There are a couple of more days left until the end of the 16 week long Data School. It’s been quite a roller-coaster, from the moment I decided to make a career change to this very moment when I am expecting my first client placement in data analytics.
My first steps with Tableau were as part of my application for the interview for The Data School Down Under somewhere in July 2018 and I remember it as if I were exploring a whole new world. For a week or two I came back from work and used the remaining hours of the day to learn how to analyze and visualize data with Tableau for the first time. What seemed like science fiction back then is now just a regular part of my practice.
After a week of Alteryx training and additional one of Tableau at the Data School it felt like recreating our original viz might be a good exercise and it was great to see my confidence growing. I got to do deeper analysis of the data, use dynamic BANs, incorporated MapBox maps and couple of other tricks I’ve learned along the way. Still it felt like there was a long way to go.
Weeks field with learning about APIs, macros, spatial and predictive analysis in Alteryx, parameters, LODs, table calculations and crazy charts in Tableau is what followed.
For 16 weeks we did combination of training and project work, with many different challenges in between combining Tableau, Alteryx and some SQL. The most exciting part was getting to work on real projects, every second week. We did the whole circle, from gathering requirements to presenting back to the client on topics they found relevant to them. At times we had very specific requirements, other times it was exploring additional data sets and unleashing our creativity even further exploring outside the basic client’s scope. From small excel spreadsheets to huge databases with million rows of data, we had to analyses and visualize it all in less than a week. Getting exposure to real-life challenges from various industries was incredibly valuable. We had combination of education and banking, sports and construction projects, all coming from either large corporations or innovative NGOs.
The Data School never stops throwing in new challenges. Reflecting back on the past months I feel thankful being pushed out of my comfort zone that many times. Challenge after challenge, I got to the point of getting Alteryx and Tableau certified, which boosted my confidence and with the hours of preparation I put in practicing I can confidently say I learned quite a lot.
After many jitter plots, experimenting with Likert charts, Sankey’s, waffle chart and advanced mapping I am ready for new challenges and making those bar and line charts tell the story in the prettiest way.
To get a glimpse of my Tableau Public profile click on the following link.
All the blogs I’ve written can be found here.
