Dawid’s journey into HR wasn’t planned, but it was purposeful. With a background in national security and no formal education in data or HR, he began his career as a recruitment intern. What started as a temporary opportunity became a seven-year journey into the heart of talent acquisition.
Today, Dawid specializes in talent acquisition analytics at McCain Foods, a global company with over 20,000 employees.
When data wasn’t enough
Shortly after joining McCain, Dawid recognized that his existing people analytics skills weren’t meeting the demands of his new role. His talent acquisition reports were static, limiting users to fixed views and preventing them from interacting with or exploring the data on their own. Each new request from colleagues meant manually revisiting and adjusting reports. It was an inefficient process that left little room for more strategic, high-impact work.
That drive pushed him to seek structured learning. He knew what he wanted: a program that taught Power BI and Excel, covered basic statistics, and offered the right technical depth. AIHR’s People Analytics Certificate Program was the only one that ticked all three boxes.
He shares, “I first came across AIHR in a LinkedIn post, and what struck me was how you understood the challenges I was facing and offered practical, insightful advice. You didn’t just talk about HR, you knew HR. That stayed in my mind. So, when I was facing real data challenges and had learning funds available from McCain, I knew AIHR was the right fit to help me upskill and enrolled.”
Flexible learning, real results
Enrolling in AIHR’s People Analytics Certificate Program became a turning point for Dawid. With just one to two hours of learning each week, he made full use of the platform’s self-paced format.
“There was no pressure to cram it into a few weeks. I could revisit tough topics like statistics until I really understood them,” he said.
David appreciated AIHR’s practical, results-driven Tell-Show-Do-Apply methodology that bridged the gap between theory and real-world application.
“The lessons were built around scenarios and case studies so I was learning in context. I could test and refine my skills before applying them, and then use them immediately in my own work,” Dawid explained. “It helped me really retain the information and translate learnings into outcomes on the job.”
To support his learning, Dawid also made extensive use of AIHR’s Resource Library, particularly the downloadable cheat sheets. “I loved the cheat sheets. When I developed metrics, it saved me hours of Googling or asking AI for definitions,” he shares.
From static data to interactive dashboards
Armed with new skills, Dawid’s dashboards became interactive, intuitive, and instantly useful.
“Before, my reports were static. Now, I’m building interactive dashboards that give Talent Acquisition partners real-time, self-service access to metrics,” Dawid said. “That’s a huge shift. TA partners are not just consuming data, they’re engaging with it.”
This shift empowered his colleagues to become self-sufficient, drastically reducing back-and-forth data requests. This freed Dawid up to focus on higher-impact analytics projects, rather than spending time maintaining and explaining static ones.
One of his most significant wins came from the Power BI and Excel lessons, which helped him build a recruiter workload dashboard. Managers can now clearly see which recruiters were handling what roles and reallocate resources more effectively.
Dawid later expanded his dashboards to track recruitment bottlenecks and analyze candidate drop-off patterns, enabling TA partners to have more informed conversations with hiring managers and take proactive steps to improve the hiring process.
Shaping a strategic role and data-driven culture
Dawid’s work didn’t just bring people analytics to life with real-time, actionable insights; it sparked a culture shift at McCain. By creating intuitive, interactive dashboards, he empowered Talent Acquisition partners to move from being passive recipients of information to active drivers of change. Instead of waiting for reports, they now proactively start conversations, identify emerging issues, and recommend process improvements, all powered by the reliable, accessible data Dawid delivered.
This transformation has had a ripple effect across the team. As colleagues became more confident in using data to inform their decisions, Dawid’s own expertise deepened. Every successful project and every question answered reinforced his confidence and cemented his reputation as the go-to people analytics expert. The sense of pride and ownership he now feels is matched by the recognition from his peers who trust him not only for the data itself, but for his ability to translate it into meaningful action.
This confidence has allowed Dawid to step into a more strategic role, moving beyond reporting to actively enabling the organization’s talent strategies. His journey shows how developing the right skills doesn’t just elevate individual performance. It can transform team culture, strengthen decision-making, and position HR as a true business partner.
What’s next?
This learning experience shaped Dawid’s view on continuous development. He plans to continue upskilling with AIHR and is already eyeing the HR Business Partner 2.0 program as his next step. For Dawid, learning isn’t a destination; it’s a journey for growth.
He encourages other HR professionals–especially those just starting or looking to upskill–to invest in programs like AIHR’s that blend real-world tools with HR fundamentals.
Keep your skills up-to-date
You can check out People Analytics preview lessons and the Resource Library for yourself to see what Dawid loves so much about AIHR.
Are you ready to transform your own career? Browse our extensive course catalog here, including the People Analytics Certificate Program, like what Dawid took, and make your HR skill set future-proof!
Building your peer network? Connect with Dawid on LinkedIn.
