99: Is a Data Analyst Bootcamp REALLY worth it? w/ Melissa Kings

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[00:01:00] That's the whole point of doing the projects and doing the write-ups so you can share them far and wide with anybody you're interviewing with or you want to talk to or whatever.

[00:01:09] I put the link to my portfolio in my email signature now because I got sick of typing check out my portfolio, so I just put it in there.

[00:01:16] So, that goes on every email I send it's right there in my signature.

[00:01:20] Welcome to the data career podcast, the podcast that helps aspiring data professionals land their next data job.

[00:01:27] Here's your host Avery Smith.

[00:01:29] What's up everyone and welcome back to another episode of the data career podcast. I'm your host Avery Smith.

[00:01:37] In this episode, I'm pretty excited for you guys to listen.

[00:01:40] We are kicking off the month of March with an interview from Melissa Kings, who is actually a student inside of my bootcamp, the data analytics accelerator.

[00:01:50] My original goal was just to get someone that was like more than halfway done in the program to try to give you guys a feel of what it's like being inside of a data bootcamp.

[00:01:57] What do we cover? Is it worth it? Does she enjoy stuff like that?

[00:02:00] And so I think Melissa at the time when I talked to her about doing this was in module eight.

[00:02:05] And the sense recording, she finished the final two modules, took her about two weeks.

[00:02:10] And then she had two job offers as well.

[00:02:12] So this kind of turned into more about how Melissa went from being a teacher to landing some job offers.

[00:02:19] But that was not my original intent. So it's kind of a hybrid episode of like Melissa's story of a transitioning teacher to landing job offers, combined with what's it like being inside of a data bootcamp.

[00:02:30] So it's kind of both of those.

[00:02:31] I'm excited for you guys to listen to what she has to say kind of her insight into her journey, especially as, you know, someone who's a busy mom, who has a job, who's a teacher, how is it going on this journey?

[00:02:43] I think it's a pretty interesting episode before we get into it. I just have a few things. I'd love to plug.

[00:02:48] Number one is a very GPT. If you haven't checked this out yet, please check it out.

[00:02:53] It is absolutely free. You can find out my website. You can find the show notes down below.

[00:02:58] It's basically an opportunity where you can get a more career and data focused chat GPT.

[00:03:05] So chat GPT's offs awesome, obviously. Use it all the time.

[00:03:08] But it's not very specific. It doesn't really know a lot about how to land your first data job.

[00:03:12] This is all about how to land your first data job, how to transform in your data career.

[00:03:16] So take a listen. If you haven't already, the second thing is I am just about to release by the time you're listening to this, it'll come out tomorrow.

[00:03:25] A program with Asa Howard, I interviewed Asa earlier in the podcast.

[00:03:30] He basically had no background in data analytics and was able to get multiple job opportunities by cold messaging people.

[00:03:37] So what we've done, we've kind of taken his approach of cold messaging and his approach in the job hunt.

[00:03:42] And we've created a really awesome, short, impactful course.

[00:03:47] It's called the job hunt. Short cut. Geez, and it's hard to say, job hunt shortcut.

[00:03:52] And it's debuting tomorrow. We'll actually have a link for all that information down below.

[00:03:56] You guys can check it out. It's going to be awesome. It's going to be affordable.

[00:03:59] And I really think it's going to transform a lot of the ways that you guys are approaching the job hunt.

[00:04:03] Instead of just spray and praying, thousands of resumes out there and getting all these rejections,

[00:04:08] we talk about a more targeted approach that's easier to do, and it's more successful.

[00:04:12] So it's like, why not give it a shot? Right? And I worked for Asa, it worked for me as well.

[00:04:17] So that is coming out. And I think you guys are really going to enjoy it.

[00:04:20] So be on the lookout on my LinkedIn for more content with Asa.

[00:04:23] And then down the road, I'm not going to, I'm not going to quite tell you what's coming down the road.

[00:04:27] But something is coming mid March, think pi day March, okay? March 14th.

[00:04:33] Something big is coming. And I'm really excited. I'm really excited for you guys.

[00:04:38] I've been working on this. Man, how am I working on this? Well over six months.

[00:04:42] Probably about nine months. And I haven't really told that many people about it yet.

[00:04:47] And I'm really excited for you guys to see it. It's, it's not a course. It is a software.

[00:04:52] It's super fun. There's nothing else like this on the market. It's going to help you

[00:04:56] do better and interviews, practice your interviews. And that's, I've already said too much that's

[00:05:00] all I'm going to say for now, that I should be coming out in about two weeks on pi day.

