Thanks to Simon Forbes for taking time to share his thoughts on the importance of his teammates and insights into what you need to succeed at Dufrain. Simon is a London based Data Analyst and Engineer who has been with Dufrain since 2022. Read his thoughts below.
1. Tell us a little bit about what you do?
Internally, I’m on the consultant profile review team, assist with internal development project and accelerators, and regularly help with various tasks, including testing. Externally, I’m with an insurer, fulfilling a technical Business Analyst role. I’m aiding their project to migrate systems.
2. Can you tell us a few details about the favourite part of your job?
It’s definitely the people. I enjoy the opportunity to help others, teach them what I know, and support them in any way to improve what they do.
3. What does a typical day look like for you?
I usually get up, turn the computer on, and then make coffee and breakfast. Once that’s done, I log into the client and start my day. I have morning stand-ups with the other Business Analysts.
Internally, I often support various projects and spend time reviewing profiles. I also occasionally reach out to other people in the organisation for various reasons and engage in online learning.
Typically, I wrap up around 6:00 or 6:30, with the last half hour focused on internal work, which could be learning or project-based, depending on my current workload.
4. Which company value resonates with you the most?
Collaboration, because I think it exemplifies the way I like to work with other people and the approach I like to take towards helping other people within the organisation.
5. What would you say has been your most significant achievement or the one you are most proud of whilst working at Dufrain?
Completing training for Streamsets within a week. Streamsets is a data pipelining tool that allows you to build and modify pipelines very quickly and easily. I was asked to learn it as a part of an urgent client project and to try and learn it as quickly as possible. I was really proud that I managed to pick it up from scratch and pass the certification within a week.
6. Who inspires you the most within Dufrain?
For me, it’s my People Coach; Ayushman. His approach towards people and his attitude in supporting and helping them truly inspires me to elevate my own efforts.
7. Which work benefit or perk is your favourite and why?
I really enjoy having access to Udemy.
I’ve spent a lot of time going through large courses, though I don’t know how many I’ve actually finished. I like going through them to gain some knowledge about specific topics. Even if I don’t always finish a course, I appreciate having access to the information. Currently, I’m working through a mathematics for data science course. I’ve also done bits and pieces of a Python course and have learned about various tools I use.
8. What’s the best advice you can give to someone who wants to work for us?
At Dufrain, the type of people we need possess a specific personality rather than just a set of skills. While most skills can be learned on the job, we value those with an openness and willingness to improve, learn, and engage with others. It’s essential to have and nurture this attitude to succeed in our organisation. Additionally, there’s a need to be willing to go the extra mile and contribute internally as well.
9. What skill do you think everyone should learn?
Empathy.
10. You know quite a few languages, how many do you know? What’s your secret to learning a language?
I can comfortably speak in four languages: French, Spanish, English, and Russian. I also know some Italian. I’m a big fan of using what’s called comprehensible input. It’s content like videos, audios, or even short stories designed for learners to be very understandable. I also use flashcards; there are great apps out there that help with this. For grammar, there are lots of courses; I think anything can work for the right learner and people should just use what they enjoy.
[km-cta-block padding=20 block-classes=”has-light-cyan-background-colour has-white-colour” label=”Contact us to discuss your data strategy” image=”/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/green-top-right.png” background-position=”top right” background-size=”cover” ]
Find out more about our team and what it’s like to work for Dufrain
Visit our careers page and follow us on LinkedIn to stay up to date with our insights and activities
[km_button link=”https://www.dufrain.co.uk/contact/” classes=”cta-2″]Contact us[/km_button] or [km_button link=”tel:08001303656″ classes=”cta-2″]Call us on 0800 130 3656[/km_button][/km-cta-block]