My Data Analytics journey with Thinkful: Part 1
An intimate dive into my personal experience as a student in Thinkful’s Data Analytics Flex course.
Goal of this series.
The goal of this multi-part series is to provide others a resource that I myself could not find when I was on the fence of joining the Data Analytics Flex course at Thinkful, or just any bootcamp at all. I intend to utilize this series as a medium (ha) for me to be able to provide an overview of some of my favorite features of this bootcamp, as well as a detailed look into the Data Analytics program from the perspective of one of its students.
My background.
TL;DR: I do not come from a formal background in Data or Mathematics.
To keep this section somewhat concise, I will briefly go over my educational background, as well as the jobs I have held previous to joining this bootcamp. I graduated from Georgia State University in 2017 with a Bachelors degree in Marketing. Since then, I have held several Marketing positions over the years. Coincidentally my positions have, in one way or another, touched the surface of data. This could be in the form of a database of clients in Salesforce, a giant Excel file of product information based on vendors, and so on. Most likely, you’ve probably been exposed to data in many aspects of your daily life as well.
Although data in general peaked my interest, I was previously not aware of career paths such as Data Analyst/Scientist, nor was I aware of the various online bootcamps that would even allow me to transition into these fields without going back to college. Furthermore, I was — and still am — interested in going the more creative route, which is how I find myself where I currently am: a Marketing Graphic Designer at an e-commerce company. So alongside this current full-time job, I am enrolled in Thinkful’s Data Analytics Flex in order to transition into my first Data Analyst — or similar — position.
Why Data Analyst?
Ah, I’m glad you asked. Reiterating the last few sentences of the previous section, I am currently a designer. I am also a freelance photographer on the side, so as you can already tell, being able to flex my creative muscles in my work is very important to me. With this new and growing interest in data, I was afraid of being in a position that would not allow me to be creative in any way. However, my love for Data Analytics comes from the fact that I can have both. I can immerse myself in all things data; be able to gather, clean, organize, and analyze it; and I can be creative during the organization of the data, visualization of the insights and presentation of the data.
As for leaving the design realm in general, that’s twofold. For one, I believe that in my current role, there isn’t much more to be explored or gained at this point. I am, in a sense, plateauing in this field. But the more pressing reason is my growing love for data. I want to be at the forefront of this modern data revolution, and being able to find valuable insights from data that would otherwise be useless in its raw form, is something that excites me. Put simply, I love to be a creative problem solver.
Let’s begin…
OK, down to the meat of the article. But, before I dive in, here are a couple more disclaimers to the series:
- This. Is. My. Personal. Experience. In other words, take it with a grain of salt. I might have some aspects of this program that I struggle with or may think needs improvement. This might not be the case for you or other students. However, I want to include as much as I can to, again, be able to provide that full experience and express my own personal findings/opinions when going through this program.
- I will not be providing certain, specific information regarding the Thinkful curriculum and its Data Analytics program, as I feel that it is a disservice to them. Essentially, I will dive into things that I love about the program, specific topics that I’ve learned that have stuck out to me in some way, shape or form, and just my general take on the overall bootcamp and the resources that it provides. As of writing this first article to the series, I am about a third of the way through the program.
All that said, let’s get to it; starting with features that I love about Thinkful.
[Simplified] Overview of Thinkful’s Data Analytics Flex program.
Here are some aspects that stood out to me in this online bootcamp:
1. Flexible and online.
As previously stated above, I am employed as a full-time Designer while enrolled in this program. Flexibility in program schedule was a major factor in me being able to even consider going this route. I — as well as a lot of others — am in no place to be able to quit my current job and pursue an immersive, full-time course through any of these bootcamps (which, by the way, Thinkful does have an option for in-class, fully immersive programs if you are interested). Therefore, being able to enroll in a flexible, online Data Analytics course was perfect for me. It is advised that “Flex” students such as myself utilize 20–30 hours a week (includes weekends) towards this program. Personally, I have been doing well with maintaining around 20–24 hours a week and staying ahead of the grad plan.