[00:05:05] So keep market calendar right now for pi day. It's going to be a really fun day. We're going to

[00:05:10] have a lot of fun. And um, okay, that's all I'm going to say for now. Let's go ahead and hop into

[00:05:15] most of this episode. You guys can find the links for all that stuff I just told you in the

[00:05:18] show notes, the description down below. Check them out. We got some good free stuff going on.

[00:05:22] And always just trying to help you guys is a data career. Um, hopefully you guys are finding

[00:05:26] these resources helpful. Um, let's go ahead and get into Melissa's episode now.

[00:05:30] Welcome back to another episode of the data career podcast. I'm here with Melissa Kings.

[00:05:41] One of the students inside of my boot camp, the data analytics accelerator. Melissa,

[00:05:46] thanks for joining us on the data career podcast. Yeah, thanks for having me. I'm glad to be here.

[00:05:51] Yeah, we're stoked for you to be here and kind of give us an insider perspective of what it's

[00:05:55] like to be a student inside of the data analytics accelerator. But let's start a little bit about who

[00:06:00] you are. So you're, uh, transitioning teachers. Is that correct? Yes, still kind of teaching

[00:06:06] virtually just to kind of bridge the gap. So my next career opens up. Okay. Well, we'll talk about

[00:06:12] the potential openings that might be coming from that career. But give us little background about

[00:06:17] like, what you've maybe taught in the past, what your education is and so forth. Yeah. So my research

[00:06:23] that I did kind of opened my eyes to math elementary math and there weren't any openings at the

[00:06:29] time. So I did pre K and then I taught fifth grade where I got to dive more into math and then

[00:06:34] there was opening for seventh and eighth grade math. So then I was just doing math all day and it

[00:06:38] was great. And I really liked that using my brain in that way. So and learning new things. So

[00:06:44] That's what I had taught. I'd been in the classroom for 10 years. And then honestly, after the

[00:06:49] birth of my son, after my daughter was born, it was COVID. So we were kind of just trying to make it.

[00:06:54] But after the birth of my son, I realized that I needed something where I could work remote

[00:06:59] and be more plugged into my family. And, uh, that's what led me down this path to

[00:07:03] discover what was out there for math teachers with kind of one skill set where what other areas

[00:07:10] would need that specific skill set. And then also what skills I could learn along the way

[00:07:15] through your program and things like that. So I've been teaching and then wanted to see what else

[00:07:20] what else was out there? Make sense. Okay. So you're teaching, you're teaching math, you have two

[00:07:25] kids. Does that mean kids? You have, yep. Okay. Two kids. Awesome. And you're like, hey, I want to be at

[00:07:31] home more with them. I want to see them more often. Teachers have such long work weeks. My mom's a

[00:07:37] teacher and like she like she's like Avery, call me back when it's like Saturday night after five.

[00:07:44] That's what I can talk about. That's like my, that's what I can finally, you know, clock out. I mean

[00:07:50] she's not in clock. Dude, it's like all salary, right? Because because for whatever reason, she

[00:07:55] wants to help kids. I mean, that's a great reason. But you're like, I want to help my own kids.

[00:07:59] Right. That's what you're kind of thinking. Right. Yeah. And they commute and everything. It was,

[00:08:02] I live about 30 minutes from the school I was working at and then daycare's ten minutes in the

[00:08:07] opposite direction. So the commute was just, it was too much. Something had to give and it ended up

[00:08:13] me looking for me work. Okay. Well, I don't think you're to blame there. And you said you kind of mentioned

[00:08:20] earlier, you're thinking data because it could be remote, but also you have like all this math that

[00:08:26] you've used in the past. And maybe that's the place where you can kind of do both those things.

[00:08:30] Yes, absolutely. I actually, I just had an interview a little while ago where I was talking about

[00:08:35] just the idea of like linear regressions. How I taught like the very beginning of linear regression

[00:08:40] and seventh and eighth grade. And then now it's like I get to talk more about what I'm a chair grown up,

[00:08:46] linear regression is and does, using my, using my data skills and my data analytics skills. So

[00:08:52] it's kind of like I'm seeing both ends of the spectrum here, like from start to finish. So it's been,

[00:08:56] it's been really neat. But yeah, definitely love a math numbers patterns. And anywhere I can

[00:09:01] make that understandable. Anyway, I can help the numbers tell a story is that's how I've really,

[00:09:07] really fond and love with data analytics to be able to tell that that story behind what those

[00:09:11] numbers are. Awesome. And you're being, you're being a little bit humble. Melissa's had

[00:09:16] a lot of interviews in the last, last two weeks. Maybe too many interviews, which is a good problem

[00:09:21] and had several offers that we'll get into here in a second. And actually, when I originally,

[00:09:27] when I originally asked you to come on the podcast, I think you were talking to one of those

[00:09:31] companies, but I don't think you were talking to the other company quite yet, or maybe you just

[00:09:35] started. So a lot, a lot has happened in the last two weeks. Yes. Like you said, almost two

[00:09:41] minutes, I gotta keep them straight. We're sure that's a good problem to have though.

