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Why pay to learn data skills when you could get paid to learn instead? Letβs explore the options and find what works for you.
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β TIMESTAMPS
ο»Ώ00:21 Learning for Free
01:13 Paid Learning
02:53 Getting Paid to Learn
04:58 Company-Sponsored Learning: Courses and Degrees
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00:00:00
Avery: So you want to be a data analyst.
00:00:02
Well, there are three main ways
that you can learn to become one.
00:00:05
Number one, you can learn for free.
00:00:07
Number two, you can pay to learn.
00:00:09
And three, my personal favorite
is to get paid to learn.
00:00:13
And in my opinion, this
is the best option.
00:00:15
I mean, who wouldn't want to learn?
00:00:17
To get paid to become a data analyst,
but it might seem impossible, right?
00:00:21
But in today's video, we'll discuss how I
did that and how you can do the same, but
00:00:25
let's start with ways to learn for free.
00:00:27
There are lots of really
cool ways to learn online.
00:00:30
And if you're listening or watching this
on YouTube or via your podcast player, you
00:00:34
found the two best resources in my mind.
00:00:37
YouTube and podcasts are free
education that honestly, A lot of
00:00:41
the time are better than the Ivy
league educations, in my opinion.
00:00:45
So if you enjoy learning for free and you
enjoy learning on YouTube or via podcasts,
00:00:49
go ahead and hit that subscribe button.
00:00:51
Subscribe to my channel because every
week I am putting out free new data
00:00:54
content and it'll help you learn.
00:00:56
Now, of course, there are other
resources like Khan Academy or W3
00:01:00
that will help you learn as well.
00:01:01
These have pros and cons.
00:01:03
The pro is it's free
and it's easy to access.
00:01:06
The cons are obviously there's not
really any help if you get stuck.
00:01:09
And some of the material can be a
little bit superficial sometimes.
00:01:13
And if you're feeling that way, well
then of course you can pay to learn.
00:01:16
There are so many ways to pay to learn.
00:01:18
The number one way probably is
by getting a college degree.
00:01:21
In the past for data, most of the
college degrees were like master's
00:01:25
degrees or PhDs or something like that.
00:01:27
But now there's a lot of undergrads in
data science and data analytics as well.
00:01:31
These routes are probably going to be the
most expensive and they're going to range
00:01:35
probably from 20, 000 to maybe 60, 000.
00:01:39
There are some degrees that are going
to be a little bit less, but regardless,
00:01:42
this is a pretty expensive decision
because you're going to be having a
00:01:46
professor, you're going to be having TAs.
00:01:48
You're going to be on campus a lot
of the time, and it's just pricey.
00:01:51
Then, of course, there are boot camps.
00:01:53
A lot of these boot camps are going
to range between 10, 000 to 30, 000.
00:01:57
It's basically like a college experience
packaged into a 6 to 12 month experience.
00:02:03
A lot of these are going to be
from universities, but they're
00:02:06
actually not ran by the university.
00:02:08
But they can be just fine, but unless
you do a bootcamp like mine, the data
00:02:12
analytic accelerator, that's affordable,
it's going to be quite pricey.
00:02:16
If you want to check out my bootcamp, you
can look in the show notes down below.
00:02:19
I tried to make it as good as a regular
bootcamp, but at a fraction of the price.
00:02:24
Then of course, there's the Google
data analytics certificate or the IBM
00:02:28
data analyst certificate or whatever.
00:02:29
There's all these different little
mini courses that you can take.
00:02:32
These are obviously a lot
cheaper, but once again, do
00:02:35
not have any of the hands on.
00:02:36
So you're kind of back to the free boat.
00:02:38
It's just like premium free, basically, at
that point, I don't actually recommend the
00:02:42
Google data analytics, sir, or the IBM,
sir, because I don't think they actually
00:02:45
teach you all that much useful stuff.
00:02:47
Sure.
00:02:48
It's good stuff, but
they give you too much.
00:02:50
It takes too long and they're
not teaching you the right stuff,
00:02:52
but that's for another video.
00:02:53
Let's talk about getting paid to learn.
00:02:55
What do exactly do I mean by that?
00:02:56
And here's the truth.
00:02:57
It's going to be pretty rare for
you to get paid to learn data unless
00:03:01
you are employed in a data position.
00:03:03
And that kind of seems like a chicken
or the egg thing where it's like, or
00:03:06
how am I going to get paid to learn
data unless I have a data position?
