Louise's 2018 in Data

by Louise Le

This time last year, I was a final year Medical Engineering student without a clear career path. Now, I’ve graduated and I have a job that I love – more than I expected to have by this time!

 

Fig 1. My greatest accomplishments in 2018

 

2018 has been an amazing year and I’d like to take a moment to say I am so thankful for my family and friends for supporting me throughout and to everyone at the Data School and the wider data community for welcoming me. Now, on to a recap of the year…

 

 

A New Job – The Data School

In August 2018, I discovered the Data School and then Tableau. In September, I got the phone call from Andy saying I’m in the Data School! DS11 started our 4 months of training in October (only a few weeks left until we graduate!) and it’s been tiring and brain-melting but exciting and motivating.

I love my job. Well.. at least the the Data School bit. Let’s see how I deal with placements.

If you’re thinking about applying but are unsure whether you can make it/ handle it, just apply! Go for it. It’s been tough but it’s the kind of work that engages you. Your brain is always ticking – not like a mind-numbing number-punching office job, eh? Check out the many great reflective logs on the Data School blog to get an idea of the experiences of others.

 

 

Tableau

The Tableau community has been one of my favourite things to participate in this year. There is so much great content out there by people who really love Tableau and data. The community is such a great place to build your skills, get inspired and nerd out.

Since August, I’ve published 17 vizzes onto my Tableau Public profile (see Figure 2). I’ve noticed I’m leaning heavily on colourful vizzes…

 

Fig 2. Latest vizzes on my Tableau Public profile

 

 

Have you seen your #VizInReview yet? Josh Tapley has created a brilliant viz (available here) which allows you to view your top vizzes of the year and other stats. It’s super cool to see my year in this way. It gives me loads of targets for next year!

Fig 3. My VizInReview

 

 

This year I also became a Tableau Qualified Associate. 😀 😀 😀

Check out my blog on which resources I used and how to ace your exam here! As I (like many) have been experiencing Imposter Syndrome, passing my QA has made me feel like I really do know my stuff and has given me a little confidence booster.

 

 

Alteryx

This year in Alteryx, I have done a number of Weekly Challenges (though yet to upload any) and the biggest thing I’ve done is teach Alteryx data prep (Figure 4) to the public! This was for DS11’s teaching week. Teaching Week is a tradition of the Data School, but this was the first time we taught the public. Don’t worry if you missed out! DS11 will be teaching the same content soon, in the form of a free webinar. Stay tuned for more details (join our Meetup group here). I plan on writing a post about teaching (both in person and virtual) with my experiences and teaching tips from myself and more experienced teachers here at the Information Lab.

 

Fig 4. DS11 teaching week

 

 

Blogging

In 2018, I published 19 blog posts to the Data School blog. I’m pretty pleased with this number but I hope to beat in in 2019 and continue to share what I learn, in hopes of helping you!

Blogging was really tricky at first. It felt awkward to write but I just did it anyway. Although my earlier posts may not be the best (neither are my posts now), but I did them and now I’m more comfortable expressing myself through this medium. After graduating from the Data School, I will be blogging on the Information Lab blog, so be sure to check that out! Also, I always post my blogs on my personal blog, so definitely check me out there (link)!

Fig 5. My personal blog

 

 

Targets for 2019

  1. I would like to be a Tableau Certified Professional in this year (or hopefully the first half of 2020)
  2. I would like to have my Alteryx Designer Core certification this month and Advanced later this year
  3. I will beat my Tableau Public viz count of 16
  4. I want to practice public speaking, so I have signed up to do a Tiny Tableau Talk. Watch this space!
  5. I would like to continue participating in the Tableau community

 

 

So, we close the book on 2018 and welcome 2019.

 

That’s all, folks!

 

Louise

Check me out my blog feedmedata and follow me on @FeedMeData_

 

4 mins read

Thu 31 Jan 2019