[00:09:45] So you're interested in becoming a data analyst. How do you stumble upon the data analytics

[00:09:51] accelerator? How do you stumble upon me? Remember, like the first time you ever saw my ugly face

[00:09:56] or red or red or something I wrote or something like that? Well, okay, so I kind of found it through

[00:10:02] LinkedIn. I had a kind of just a general career coach before. And that was helpful for like

[00:10:07] kind of formatting resumes and how to navigate LinkedIn just just to get started, you know,

[00:10:13] just that base level of coming from education, nobody's on LinkedIn. So understanding that there's

[00:10:18] the whole wide world out there on LinkedIn and that there is a place for me in this world. And so

[00:10:23] I found you through Courtney Ballard, another former math educator turned data analysts

[00:10:30] with your help. So that was, I just would look at her page and look at her projects. I mean,

[00:10:34] just like, how's on day? I will make these projects. And I am so I had done a data science course

[00:10:41] that I got through being a veteran spouse. And that was all paid for. So that was really great.

[00:10:47] But there were no projects and there were no analytics who's that was really more data science

[00:10:52] oriented. So so I watched the videos and I clicked along and that that was fine to kind of get

[00:10:58] a little bit be able to participate in the conversation and know a little vocabulary. But as far as like

[00:11:03] making projects and even more so, like putting the projects out there for the world to see,

[00:11:09] I really loved what Courtney was doing with your help through the program. So that's how I found

[00:11:13] you. And I knew I wanted to do your program because I have, I had vetted other programs. I

[00:11:18] done that data science point because it kind of fell into my, into my lap inside that one.

[00:11:22] But I was looking at other programs through other like even companies that are international

[00:11:29] and that kind of thing. And I know they have that they would assign you a mentor and that kind of

[00:11:34] thing. But what I really was drawn to was using LinkedIn in this way and making projects,

[00:11:41] having a portfolio to show. And then the community, like in the first lesson, you say,

[00:11:46] go find 10 people in data analytics and go friend them, you know, like you're connected

[00:11:51] them on LinkedIn. That is such a thoughtful way to just build up the community. So I was really

[00:11:57] looking forward to that support. And it has more than delivered on feedback and advice and just

[00:12:04] even asking questions. Why won't my code run, you know, that kind of stuff as well. So that's

[00:12:09] what drew me to. That's how I found you. And that's what drew me to your program over other

[00:12:14] programs. That's great. That's some good to hear. Yeah. Courtney's story is an awesome story. And I'm

[00:12:21] proud of you, because you saw Courtney's profile and you said, yeah, I want my LinkedIn profile to

[00:12:27] look like that. I want to have a portfolio like that when I have projects like that. And you actually

[00:12:31] did something about it because a lot of people, a lot of people will, you know, see that and they'll be

[00:12:35] like, yeah, I want that too. But they won't really take action. And not only did you take action,

[00:12:40] you took you took massive action. You joined DAA. And now actually my guess, because Courtney kind

[00:12:46] of kind of got, I won't call it lucky because Courtney's an amazing human being, but Courtney

[00:12:50] actually landed her job, like halfway through the bootcamp. And so we actually like went to work and didn't

[00:12:57] finish the game exactly like, I don't want people to finish the bootcamp. I don't care. I don't

[00:13:01] really get jobs and you know, start working. So now you probably have more projects than Courtney now,

[00:13:06] which is which is amazing. Maybe I know for a while in there, I started to like ask everyone around me

[00:13:13] for their data like hey can I just like

[00:13:15] analyze some of your data, you know, like, can I help you just be like a pro bono data analyst?

[00:13:21] So I can learn and you can have some cool graphs like, can we just do this? And so my trainer

[00:13:25] at the gym, he had some data from a weight loss challenge and I did that project kind of on my own.

[00:13:31] I did the LinkedIn project, um, extra, you know, kind of that you had mentioned in the program as

[00:13:36] another project. That was really cool too to see those numbers go through the roof too. So yeah,

[00:13:41] I started to accumulate projects and then kind of started to filter through like, okay, which

[00:13:45] ones can I like this project you start? Is the best one if it's the one you're going to finish

[00:13:51] kind of thing? I said that wrong, but you know, when I'm at, I don't remember the exact words,

[00:13:55] but I was like, okay, yeah, I have so many ideas for projects like I got I got I home in a little

[00:14:00] bit. So, yes, that that was really, really appealing because and that works too. If I can talk for a minute

[00:14:06] on that, when I had I had interviewed with the company like over the past month or so,

[00:14:12] and I sent them projects like I said, oh, this role is marketing. Here's a project I did that

[00:14:19] focused on marketing. You know, with the door dash one. Oh, here's a project that I did that

[00:14:24] focused on education and I would send that and they circulated it through their team and they said,

[00:14:28] okay, we really want to talk to her, you know, and so it was great to be able to say,

[00:14:33] yeah, here's my portfolio, but here's the specific project that you might be interested in.

