Quynh Mai
This story was originally published by our partner Women Techmakers Hanoi
I am writing for myself and everyone who have been tried step by step to explore one of the hottest jobs recently. I cannot remember how many interviews I had to get a first step in data analytics area from Germany to Vietnam, from an internship to a full-time job. But all these experiences made me of today, a passionate Data Analyst.
Honestly, the most difficult part to enter this career is undoubtedly the beginning. In some interviews in Vietnam, I usually get the feedbacks like that you are not familiar with a data analytics position or you should try another position or you cannot compete with others with technical or IT/engineering background. So, if you are one of the fortunate few that have the first move, oh Congratulation! - if not, no worry, we can choose another way that can be farther or can be harder but never forget our target.
After many interviews, I realized that the domain knowledge plays a key role on the road to succeed, even more essential than technical skills. I started off my career as Market Research Consultant with little tech skills. It is an interesting job to understand customer insight as well as market trends. With gained knowledge and experiences, I can connect business performance to the data, understand and contribute immediate value to the company. In the face of rapidly changing technology, the hands-on industrial experience will be valuable. Hence, just try any job that can support you about it. Now, if you cannot move to another job as you want, just enrich your knowledge in your major.
Besides, the logical thinking and problem-solving skill are also important. Because data analytic is not only a process but also a mindset. You cannot be well equipped with a statistical background but you should know some basic terms and train yourself to have analytical thinking from solving simple problems. Sometimes the boss’s requirement is not too complicated as you think.
In order to become competitive in the market, I have been acquainted with the coding languages. The reason led me to a data career is a quantitative course using R at university. It was much challenging but enjoyable periods. And ‘the joy of always learning, which springs from the nonrepeating nature of the task’ (Henrik Warne). Currently, SQL, R and Python are more popular then we can choose a suitable one. Just google! There are a lot of free courses to study. Last but not least, any language is a tool to bring you to a large data analytics community.
Finally, whether you have been into this field or just entering, you will need motivation to push yourself because no one else is going to do it for you. But you can follow some successful leaders in this area as a role model to learn and to be shared about anything. It is a way to update and feel I am not alone in a data community and know what are happening in the world.
This is a path I stick to start my journey. I have not yet had any significant achievement and still have a long road to learn and meet my target. But I want to share my first chapter of my career after 3 years to motivate all of you who are scare or not to dare to change. Hey girls, let’s be a better version of ourselves then we can get a ‘gold medal’ in someday for all our efforts.
