---
redirect_from: /2013/07/join-the-openspending-data-wranglers-and-help-open-up-finances-around-the-world/
title: Join the OpenSpending data wranglers and help open up finances around the world!
authors:
- Anders Pedersen
---
<p dir="ltr">Do you like sharing your skills for working with spending data? Would you like to help other community members to clean budget data? We are looking for volunteer Data Wranglers to prepare and load data into OpenSpending and to support community members with data-related issues.

<p dir="ltr">
<h2 dir="ltr">How it works</h2>
<p dir="ltr">As a Data Wrangler you will help prepare and upload data to OpenSpending. You’ll work on things like:

<ul>
<li dir="ltr">
<p dir="ltr">Clean the data: Spending data often suffer from being messy and full of peculiar errors. You will be there to give the data some care and attendance with tools such as <a href="http://schoolofdata.org/handbook/recipes/cleaning-data-with-refine/">Open Refine</a> to fix the mess.

</li>
<li dir="ltr">
<p dir="ltr">Sanity check: Sometimes <a href="http://blog.okfn.org/2013/04/22/reinhart-rogoff-revisited-why-we-need-open-data-in-economics/">a sanity check</a> from you is needed to confirm that the numbers add up and that the budget actually makes sense.

</li>
<li dir="ltr">
<p dir="ltr">Format the data: You will need to fit the data for the OpenSpending <a href="http://openspending.org/help/data-loading.html">load function</a>.

</li>
<li dir="ltr">
<p dir="ltr">Keep track of spending data waiting in line at the <a href="http://progress.openspending.org/">Progress Page</a>. At OpenSpending we would like to upload datasets quickly after their discovery.

</li>
<li dir="ltr">
<p dir="ltr">Share tips and tricks on how to work with spending data with the community of users at our Data Clinics, trainings and Spending Data Parties.

</li>
</ul>
<h2 dir="ltr">Qualifications</h2>
<p dir="ltr">The most important requirement is enthusiasm! In addition, if you know how to use a spreadsheet and what a CSV file is that’s more than sufficient. We have a strong community who can help you grow your data skills. Programming skills and detailed knowledge of budgets is a plus but not required;-)

<p dir="ltr">We will provide a short induction on how to work with OpenSpending and you will also have your peers in the data team to help out.

<h2 dir="ltr">What does it take?</h2>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr">
<p dir="ltr">For joining the Data Team as Data Wrangler we ask you to commit 3-5 hours per month.

</li>
<li dir="ltr">
<p dir="ltr">We generally coordinate the work in Spending Data sprints, where you and the team upload a series of datasets within a designated period of time (e.g. 2 weeks). By working in sprints you can contain the required workload, while still harvesting the benefits of working closely with fellow data wranglers via IRC, Skype and Hangout. We emphasize that work can also be done asynchronously -- so if, say, you only have an hour free every Sunday at a particular time, that’s absolutely fine too!

</li>
<li dir="ltr">
<p dir="ltr">We will feature your profile on the OpenSpending site along with the rest of the Data Team.

</li>
</ul>
The first training session for our team of Data Wranglers will take place on <strong>Thursday 18 July</strong>, so register your interest as soon as possible!

<p dir="ltr">To apply to become an OpenSpending Data Wrangler fill in <strong>the application form below</strong> and we will get back to you as soon as possible. For questions about what the role, get in touch with us at: info [at] openspeding [dot] org.

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