[00:14:36] which has been really neat too to analyze all the different day like I didn't know anything about

[00:14:41] manufacturing data and you know, iron purity and all that. And so now to be able to say, okay,

[00:14:47] I may not know what your entire company does, but I've done a project in this space to

[00:14:51] a little bit again, like maybe have a seat at the table to you know, enter into this conversation

[00:14:58] is really helpful coming from coming from education where all you know is education,

[00:15:03] you get your feet wet in all these different areas, which is really cool too. So I know that was

[00:15:08] thoughtfully designed and I really appreciated that. Good, I'm so glad to hear that. Yeah, for

[00:15:14] for those of you who weren't aware, one of the things we do in the data out like accelerator

[00:15:18] is we do, it's about like eight different projects and those eight different projects span

[00:15:23] eight different industries. So you can do what Melissa says and let's break down what you said

[00:15:28] because one, a lot of people that go through the program actually, you know, they'll create the

[00:15:32] project. So we start with a marketing project. And then we actually do an education project since I

[00:15:37] work with a lot of transitioning teachers and then we do a finance and a healthcare project,

[00:15:40] the sports projects, stuff like that. But a lot of people just do the projects and what you do is

[00:15:45] kind of what we talk about the the second half of the program or really, really the second half

[00:15:49] of my whole method, the SBN method is you network. So one of the things I love that you just said

[00:15:54] is you took these projects that you created and you're like, Oh, this is a marketing company that

[00:15:58] has an opening. I'm going to reach out to them. I'm going to show them my marketing project

[00:16:03] and they're going to like me. And what you're saying it sounded like as you said, it led to an

[00:16:06] interview, is that right? It was. Yes, it does. Yes. Absolutely it does. Yeah. And it did. And then

[00:16:12] yes, with the education one as well, I said, Oh, here's my education data and they say, Oh, okay,

[00:16:16] you know, it already gets you in their mind of thinking that you can help fill this role or fill

[00:16:21] this void in their company because you've already done it at least with some other data, you know,

[00:16:26] because there would be no reason for you to have access to their data. But with the data that you

[00:16:30] do have access to what have you done with it, you know, and so that was, yeah, super empowering to

[00:16:35] be able to say, Oh, I can, I can have this conversation with you. What you're doing is being proactive,

[00:16:42] which is, which is really powerful for employers because that's one of the best traits that an

[00:16:47] employee can have. Recently, one was for actually a position inside of my company,

[00:16:53] data career jumpstart, and the other one was for some handyman jobs that I had. So I was looking to hire

[00:17:00] someone to like finish some some stuff at my house, right? And this person would not stop messaging me.

[00:17:07] They would not stop like they basically like, Hey, I'm coming over today ready. Here I come,

[00:17:12] and I finally was like, All right, well, you're hired because you're already here, right? And then

[00:17:15] the other person that I was potentially going to hire for data career jumpstart, just started doing

[00:17:21] stuff. They just started like actually like solving problems that I had in my business. And I was

[00:17:25] like, All right, well, fine, I'm just going to pay you because you're already doing it. So

[00:17:28] I think that's kind of what you did. You also did something really interesting recently, which is

[00:17:33] something that we talk about in the bootcamp, which is you saw a job opening. I'm going to try to

[00:17:38] leave this company in person anonymous so we don't flood their DMs, but you saw a job opening at

[00:17:44] a company. You saw that I had a connection to someone at that job company. You reached out to

[00:17:49] that person and said, Hey, you know, I'm a neighbor's bootcamp. I saw you're connected. I saw this job

[00:17:54] opening. You know, I think it was maybe a marketing role. So here's a marketing project I've done

[00:17:58] in the past. And he actually took that your resume and showed it to the hiring manager, right?

[00:18:03] I think so. I can't cause I think he connected us an email and then because there weren't any

[00:18:08] openings at his current company or the position I applied for was not remote. So I knew it was

[00:18:14] a long shot, but I saw your connection. I thought, Okay, maybe we can maybe we can work this out.

[00:18:19] But yes, then he said, Hey, you should look at this other company. So yeah, what happened was

[00:18:24] he showed your resume to the hiring manager and was like, Hey, what do we think about this girl?