00:03:09
Well, I did a position.
00:03:10
I probably already know data.
00:03:12
And that's only half true.
00:03:13
The truth is there's actually lots of
data jobs where you don't have to know.
00:03:18
All that much.
00:03:19
You definitely have to know something,
but you don't have to know everything.
00:03:22
So it's like, there's data jobs
out there where you only have to
00:03:25
use Excel, or you only have to use
Tableau, or you only have to use SQL.
00:03:29
You don't need to learn Excel,
SQL, Tableau, Python, R,
00:03:32
JavaScript, Power BI, SAS.
00:03:36
all these different tools,
it's not going to happen.
00:03:38
It's impossible to learn all
those things and it's going
00:03:40
to take you way too much time.
00:03:42
So instead you can just learn the basics.
00:03:44
You can just learn one and then get paid
to learn the rest of those on the job.
00:03:48
And you might be thinking,
Avery, I don't believe you.
00:03:50
Like how the heck, why are these
companies going to hire me?
00:03:53
Why are they going to pay
me to learn these things?
00:03:55
And it's actually very
common in the data industry.
00:03:57
Companies want their analysts.
00:03:59
To learn and improve.
00:04:00
And it's really a win win for everyone.
00:04:03
If you want to look at it optimistically,
it's very positive for them because you
00:04:07
are improving and they're excited to have
you improve and they're excited for you
00:04:10
to continue to add to their organization.
00:04:13
If you want to look at it cynically,
you can think of they're hiring
00:04:15
you underqualified and they're not
going to pay you as much because you
00:04:19
don't have all the requirements or
you don't have all that experience.
00:04:22
And it's actually cheaper.
00:04:23
To hire you and train you than
it is to hire someone who already
00:04:27
knows and who's already qualified.
00:04:28
They're just not going to bump you up
nearly as much when you get qualified
00:04:32
as they would hiring qualified.
00:04:34
That's a cynical way of looking at it,
but either way you want to frame it.
00:04:37
These companies want to teach you.
00:04:39
They want to help you improve.
00:04:40
And the truth is, if they didn't,
they would be screwed to be honest,
00:04:43
because data is always evolving.
00:04:45
Like it is impossible.
00:04:46
To be in the data space and stay stagnant.
00:04:49
If you stay stagnant, if you don't
learn, you're going to fall off.
00:04:51
And data is money.
00:04:53
They can't afford to not be performing
well in their data analytics division.
00:04:56
So they're going to help you learn.
00:04:58
So let's talk about the three
different ways that they're going
00:05:00
to help you learn on the job.
00:05:02
Number one, companies
will pay for your courses.
00:05:04
And this can happen in a
couple of different ways.
00:05:06
When I worked for ExxonMobil,
they honestly paid for
00:05:10
my learning all the time.
00:05:11
A very simple way that they'd pay for
my learning is everyone at the company
00:05:15
has a LinkedIn Learning account.
00:05:16
Basically, Exxon pays LinkedIn a
bajillion dollars a year for all of
00:05:20
their employees to have unlimited
access to all of LinkedIn Learning.
00:05:23
So instead of paying whatever the 40
bucks a month it is to have access to
00:05:27
LinkedIn Premium, including LinkedIn
Learning, you get that for free.
00:05:30
So when I was at Exxon Mobile, I took a
Power BI course, I took a stats course,
00:05:35
I didn't have to pay for any of them.
00:05:36
They'll also pay for maybe
like in person training.
00:05:39
So actually when I was at Exxon
again, I had the opportunity to go
00:05:43
to downtown Houston and attend a two
day seminar from the godfather of
00:05:47
data visualization, Edward Tufte.
00:05:50
In that training, I actually got all
four of Edward Tufte's books, and I
00:05:54
actually got to hear from him and learn,
and I took so many notes, and I became
00:05:57
so much better at data visualization.
00:05:59
And I didn't pay A dollar for
that training and actually
00:06:02
when I was at the training, I
still got my, you know, salary.
00:06:04
It's not like I had to take off
work to go to that training.
00:06:07
It was absolutely unbelievable.
00:06:09
Way number two that a company
will actually pay you to learn
00:06:11
is they'll pay for a degree.
00:06:13
A lot of the times this will be
a master's, but sometimes it can
00:06:16
be a bachelor's degree as well.
