two thirds of the programme with Zühlke and Swisscom, I can firmly say that expectations were exceeded. At Zühlke Engineering, I worked on object detection on images using artificial intelligence and Google's machine learning library TensorFlow. In my current work environment, I analyse and process data using big data technologies, especially Spark. In both companies, I was given the opportunity to conduct data analyses at the cutting edge in two completely different industries and to benefit from the experience of the respective employees.

This also suits my "learning-by-doing" style, which is why I often refer to the Cross Company Programme as my fourth year of study.

Instead of theoretical school assignments, however, I work on current topics that are valuable for the companies.

What happens next?

I will be leaving Swisscom at the end of April with a tear in my eye, but I am looking forward to my new job at AXA Winterthur and am excited about what awaits me in the insurance industry.

Tulu Budesa

Talent Relationship Manager

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