[00:18:29] Yeah, and because you were not in Utah, you weren't really eligible for this for this role.

[00:18:33] Right. Unfortunately. And so he's like, Yeah, no, sorry, not a good fit. And also that job,

[00:18:38] that job might have been a little senior. You probably could have gone to, you might have been

[00:18:43] considered for an interview in Utah. And then you could have earned it with the interview. But regardless,

[00:18:48] that didn't work out. But the cool thing is when you're networking is it opens up all sorts of

[00:18:52] doors. So this person was actually like, Well, actually, maybe, look at this company, they hire more

[00:18:56] remotely. It's a little bit more an entry level position maybe. And so now you actually have an offer

[00:19:01] for an entry level position data position because of this networking. Yes, big. It's because of the

[00:19:08] networking. And because of able to find, it was, I think it was in the networking module that I

[00:19:13] was in and I was doing those, those strategies like find a company or find one of your connections

[00:19:20] and you were very helpful to say, if I'm connected, then I'll connect you, you know. And so,

[00:19:25] yeah. So yes, that networking piece is so valuable. It's really like literally half, if not half,

[00:19:33] maybe a third of the battle, which, which I feel like when I was getting my education, both as

[00:19:39] a chemical engineer. And then when I got a master's degree in data, I was like, man, there's

[00:19:43] not actually a whole lot of whole lot of networking. And when I look back at my last like,

[00:19:48] with my last honestly, and this is coming from a position of one of luck and privilege, I'll

[00:19:54] totally admit that. But two, there's some hard work in there as well. My last 10 jobs, like,

[00:19:59] it's all because of someone I knew, it's just because well, okay, one of my first job,

[00:20:06] I cold emailed, like, 20 people. And I got like the worst job ever. And then I got a job because

[00:20:11] of someone I knew. And then I got a job because of someone I knew. And then I got a job because

[00:20:14] someone I knew. And then I got a job because it's like all about who you know. But you have to put

[00:20:18] yourself in the right spot, because it's like, you're getting, you're not necessarily getting

[00:20:22] this offer because someone you knew, because you didn't even know this person, but you got to

[00:20:26] this person by reaching out, saying the right things, and at least, you know, opening the door in

[00:20:30] this case. Right, exactly. Yep, that's exactly how it works. Which is awesome. Congrats on that.

[00:20:37] I do want to ask you mentioned that like, there's like the networking aspect of the program,

[00:20:42] where for the people listening, where are you at in the program? Are you done at the beginning

[00:20:46] in the middle? I'm like 99% dead just working on my catstone project, trying to figure out

[00:20:52] that, which we'll talk about in a minute. But yeah, I've done all the modules. And done the writeups

[00:20:59] that for those who, in the program or considering the program, it is so fun to go through the modules.

[00:21:05] And then you have to do the writeups. Does that sarcasm or did you actually think it's fun to do

[00:21:10] the remote? No, I like it. I mean, because the modules are great. Like you're clicking along,

[00:21:14] you're doing it. I mean, that's how I like I love mark complete, mark complete. That's great. Like,

[00:21:19] that just really, you know, makes me feel really productive. But then you gotta do the writeups.

[00:21:24] So it's like, you gotta go back through it again. And, you know, do your writeup along the way,

[00:21:29] but really sticking to that format. And even if like there was one that I was like, I,

[00:21:34] I don't have it in me to actually type a writeup for this one. And I had done several

[00:21:39] typed LinkedIn articles. How you tell us how to do. And so I said, I'm going to do a video writeup

[00:21:44] for this one. And so that was easier for me to handle on that. It was the NBA one, which I shouldn't

[00:21:50] I should, nobody should talk to me about the NBA at all. But I was able to share my analytics

[00:21:56] insight on that one through a video because I didn't have the capacity to actually type it,

[00:22:00] although some people might feel the other way around like, oh, I can knock out an article and

[00:22:05] videos scare me or whatever. But, but anyways, the different formats of the writeups were,

[00:22:10] we're good too, because and, and the, the template that you gave us to follow to do the writeups

[00:22:16] is very helpful. So, but that always seemed to be like, I'd get it done. And I'm so glad to have it

[00:22:21] done. And then I got to do the writeup. But then it's like you get the feedback and kind of the,

[00:22:26] the adrenaline of posting your own LinkedIn and all that replies and everything. And so it all kind

[00:22:30] of comes full circle there. And once you do that writeup, it just feels so good to be able to post

[00:22:36] it on LinkedIn and share it. You know, that's the whole point of, of doing the projects and doing

[00:22:41] the writeups. So you can share them far and wide with anybody you're interviewing with or

[00:22:46] you want to talk to or whatever. I put the link to my portfolio in my email signature now

[00:22:50] because I got sick of typing check out my portfolio. So I just put it in there. So that goes on every,

[00:22:55] every email I send, it's right there in my signature. They want to, they want to look at it.

