"Hey, Nitesh! We reviewed your application and your interview with us was great. Based on your performance and application viz our team has decided to offer you the role at The Data School.” This is the most exciting moment that has ever happened in my professional career. I can’t even put into words how excited and thrilled I am to embark on this incredible journey at the data school. So, in this blog post, I want to share my experience and key learnings that supported me in applying for and landing my dream job at The Data School. These learnings have been instrumental in my journey, and I hope they can provide guidance and inspiration to others pursuing a similar path.
1. Learning Data Fundamentals
Before diving into data cleaning, preparation, analysis, or visualization, it's crucial to understand the fundamentals of data. Numerous free online resources and courses are available that can help you gain knowledge in this area. Personally, I found great value in taking free courses on YouTube, which provided a solid foundation in data concepts.
2. Learning Tableau
There are several Business Intelligence and Visualization tools to choose from when working with data. After experimenting with different options, I ultimately chose Tableau. It has a user-friendly interface and strong community support making it an ideal choice for me as a beginner. While Tableau Public Desktop, the free version, has some limitations, it offers ample functionality for learning and exploration.
3. Building Visualizations projects
To truly grasp the power of data, it's essential to gain hands-on experience by working with datasets relevant to your industry of interest. A wealth of datasets can be found on the internet, but I explored platforms like #B2VB and #MakeOverMonday, which provided ready-to-use datasets specifically for data visualization practice.
4. Participating in Community Challenges
Engaging with the data community is a fantastic way to grow as a data enthusiast. Joining challenges like #B2VB, #MakeOverMonday, and #WOW not only allowed me to showcase my work but also opened the door to valuable feedback from experts in the data community. By iterating on the projects, creating a dashboard, and sharing it on social platforms I was able to build visualization projects to showcase on my profile.
5. Seeking Feedback and Iterating for Improvement
Feedback is a critical component of growth and development. I sought feedback from a diverse group of individuals, including my family and friends. It helped me to accept my errors and identify areas for improvement. Each iteration was an opportunity to enhance my skills and deepen my understanding of the project at hand.
Finally, for my application for The Data School, I applied with one of the projects that I created for the #B2VB community project. Additionally, in the final round of the interview, we were provided with a dataset to build a dashboard. For details on how to apply to the data school follow this link here.
The journey to get into The Data School required me with a combination of foundational knowledge, hands-on practice, community engagement, and a willingness to learn from feedback. By following these key learnings, I was able to successfully navigate my path to the data school.