As this is my first blog, I was thinking what would be the best topic to start off with. I decided to write about “My first week at the Data School!!”
Day-1
COVID-19 crisis impacted me before the start of my new journey. Our start date was delayed by 2 months. Nevertheless, the Big Day has come. DSAU-6 started off with a bang on the 9th of June 2020.
I was so excited about the first day at the Data school. I would like to brief my journey based on three key factors PEOPLE, PROCESS, and TECHNOLOGY. We were well-received by Craig (Head Coach) and then headed off to our seat. Our POD fully complies with NSW Health policy 😉 i.e 1.5m social distancing. As with the previous cohorts, we all were from different countries with different educational background. The induction started off with ICE BREAKERS, followed by multiple sessions with Craig, David, Steve(founder of MIP) and Peter Kokinakos (COO, MIP) briefing upon the company and the policy.
Christmas has come early for us, guess what? We received Christmas presents on our first day . Thanks to Craig and DSDU for our DS kit (Laptop, Bag, and other accessories). Thanks to Ben and the team who helped us with the installation process. I scratched the Alteryx surface for the first time. The day signed off with loads of memories and welcome drinks.
Day-2
Craig and David explained to us about the difference between ETL and Data Prep. Basically, ETL relates to all the gathering and preparation of the data that we require before being able to start building a dashboard. Therefore, we were introduced to the tools we would use more often for most of our ETL tasks Alteryx. In the afternoon, they took us through what Alteryx was used for (data prep, spatial analysis and predictive abilities) as well as the more common tools within it. On the same day, we were briefed about leave policies and supers by Faye.
During the week, we met our pod team members. I belong to POD-2 and Ben is my mentor. He explained to me about how pod works, how we can leverage the team and its benefits.
Day-3
The day started off with a brief introduction to Alteryx by JJ (Jody John Philips – Country Manager, Alteryx). It was very inspiring to see what Alteryx can do in just few clicks which otherwise will take much longer. We also got briefly introduced to the Alteryx Weekly Challenges by Craig. They were fun and intuitive ways to understand the software. I found the problem-solving aspect of these challenges super fun and a right amount of difficulty.
Day-4
The last day of week one was spent on individual projects: reworking our application vizes by joining an additional data set using Alteryx. Even though it was a Friday, I was under the pump as I had to present my project at 3pm within a stringent timeline. Thanks to Christopher and Ivy who(DSAU5 Consultants) helped me with my project. Even though I worked on this data set before, I felt much easier to blend my data as I used Alteryx this time.
I successfully presented my project to the team.
I think it’s safe to say we’ve just settled into our new environment and routines, and are excited for upcoming days!!
Please keep an eye on my wall, I will be sharing my experiences and journey!