[00:23:00] So, so anyways, yeah, the, the writeups were like the necessary evil at the end. But,

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[00:24:09] I love that because yeah, like Melissa said, we have, we have basically like 10 different modules.

[00:24:17] Each module has a different project, with a different history focused on

[00:24:20] with a different skill set. So it goes, I think Excel, Tableau, SQL, SQL, Tableau, Python,

[00:24:27] are like power bi capstone project. And so you've, you've done all of those now. So you've

[00:24:32] collected all of your badges. We give out badges for each one. The more importantly, you've

[00:24:35] published a project for each one. And one of the things I like to say, I'm posting the badges,

[00:24:40] but I've, that's okay. The badges, they're actually interesting, interesting thing about the badges.

[00:24:45] And that's, they're really just for you. Really at the end of the day, it's just like a fun,

[00:24:50] I really, I grew up playing Pokemon, and I love like in Pokemon, you collect badges. And it's

[00:24:54] like really, it's like the gamification of it all because a bad, a certificate is great. It doesn't

[00:25:00] actually really show anything. And I think what you've kind of found by cold messaging these,

[00:25:04] these recruiters and these having managers is, okay, great, certificates, great badges, great.

[00:25:09] But like, can you actually prove it? And that's what this portfolio has done. And I love that

[00:25:12] you stick it in your email signature. I know when I was looking for a job, I got so sick of like

[00:25:19] finding it, the link, copying and pasting it, that I actually made a shortcut on my iPhone,

[00:25:23] whenever I type out P, O, R, T, it would automatically transfer to my portfolio. Yeah, but I've never,

[00:25:31] I've never taken it off. So like, I haven't shared my personal portfolio in years now,

[00:25:35] but whenever I type out portfolio, I have to like go delete my URL and just type out the word

[00:25:40] portfolio, so it should probably change that now. Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah. Also, one of the

[00:25:47] things you mentioned was like there's networking modules. So that's one of the things I think

[00:25:50] makes DAA different and I think you mentioned that earlier, what else do you feel like has made

[00:25:54] DAA different compared to maybe other programs or education things you've been in the past?

[00:25:58] Kind of like I mentioned earlier, the community, because right now, we're in the when we're in the

[00:26:03] heartbeat program, we've got it all organized and then even the private messaging too, which is

[00:26:08] a great way to get a hold of you to ask you questions or that kind of thing and get feedback too.

[00:26:14] Like because in the modules, you can comment on there too. But in the heartbeat, you can

[00:26:19] in the heartbeat chat or whatever the questions are, you can there's so much support. I mean,

[00:26:24] ranging from all kinds of things like what what to say in an interview or I'm scared to apply

[00:26:29] for my first time. Like I put that in as I can care to apply for my first time.

[00:26:31] with all this stuff on there because I haven't gotten to the Python module and I

[00:26:36] remember you said and everybody else said just do it just put it on there. You're

[00:26:40] going to learn it and it's buying the passport right before you go on the trip

[00:26:45] is putting the the Python in your resume before you learn it. I don't know why I'm

[00:26:49] picking on Python but maybe because it's the last one but but I'm like I don't

[00:26:52] know you know because it came to that point in the program where I was like okay

[00:26:56] you have to actually apply now and I'm like well can I just click along and do all

[00:26:59] these projects? Like well no you have to actually apply. So it's great to get

[00:27:02] that support too from the community and I think just all the different

[00:27:06] strategies you have for networking too are really interesting like going

[00:27:09] through your phone contacts. I think I got to like the B's or C's and I was

[00:27:13] like whoa this could be really like I this would take me a month you know but

[00:27:17] but I did try that for about a week I went I would kind of message two or three

[00:27:20] people a day and just tell them my whole thing and send them my portfolio link

[00:27:24] and in their phone so they can click on it and look at it you know and then at

[00:27:29] least you know if even if they don't respond they've clicked on it and they're I'm

[00:27:32] in there I'm in in their brain to think about some kind of data position in

[00:27:36] their company or someone else's company and have me connecting with parents of

[00:27:39] former students that I taught when I used to give out my cell phone number I

[00:27:43] don't do that anymore. But you know I had I've message all kinds of people I

[00:27:49] thought that was really neat too so I tried that approach. So yes that

[00:27:52] definitely the networking having a portfolio to share and the community

[00:27:57] inside the data analytics accelerator. I like that too because I'm I feel like I'm

[00:28:01] still part of it even though I'm about to be done because I just connect it with

[00:28:05] another math teacher and he said he actually told me he said you're the