2. Mentor sessions.
These are one-on-one mentor sessions that occur twice a week. They are about 45-minutes long and are fairly flexible, if need be. These sessions are invaluable, not only to your success in the course, but beyond this program as well. Your mentors can be important connections down the road that help put your name out in some of the companies that they‘re associated with, or have worked for in the past.
3. Slack community.
One of my favorite aspects of this bootcamp is the use of the Slack communication app to form a Thinkful community of both students and mentors. Within the app, students can provide feedback to other students, chat about the program in general, and make lasting connections. Thinkful also provides help in the form of “Technical Coaching.” With that, students can post what they’re currently stuck on in the program, and one of Thinkful’s coaches will help walk that student through the problem they’re facing; all online. It’s one of the best resources and features of Thinkful.
4. Cutting out the fluff.
This is an important one. Granted, the idea of these online bootcamps in general is to cut out the fluff that traditional colleges/universities don’t. In my opinion however, Thinkful does a fantastic job of cutting through and leaving the utmost important skills and takeaways from key topics. For myself, I believe this program’s six month length is perfect in terms of pace. There are other bootcamps that offer programs that are three, four or five months long, but I had to be real and ask myself if it’s worth it to rush through these topics. Hell, six months in and of itself is short compared to a four year degree.
5. Capstones to take.
A more lasting resource tied into the curriculum are capstone projects. These projects are graded and presented online for the program, but more importantly serve as portfolios and resume boosters to your overall applications when job hunting. They provide students with the perfect conversation piece in interviews and allow for more of an edge when applying as someone without any previous work experience around data analysis.
So far…
Again, I won’t go into too much detail as far as specific modules in the curriculum and what it exactly goes over, but I thought I’d provide a brief summary of where I currently stand in the program in each part of this series. I am about a third of the way through the course, and so far it’s been a great experience getting a deeper dive into Excel. I have always had some interaction with Microsoft product in college and/or my previous work experiences. However, the functions and formulas taught in this course have opened my eyes to the vast potential of Excel and how it comes into play in data analytics. This powerful tool is something that I find myself wanting to learn more of, and eventually be as well-rounded in as the other, more sought-after skills, like SQL and Python.
The program also goes over the art of presenting, and I can appreciate these modules being that I am always looking to improve my presentations and overall crowd presence. Currently I am on my first capstone project, so the presentation modules have helped to supplement my learning and overall confidence in delivering. I’m excited to be able to present my insights online to my fellow students in a couple of weeks. For now, it’s all about bouncing ideas back and forth with my mentor around what to focus on in the project.
My mentor has been an amazing resource and connection throughout this program. She is always on time to meetings, attentive, and most importantly, genuinely cares about my success; not only in this course, but in my path to transitioning into my first data role. She is also very flexible when it comes to any need to reschedule, or if I accidentally forget or are late to a meeting. I cannot be more thankful for her assistance and time. All in all, it takes both the student and mentor to work hard towards creating this connection and bond. Sometimes, it takes time and openness to be able to click, but it is definitely worth working towards, as your mentor is your direct contact and overall anchor in keeping you centered and focused on completing this program, and seeing this career transition through to its fullest extent.
This concludes part one of my summary of experiences at Thinkful as a Data Analytics Flex student. More to come as I progress through the course and complete my first capstone project, start on SQL modules and work through other obstacles in the program with the help of my mentor. Feel free to follow my journey, as I dive further into the data world.
UPDATE: As of July 16, 2020, I have successfully graduated from the program and have written the second and final part to this series, found here. Enjoy!
As always, thank you for your time in reading my articles. I hope these posts were able to answer questions that you may have had about this program. Feel free to follow my data analytics career search journey, now that I have officially graduated with my certificate from this bootcamp. As a career coach, I also post various career advice and tips/tricks in applying for jobs and overall motivational content. If this resonates with you, feel free to check out some of my other articles related to this topic through my profile.
