Documenting my Data Journey of 90 Days a Novice: Week 1 of How Far?

Introduction

The idea behind 90 days a novice is to attempt to create a roadmap that beginners or peers looking to get unstuck in their journey can rely on to achieve success. Success is subjective. However, I'm evaluating how successful I've become in my journey by securing my first job as a data professional.

I've come across friends and acquaintances that want to change career path either because they are unhappy in their current job role or have identified opportunities in newer roles that they believe will give them more job satisfaction. What they mostly have in common is the enemy of not knowing where to start from. Here is my advise, visit my blog more often for weekly nuggets. Lol. On a more serious note, just start! That's really what it comes down to.

pexels-tara-winstead-6690248.jpg

Source: pexels.com

Background

Let's get familiar! I completed the Google Data Analytics syllabus on Coursera 4 months ago. While this is a good course for getting started I wouldn't recommend it if your plan is to take an intensive program that will allow you achieve your goal of securing a data analyst job in the short time path. The course is too long in my opinion and lacks projects that should be spread out at intervals over the course of the program. At the end of the program, I struggled with completing the capstone project in the manner I wanted to because I knew all these terms but how to apply them in my analysis I struggled with and was stuck for a while.

All things considered, I would only recommend if your intention is to get started!

This Week's Tasks

  • Evaluate two case studies and use the insights gained from studying them to investigate the datasets made available to me and complete this task in two weeks. (Deadline 5th June, 2022)

  • Setting up my data engineering environment tools. Deadline (7th June, 2022)

Good News

I got into the Data Analytics nanodegree program on Udacity sponsored by ALX. Exciting right?! What you should know about ALX? ALX is a leadership group in Africa with the mission of transforming the tech ecosystem in Africa. They have different career paths learning opportunities for enthusiast and I highly recommend them if you're looking to make a career switch or grow in your career.

Reflection

How my week went? I carried out tasks in my present role as a product manager and I had backlogs I needed to complete and was able to unblock issues that extended to this week's tasks. What I want to introduce into my career development in the field of data is a todo-list/management tool, a tool integrated into my agile workflow cycle to improve productivity, transparency and accountability. It's important to keep tabs on my daily tasks, this data gathered will be relevant in mind mapping my roadmap to a successful career in the field of data.

Tip of the day💡 Find a management tool or to-do list tool that resonances with you. I'm presently using monday.com and I also recommend clickup.com . This tool will be useful in monitoring my progress and will serve as a key performance indicator for evaluating my goal of securing a job in the shortest time path. What I could have done without, how to get unstuck and what's a must to instill in your growth.

Conclusion

Malcolm Gladwell's thesis states that

It takes 10,000 hours to learn a new skill

He goes on further to explain why it's so hard to learn new skills, how to decide which skills to focus on and more. I'm here to journal how untrue this is, and document how much I can achieve in 90 days as ought to 10,000 hours.

How far? is a popular slang used in the social circle in Nigeria to determine how much progress you've made or know what's the status or update on a subject; it's direct and skips all the pleasantries. How far have you gone? It's important to cultivate the habit of taking this kind of inventory. So here goes nothing. How far?

Bernard Ai: Not good enough, I was unable to complete all my tasks set out for the week. New deadline set, you've to do better man!