[00:28:09] reason I joined the program and I was like oh my gosh so I was so glad and now

[00:28:12] he's posting it got his excel done he got his tableau done so shout out to

[00:28:17] Alejandro because you're killing it so anyways that it's just great to be

[00:28:20] part of that community especially with educators wanting to see how else they

[00:28:24] can expand their impact on the world and and you know bridge their skills

[00:28:29] over to data analytics as well because there is a place for you in data

[00:28:31] analytics. That's so awesome to hear it's super fun to because like I've been

[00:28:36] doing this for about three years now and obviously I've gotten to see a lot of

[00:28:39] different people go through with land jobs and stuff like that but I kind of

[00:28:42] forget a lot of it because it's like I'm managing I'm not managing like

[00:28:46] thousands of people but I'm managing hundreds of people right we have hundreds

[00:28:50] of people in this program which I think is actually kind of the sweet spot for

[00:28:54] for like inactive community because we get enough messages where it's like

[00:28:58] not a ghost town but we don't get too many messages that you can't like

[00:29:01] actually like sort through them all I feel like it's actually good amount and we

[00:29:05] only have you know so many people active at a certain time but I've done this

[00:29:08] for for a long time now that we're almost at like 500 students or something

[00:29:11] like that and I always forget what I say to different people and who I said it

[00:29:14] to and so fun to see the impact of I totally remember you asking like oh like I

[00:29:19] don't know Python should I put on my resume yet like I'm no I'm gonna do this

[00:29:23] module should I care about it and I was like yeah just do it and start applying

[00:29:27] because you have to start applying you can't just be doing the projects and now

[00:29:29] you get receiving offers and like doing all these interviews it's super fun

[00:29:34] to see that come to a full circle yeah thank you I'm excited now I got to sort

[00:29:40] through this thank you said I'm not a bad problem to have but I got to make

[00:29:45] I'm not a bad problem to have at all and I do I do think one thing that's unique

[00:29:49] is we also have like we have we have like students who are very similar like

[00:29:53] you have we have a lot of math teachers we have a lot of people who are in

[00:29:55] sales we have a lot of people who are immigrants to the US or to Canada or

[00:29:59] something like that we have a few international students as well but like

[00:30:03] not really like there's very there's very few in fact like I was thinking

[00:30:07] about like who's like the most unique in the program like who is the most

[00:30:10] unique career I was thinking oh we have some some airplane stewards I think

[00:30:16] we have multiple we have like three so I was like oh crap that's not even

[00:30:19] that's not even unique so it's really fun to be in this community and like

[00:30:22] actually see hey I'm actually not on the weirdest career journey of all time

[00:30:26] there's other people similar to me yes yeah and I think that's that's what's so

[00:30:32] important too it's like because I know I've been I haven't been in the classroom

[00:30:37] teaching like I got this virtual teaching job back in October but making time

[00:30:42] for it too I think that was probably up on the agenda to talk about too but

[00:30:47] making the time to talk about it and kind of starting that networking now I

[00:30:51] mean you can't wait till spring break for teachers this is for all the

[00:30:56] teachers don't wait till spring break don't wait till summer just start it

[00:30:59] now because with some of these companies the hiring process is so slow

[00:31:04] like so slow because you think I mean I know when I was started down this

[00:31:09] journey I would sit in an application thinking oh my gosh am I ready to start

[00:31:13] working tomorrow like you know because I was coming off eternally even

[00:31:16] I'm like okay it's so does not work that fast at all ever anywhere so you've

[00:31:21] got to start networking and applying just do it now because everyone's going to

[00:31:26] place a place to make this out of plan for spring break everyone's gonna be fine over the summer but if you're hearing this and seeing this now you need to start get out there you know join a

[00:31:35] Rees Bootcamp you know get on their start networking now it's really really makes a big different it does.

[00:31:41] Let's let's talk about your schedule so as a as a working busy mom of two when did you find time to do this program actually I should

[00:31:49] look how long did it take you do you know how long it took you I have planned for 10 weeks I was gonna

[00:31:55] really stick to that but I probably I'm more like 11 or 12 now I started it I started the week of Thanksgiving

[00:32:01] affect as any any indication you probably can find it quicker than I did yeah I have I have November yeah right right before thanksgiving November 19th so that's like two months that's like eight weeks plus a week there plus a week of interviewing.