00:06:18
So this happened to me when I was at
ExxonMobil, they helped pay for my
00:06:22
master's in data analytics, even though
I already had a data job, they were
00:06:25
encouraging me to continue my education.
00:06:27
This actually occurred with one
of my students, Rachel Finch.
00:06:29
Let's listen to what happened to her.
00:06:30
You have a pretty fun announcement
in your learning journey as well.
00:06:33
You want to share with the audience?
00:06:35
Yeah.
00:06:35
So I started my master's in analytics
just a week ago now through Georgia Tech.
00:06:42
So I will be taking that
journey for a while.
00:06:46
But I'm really excited about that too.
00:06:48
And that was one of the, you know,
negotiation points is after six months,
00:06:52
my company gives a really large stipend
towards education, which was just like
00:06:59
what I would have had at Anheuser Busch
is just a fraction compared to this.
00:07:03
So it really am getting paid to learn
that and in downtime on my job, they
00:07:09
promote like the LinkedIn learning
courses, get to watch a bunch of
00:07:12
tutorials and Tableau and Power BI.
00:07:14
So.
00:07:16
Really what you say about getting
paid to learn is such a big thing.
00:07:19
Avery: And this is totally common.
00:07:20
A lot of the times companies
will pay for master's degrees.
00:07:23
A lot of the times you have to stay
at the company X amount of years to
00:07:25
get that full tuition reimbursement.
00:07:28
But this is a great option, especially
if you want to get a master's degree.
00:07:31
The third way that a company will
pay you to learn on the job is
00:07:34
you just will learn on the job.
00:07:36
Like that's just part of it.
00:07:37
Like you cannot do your
job without learning.
00:07:40
And so I'm actually kind of embarrassed
to admit this, but when I started my
00:07:43
data job, I didn't know SQL at all, but
obviously I had to figure out how to use
00:07:48
it because they were using it on the job.
00:07:49
And so I kind of just figured it out.
00:07:51
Like I had some, my teammates helped
me and show me, Oh yeah, this is
00:07:54
how, you know, you write SQL code
and your teammates, your peers,
00:07:57
they're more than willing to help.
00:07:58
And of course you can just use Google,
any of the free resources that we talked
00:08:01
about earlier to be learning these things.
00:08:04
Instead of learning them on your own
time and on your own dime, you're
00:08:07
learning them at work, at a work
computer, at your desk, on work hours,
00:08:11
and man, that clock is ticking and you
are making some cash along the way.
00:08:14
So all this to say, my philosophy
is let's get your foot in the data
00:08:18
door as quickly as possible by
only learning the bare minimum.
00:08:22
Minimum, the basics, because you can
spend the rest of your life learning
00:08:25
Python, learning machine learning,
learning D3, learning data visualization,
00:08:30
whatever it is, mastering SQL, even
like that stuff takes a lot of time
00:08:34
and you don't have a lot of time.
00:08:35
You don't have a lot of money.
00:08:36
We got to get you in making more
money as quickly as possible.
00:08:40
So that way you can
provide for your family.
00:08:41
You can spend on yourself, treat
yourself, go on a vacation.
00:08:45
Like we need you learning on the
company dime as soon as possible.
00:08:49
And the way that you do that.
00:08:50
is by learning the bare minimum
and landing a data job as quickly
00:08:53
as possible and then getting paid
to learn the rest on the job.
00:08:57
That's actually my whole philosophy behind
my bootcamp data analytic accelerator
00:09:00
is like, I want to teach you the bare
minimum that you need to land a job.
00:09:03
So we focus on Excel, SQL, and Tableau.
00:09:05
We build projects, we focus on
networking, and we're trying to get
00:09:08
you a job as quickly as possible so
you can learn the rest on the job.
00:09:11
If you're thinking, Avery,
how the heck do I do this?
00:09:14
I understand.
00:09:14
I want to do it, but how do I do it?
00:09:16
Well, I have good news.
00:09:17
I encourage you to sign up for my
free data career newsletter, where
00:09:19
I share strategies on how to do this
every single week, all for free.
00:09:23
And if you're ready to start learning
the basics, I suggest that you start with
00:09:27
this episode here on what data skills
you should know and how to get started.
00:09:32
I'll have that linked in the
show notes down below as well.
00:09:35
Good luck to you guys.
00:09:35
And let me know how I can help
in the comments down below.
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