Meet a FarrPointer - Charlotte Mitchell

A Q&A with Charlotte Mitchell, Senior Data Analyst at FarrPoint

1. What part of your role that would surprise most people?

I’m not sure… maybe that I consider my job to be all about people, rather than maps, data, or telecoms technology. The impact of the work we do is to boost safety, inclusion, and choice for people across the UK and beyond. That’s what attracted me to FarrPoint.

2. Throughout your career, what has been your most interesting project so far?

I worked on a few projects recently that involved creating web apps and code packages. I don’t think I would have seen that for myself a few years prior, and it was really cool (yes, really) and satisfying to replicate the kind of tools that used to seem unintelligible. I also really like projects involving network science, particularly when you wouldn’t typically think of the data as a network, who knew disease cooccurrences across population segments could be modelled as a probabilistic network?

3. What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve received?

I definitely subscribe to the ‘do something you find interesting because you’ll have to do a lot of it’ philosophy. That was what motivated me to steer my career towards data and to ensure that I can work on projects which bring social and environmental benefits.

4. What's the most useful skill you believe every data analyst should have?

I consider good communication to be the most important aspect of my role. It doesn’t matter if you build a super complex model or analyse millions of datapoints, if you can’t communicate what you did and why it matters then you haven’t really finished your task.

5. What has been your favourite thing about working at FarrPoint so far?

The easy answer is my colleagues! It's really a wonderful team to be a part of - full of kind and funny people who are deeply knowledgeable and take their work seriously. I also get a lot of satisfaction from coding my way through a problem, and I love that every project there’s a chance to learn about something I didn’t expect to encounter. 

6. What are some of your biggest interests outside of work?

I usually spend a lot of my free time with friends and family, but the moment I am very wrapped up in renovating my new home. I’ve been stripping wallpaper, cutting back the overgrown garden, and getting excited about tool storage solutions. 

When I have less projects at home, I would love to spend more time with my paddleboard. I have also fallen into the very wholesome ‘makers’ corner of Youtube, and I’m itching to get started with 3D printing. I have my first two prints in mind: an orange lighthouse for the office and inserts for where my skirting boards meet the doorframes.

Charlotte renovating and paddleboarding

7. If you had to swap careers with another profession for a week, what would you try?

When I was younger, I wanted to choose the songs for highbrow TV dramas (think Gossip Girl…), but now I can proudly admit my music taste is too basic to last a week in that job. I was tempted to say it would be nice to do something that doesn’t involve too much screen time, like being a florist, but I think I would need to take the chance to satisfy my curiosity and see behind the scenes of planning major events like the Fringe or the Olympics. There must be some gorgeous dashboards involved! 

8. Do you have a dream location you'd like to travel to one day?

A side effect of looking at maps for work is that my travel dreams are always changing. Thanks to my current projects, British Columbia and the west coast of Scotland are looking pretty good. I would also love to see some new landscapes, so I’m keen to go walking in Madeira or the Dolomites, and I have been dreaming of a trip to see the red rocks in Sedona, maybe with a short stopover in Las Vegas to put it all on black. 

9. What is the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done?

I don’t know if I would describe myself as an adventurous person, I’m scared of jumping into a swimming pool! In writing this answer, I did realise that I’ve kayaked in Ha Long Bay, road-tripped through Australia, watched a Sicilian volcano erupt, been to the South Korean edge of the Demilitarized Zone and white water rafted on the Nile. The common thread in all these adventures though is that someone else arranged them and I just tagged along… Hopefully I can find someone to plan my hike in Sedona!

Charlotte hiking

10. Who would you like to nominate next for a MAF interview?

Abbie McGowan

We are always on the lookout for talented individuals, so if you are interested in joining FarrPoint, visit our careers page or get in touch.