BI Dev/Data Analyst/Data Science and Careers (Official Discussion Thread)

[greenvale]

Well I got an electrical engineering degree, I plan getting a masters in another year or so, but I was curious about maybe get into cloud or data to do on the side in the future versus my main career path, so that’s why I wanted to see what jobs will be looking for
Is it possible to potentially do data as secondary job? Like maybe some wfh job I could do while doing a 9-5?

Most of these jobs can be demanding in the sense of you'll need to have data ready by x time in the day, and if something breaks you'll have to drop everything to fix it. Unless you're freelancing I'm not sure you can manage that on top of another 9-5

 

[Gritsngravy]

Most of these jobs can be demanding in the sense of you'll need to have data ready by x time in the day, and if something breaks you'll have to drop everything to fix it. Unless you're freelancing I'm not sure you can manage that on top of another 9-5

Ok

 

[Secure Da Bag]

Machine Learning for Everybody

 

[adexkola]

An underrated way of getting in the door: contractor roles.

Companies that need contractors aren't as interested in vetting them as they are full time hires. They want someone who can hit the ground running. And 3rd parties (staffing firms) who help companies fill those roles do rudimentary vetting to ensure your qualifications are legit before passing you on.

Once you get in, it's not a piece of cake, you still have to deliver, but under a different level of scrutiny. And based on your performance, the company may decide to convert you to a full time employee.

Speaking from experience here. I fukking hate the typical interview in tech, it's damned near degrading.

 

[Macallik86]

Finna take some time off in 2023, but that's my plan to get back in the field for sure. Downside is having to figure out your own benefits (insurance, retirement accts, etc)

 

[adexkola]

Finna take some time off in 2023, but that's my plan to get back in the field for sure. Downside is having to figure out your own benefits (insurance, retirement accts, etc)

Time off to relax or study for a different/better role?

 

[Macallik86]

Time off to relax or study for a different/better role?

Both. I've been in a Reporting Analyst role for the past +7 years and could use a break. Also in terms of studying, I was promoted into the role, so my skillset was sculpted based on company needs, which was a limited scope of SQL querying & running pre-written macros.

Without a deeper understanding of the fundamentals, I struggle with telling a coherent story w/ data, or following a structured path when analyzing data. It has gotten marginally better over the last year, but I do feel frustrated with the gaps in my skillset and want to sort it out before the next employer.

Planning on ~6 months to decompress but also for books/courses/practice. I might also volunteer for some open-source projects/not-for-profits to get additional reps in w/ meaningful data.

 

[adexkola]

Both. I've been in a Reporting Analyst role for the past +7 years and could use a break. Also in terms of studying, I was promoted into the role, so my skillset was sculpted based on company needs, which was a limited scope of SQL querying & running pre-written macros.

Without a deeper understanding of the fundamentals, I struggle with telling a coherent story w/ data, or following a structured path when analyzing data. It has gotten marginally better over the last year, but I do feel frustrated with the gaps in my skillset and want to sort it out before the next employer.

Planning on ~6 months to decompress but also for books/courses/practice. I might also volunteer for some open-source projects/not-for-profits to get additional reps in w/ meaningful data.

That's actually not a bad idea at all. If implemented properly it'll be worth it. Could potentially double what you're making now.

I wish I had the luxury to take 6 months off, that would be gold. Maybe in a few years

 

[Macallik86]

I'm able to pull Sheets directly from Google Drive thanks to this tutorial. It beats having to download files locally every time:

How to Access Google Sheets from a Jupyter Notebook

Step by step tutorial to read a Google Spreadsheet from Jupyter

ploomber.io

 

[Macallik86]

Interesting concept turning a question into a SQL query. Could be the future for writing SQL in general. I'm playing around w/ it now but not into Twitter enough to have a solid use case yet

 

[greenvale]

Interesting concept turning a question into a SQL query. Could be the future for writing SQL in general. I'm playing around w/ it now but not into Twitter enough to have a solid use case yet

Scust at that first query with multiple subqueries. They can make all the tools they want, but it will be a waste of $$$ if it isn't efficient.

 

[Macallik86]

Scust at that first query with multiple subqueries. They can make all the tools they want, but it will be a waste of $$$ if it isn't efficient.

Definitely could've made do with an inner join.

Not sure why they're ordering their nested query either now that I'm paying more attention

 

[Macallik86]

Next week is my last week of work at my job. I plan to be unemployed through at least September.

I've got a few projects scoped out for my lil sabbatical, but I'm also mulling a strong pivot into whatever lane is carved out thanks to ChatGPT/large language models. IMO the writing's on the wall that it might be the biggest disruptor this side of touchscreen phones & personal computers, so I want to get in on the ground floor for some job security. The problem is, I don’t know where/how to get in where I fit in. @Secure Da Bag you seem like the person most in-tuned w/ the space so interested in what you have to say, but anyone with any opinion can weigh in.

My current working theory is based on Power BI... Microsoft made a bet on Business Intelligence going mainstream so they put a quarter billion into Power BI in 2020 and bundled it with their O365 product. Fast forward to 2022 and Power BI is a sought-after skill set in the job market... Now, with OpenAI, Microsoft are making a $10 billion bet, so I think that they are suggesting that the technology will permeate much of the needs of future employers. I like the scenario this reddit comment spun up as an example

My question is what are the skills required to meet employer needs when chatbots/AI become more mainstream in 1-2 years?

For example, let's say companies are all training chatbots using pre-existing customer-interaction data via messages/emails/phone calls. What skills would I likely need to assist in that process? Azure OpenAI seems like the tool that will be pushed to companies, so should I jump into Azure in general, should I get some ML Certs from Microsoft, should I take some ML courses on Udemy, should I do all of the above, or am I barking up the wrong tree completely?

Open to any advice!

 

[Primetime]

Ok so Microsoft is sunsetting it's MCSA certifications (among others) on 6/30. I'm looking to get certified to pad my resume post-recession and so I want to squeeze it in and be able to put it on my resume.

A lot of posts online suggest that the free edX Power BI course (Analyzing and Visualizing Data with Power BI) is pretty straightforward and goes a long way in terms of the Microsoft's Power BI test.

To confirm, how useful was this course for the Power BI cert exam? Was it enough to take the test right after?

 

[Secure Da Bag]

I've got a few projects scoped out for my lil sabbatical, but I'm also mulling a strong pivot into whatever lane is carved out thanks to ChatGPT/large language models. IMO the writing's on the wall that it might be the biggest disruptor this side of touchscreen phones & personal computers, so I want to get in on the ground floor for some job security. The problem is, I don’t know where/how to get in where I fit in. @Secure Da Bag you seem like the person most in-tuned w/ the space so interested in what you have to say, but anyone with any opinion can weigh in.

My question is what are the skills required to meet employer needs when chatbots/AI become more mainstream in 1-2 years?

Learn how to use natural language to explore data with Power BI Q&A - Power BI

Overview of using Power BI Q&A to explore your data and create visualizations by using Power BI Q&A with natural language queries.

learn.microsoft.com

Between that and Data Engineering/Data Warehousing, this is where a lot of data efforts will go.

I don't think I ever got an alert for your tag. Sorry for the late response.