After starting the data school on Monday and gaining a better understanding of what we will learn and develop, Andy suggested that you could do a blog post based on what you want to achieve from the experience. So, I thought I’d go with this idea to help me have a reference point to look back on and so future data schoolers can see some of the things you can look to get out of the experience. After writing up a list of things, there were four that stood out to me personally.

1) Improve and set myself up for a successful career in data

The data school was set up to train people to become the very best users in tableau and Alteryx so something would be very wrong if I didn’t want to learn and improve to develop a career in data! Learning how to best use Tableau and Alteryx to solve business problems and how to teach others how to use these tools will be invaluable both in client placements and beyond.

2) Gain a better understand of what is realistic within time limits

When you’re at home playing with tableau and experimenting with what you can do with data, it’s very easy to spend a lot of time analysing and visualising data. After having a strict hour deadline for #MakeoverMonday for the first time on Monday, gaining a better understanding of what is realistic to achieve in a given time limit is something that will be hugely beneficial when having deadlines in our client placements.

3) Improve my networking skills

Networking is never something that I’ve properly done. I’ve made friends in previous roles with everyone I’ve worked with, but I struggle to start talking with people that I don’t have a real reason to introduce myself to. With the data school running so many events and all the other tableau/Alteryx events out there, there are plenty of opportunities to meet new people. This is the most daunting challenge for me but is something that can be very valuable.

4) Giving back to the tableau/Alteryx community

The tableau community has helped me so much learn and improve to help me get into this role at the data school that I want to repay this by getting more involved and helping others. I’m not sure exactly what this will entail but hopefully it will be a good mix of inspiring others with visualisation ideas and teaching other’s the things I have learnt.

And although I’ve only taken baby steps into the Alteryx community, they have some great exercises for newbies such as myself and an active forum which I can learn from. So, it would be good to get involved and find out more about this community.

These aren’t the only things that you can get out of the data school and my personal goals are likely to evolve over the four months training we get. It’s an exciting place to be!