I transitioned into Data last year, and in November I landed a role at a large company where I live. The department was entirely manual and only used Excel. They needed someone with experience in data tools like SQL, Power BI, and Python to automate processes and build dashboards. I joined the company without an official Data title, as assistant, but my work is the same as a Data Analyst/BI. Around the same time, another person was hired to work with data with the same level of practical experience as me, zero. Even without a Data Analyst in the team to guide us, we managed to develop several dashboards, automations, RPAs, and more recently I was working on a forecasting project using Prophet in Python.
Now, after a few months, I’m being hired as a Data Intelligence Analyst by a global company that is facing the same issues my current job had, everything is manual. I performed very well in two interviews with the managers and another with the company’s Data Specialist, who even complimented me and said I had strong knowledge. This is the kind of role I always dreamed of when I made my career transition, and the company is one of the best where I live. I’ll be earning twice what I make now, including benefits, but I don’t feel that prepared, since I’ll be “the data guy" for an entire department in a global company.