The Early Weeks
Early on in the training, we were introduced to Tableau, Power BI, Alteryx, and SQL. Most days generally start off by covering the basics, working out something like x + y, and I’d remember thinking to myself ‘okay, this is easy’. But fast forward to four o’clock, and suddenly you’re solving x + y, excluding y whenever it’s greater than x, but not greater than z, and only if the month is May. This daily structure, starting with the fundamentals and gradually increasing, was an effective way to build a strong foundation before moving into more advanced territory. Helping me understand the concepts and giving me the confidence to tackle the harder problems at the end of the day.
Client Project Weeks
Our training included six client project weeks, where we worked with real world clients to deliver a product for them, typically a Tableau or Power BI dashboard. And at the end of the week, we would present our work directly to the client. Everyone also had the opportunity to work as a Project Lead. Gaining invaluable experience communicated with clients, gathering requirements and ensuring the final product met their needs. It was a great way to apply our technical skills in a practical context, providing us with a sense of what working in a consultancy environment is really like.
Presentation Skills
Presentation skills were a major focus of training. Treated equally, if not more importantly than BI tools or Alteryx. Every Friday afternoon you are required to present internally to the team or to a client, depending on the project of the week. By presenting every week, it really pushed me out of my comfort zone, making me more comfortable at presenting in front of others. While I’ve definitely made progress, there’s still room for improvement. After reviewing the recordings of my presentations, I’ve become painfully aware of how often I rely on ‘uhs’ and ‘ums’ as filler words. A habit that is hard to break but one I’m now more aware of and attempting to fix.
Learn what the Data School Learns
Learn what the Data School Learns was a great experience. We were each given a topic and tasked with teaching it to beginners. Although, to be able to teach it effectively, you really had to learn the topic inside and out, to be able to explain the topic clearly at a low level and answer any questions that might come your way. I was given the topic of APIs in Alteryx, and through the process of researching the topic and preparing the course materials, it enhanced my Alteryx skills and my understanding of APIs.
Dashboard Week
This was a hectic week that required creating a new dashboard every single day. It was definitely stressful at times, but it taught me a lot about working under pressure. I could feel myself improving throughout the week, learning not to dwell on minor issues and instead push through to deliver a working dashboard by the end of each day.
In Summary
The training was intensive diving deep into all things data. It was definitely stressful and challenging at times. But despite the challenges, I believe that I learned a lot that will benefit me in the future.
