My first step into data analytics(career switch)
It has been approximately 4 years since I embarked on a journey to change my career from accounting to data analytics. It was a scary jump for me as I did not have computer programming back then. Furthermore, I jumped off to the deep end of the pool by going into machine learning and software development. If someone were to mention that it really seem like a lot of hard work is needed, my answer would be “you are right!”.
Getting my first job after career switch
Before graduating from my masters course, I actually told myself that I would want to make plans to move to USA to find a tech job. From my point of view, I felt that places like Silicon Valley would be a great learning ground for me to grow as a tech person. However, I was being contacted by a recruiter just few months before ending my last module in my masters course. Based on the scope given, it seems very related to data as it involves SQL and data handling. I decided to give it a shot as at that point of time I was unemployed because I wanted to take a break from work to focus on my self-development and studies. It might be a good opportunity for me to start my journey in the data analytics career.
Shortly after, I was asked to go for an interview and I had a chance to meet with the hiring manager. The interview went well even though I remembered that I do not have substantial projects because I just entered into this field. Interestingly, 5 minutes after I left the premises after the interview, I received a call from the hiring manager and she asked me to turn back to the office to talk to the HR personnel.
I was really surprised as it was the first time that it happened. When I returned to the office, the HR personnel told me that the hiring manager is interested in offering me this job. Even though I had on-the-spot offers before, but I never had it before from a MNC. The HR even told me not to take up other offers from other companies if they were to offer to me.
They managed to speed up the process of forming the contract to send to me to sign. It was also very nice of the HR to keep checking in with me to inform me that the offer is in preparation and ask me to be patient with the process. I accepted the offer eventually and started my work as an analyst in MNC bank.
My first technical scope
When I embarked on this role, I had a good opportunity to use a software that I did not utilize when I was in my masters course. Even though we used SAS Enterprise Miner for our machine learning assignments, we did not use SAS Base to perform data mining and SQL queries. It was my first time using the software to query relevant information from the database.
My initial impression of the scope was that I would be able to use python, a programming language which I became well-versed during my masters day. I didn’t expect that I would be using a lot of SQL queries instead.
My first analytics project
Most of the time when you first start your job, you may have a honeymoon period for a short while. I did had mine because I entered the job during the December period when most of the staff were clearing annual leave. When the new year started, I was being assigned to my first analytic project. I was being tasked to study the New to Bureau policy to come up with alternatives to adjust the policy so as to improve revenues for the lending business.
As a beginner who knows nothing of how an organisation runs their analytics project, I was hoping to get some guidance on the domain project. In reality, you are pretty much on your own and you are expected to produce some deliverables. On top of that, you have to be very familiar and well-versed in the analysis of the project. That’s when I learnt a lot about systems, type of relevant data and how to use SQL effectively.
Challenges in the first project
To be very honest, the real world project is very different from how we envisioned when taking on the course in school. Reason being, there are many conditions to consider and it is not as simple as an instructor providing a use case or scenario for you to go and study. It is likely that project is starting from scratch and you have to come up with your proposal to present to the management. There were so many unknowns for me to discover.
Besides the unknowns in the project, I also struggled with SQL in the beginning because I did more python than SQL during my master course days. Though it is quite interesting that I am now a SQL instructor but I really did struggled back then. Putting information together was not as intuitive to me when I first started on the project.
Communication with stakeholders and peers
It is definitely tough to get things going because you have to know your way around the company. This involves a lot of communication with peers and stakeholders. This also forced me to be firm and be more expressive in my thoughts. To be very honest, it was pretty tough for me because I didn’t know what are the expectations and requirements of the project. I just know that I have to deliver something and hopefully it is of value to the management.
My team is very bonded as we try to help each other whenever we are stuck with certain tasks. However, because we are assigned to different teams and have different people to report to, it is very hard to work on each other’s projects and seek advice. Sometimes, I do get simple replies like “Most of it, you have to decide on your own. I can only help you until this part.” As much as I appreciate the help, I do still feel helpless at times because there was a lack of mentorship or training that I can rely on.
Eventual results
With a lot of help from my colleagues in my team, I did managed to put together a project which eventually got approval from the head of the department. It was still hard to explain my proposal because I did not have enough training or understanding on the subject matter. Nonetheless, it was definitely a great experience and it allows me to fill up the gap that I was lacking in the past.
The journey ahead
I think that there are a lot more to share about my journey as I went on to take other data analyst roles. I will share more of it in the future. I believe that in this industry, it is a never-ending journey and we should always keep ourselves on our toes and push ahead. Be open-minded and grasp every opportunity that is presented to you.
