By Amanda Maslin, 25 June, 2025
What’s it really like to work with data every day? As industries become increasingly data-driven—from healthcare to marketing to climate science—careers in data science are booming.
These roles play a crucial part in uncovering insights, making predictions, and solving real-world problems using code, statistics, and a sharp analytical mindset.
To understand what the job looks like up close, we spoke with QUT student Sean Francis, who’s putting his skills to work in meaningful ways. Now a Data Analyst at Cancer Council Queensland and a Research Assistant at QUT, Sean shares how he found his path into data science, the skills that helped him land his role, and the advice he has for others wanting to follow a similar journey.
What’s your current job title, and where do you work?
I currently have two roles. My primary role is as a Data Analyst - Research Officer at the Cancer Council Queensland. I work one day a week at QUT as a Research Assistant.
How did you get into data science?
I was originally studying Engineering and Physics. I met an academic in one of my first year courses who encouraged me to pursue data science. About a year into Engineering/Physics, I realised it wasn’t for me. I took six months off from uni, and started a Bachelor of Data Science. I’ve been loving it ever since.
What skills or experiences helped you land your current role?
The ability to code is such an imperative skill in the data science industry. It’s so important to be able to write useable, clean and legible code.
How do you balance work and studies?
Balancing work and studies is about understanding your own skill set. In time management it’s so important to not over- but also under- estimate your abilities. Once that has been mastered, it’s a lot easier to prioritise time between responsibilities.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to get into data science?
Learn to code. Learn statistics and probability. Learn effective data visualisation. Understand that networking is everything. Always be opportunistic with learning new skillsets.
What’s an average day like for you?
The majority of my day at work is spent coding. Whether that be calculating statistics, running models or generating visualisations, it’s all completed with coding. My role at the Cancer Council Queensland revolves around communicating the burden of cancer in Queensland. We get regular requests for statistics of various cancer types, and spatial regions; a large part of my job is running these stats requests. I love the problem solving aspect of data science; this has been present in all of my roles.
Explore the Bachelor of Data Science
Want to dive deeper into Data Science?
Watch our webinar with Careers with STEM about Mathematics and Data Science. You'll hear from inspiring professionals who turned their passion for problem solving into careers that are saving the environment with data, improving outcomes in cancer research and optimising complex transport systems.