[00:32:18] So you're like you're like a basically 11 or 12 so that's still pretty fast especially especially over the

[00:32:25] holidays yeah like Thanksgiving can be like a dead week like the Christmas week can be a dead week and at this point you have

[00:32:32] interviews so it's or you have offers so it's like you're pretty much there so yeah you're looking 12 weeks which is actually pretty good that's like actually

[00:32:38] pretty good thanks yeah I kind of sat in my mind to have a job by February one and I had an offer by February one

[00:32:46] but I I wasn't able to take that but yes I really wanted to and I know from my schedule too like so I teach in the mornings just for a couple hours virtually

[00:32:56] and then I would log on I go downstairs have lunch and I'd come back up and log on so I was able to I kind of had a different schedule than where I wasn't in school all day and then try to work on this at night.

[00:33:07] but but yeah so I know my situation maybe kind of rare for some teachers because I did have I was able to dedicate a lot of time to each week to really get it done.

[00:33:16] But even still like listening to I would find I would search out things even if it was out of order I would search out things that I could listen to.

[00:33:25] while taking my kids to take care or while taking you know doing laundry or like trying to make dinner whatever it was like because yes there is a part where you have to dedicate you guys sit down and learn you got it be a computer learning type in figuring it out.

[00:33:38] Redoing it you know re watching segments of videos over and over whatever it is like you have to dedicate that time so I want to make sure that's.

[00:33:46] very clear that there is a time commitment in down heads down screen time that you have to commit to but there are also components that you can seek out like this part or you know.

[00:33:57] The videos explaining things where you have especially in the beginning we have a lot of those videos just like teaching us you know, and if you learn auditorily that's that you know go right ahead do your.

[00:34:09] do your morning job while listening or whatever it is so there's there's different components now you can always find something.

[00:34:15] To watch so that when you get to that module you're like okay I remember hearing about this I remember watching this and it makes it that much more familiar so you probably make private you work through it quicker once you get there because you've already heard it.

[00:34:26] So yes, I know I had kind of a rare schedule opportunity to be able to get this done at this pace but I did still have to focus and sit down and dedicate and can I get wish out to the when you're.

[00:34:39] stuck that lesson yes because that oh my gosh I think there was and I think it was like the first module the excel or something and I forgot a space or something and.

[00:34:51] I was just I was kind of that and but there was you had that like 10 step guide to work through.

[00:34:58] I talked about that in one of my interviews I said I you know what do they do the question was like what do you do like how do you approach problem solving or something else like well actually.

[00:35:07] I just did this and I was able to use this especially the rubber deck thing you know I went and got one from the back.

[00:35:14] into the deck and I'm like oh there it is you know so go for a walk with the dog whatever it is and then come back and see it more clearly and then you can find your.

[00:35:24] Your mistake but anyway so no I loved that and that was very much a talking point of one of my interviews of like okay I will I'm going to use these resources because.

[00:35:34] Like we talked about earlier there they're well thought out so I'm going to use this strategy to find my error and go through and make those changes you know and it may take two hours I mean you come back to tomorrow whatever the case is but anyways I love that was very helpful.

[00:35:49] I'm so glad to hear that I'm glad you use that wait for those of you who aren't in the program which is less you guys listening we have like this lesson about like.

[00:35:57] If you're stuck this is like the 10 step process how to get unstuck and I'm just glad to use it with a list of like I can't even tell you.

[00:36:04] I'm calling calls of people out so many people don't use that lesson and when they asked me to fix it for them and I say okay I'm going to go through the 10 steps and try everything so I already tried those things so I appreciate you using them and I also appreciate you calling out that.

[00:36:18] I do make an effort I realize everyone's busy and I'm trying to do this as fast I'm trying to help you transfer a career which is not easy thing to do as fast as we can.

[00:36:27] And so like for instance, I created the member only podcast which is basically a sister podcast to this podcast that's only for the members of the bootcamp that you're supposed to listen to when you're jogging or working out or doing the laundry taking your kids to school so I appreciate you you know calling that out but congratulations to you for sticking pace it's not an easy to thing.

[00:36:46] one of the things that does make DA different than for instance like a master's degree is I let you do it at your own time in your own pace there's not like a due date for homework assignments which is awesome for the flexibility but a lot of people struggle with it because there's nothing really pushing you to do it so wait wait to push yourself and get through that.

[00:37:04] that week we check in though it's true on that same note too you know when you have people doing that bi weekly check in especially when you when you blast it to us say hey check in you know it's been two weeks.

[00:37:15] You know sometimes people are mostly everybody's really honest on there and they'll say you know the past two weeks I've been sick I haven't got anything done on my kids have been sick whatever it is there.

[00:37:25] But it's really nice to be able to post within that community hey I got through model six and seven because they'll know what that means you know like the

[00:37:34] film they'll know well you must really worked really hard you know and I networked with all these people and my portfolio is coming along so it's it's really great to not only share all that like externally on LinkedIn but be able to kind of say in that check in like yeah I'm doing this work you know and then you can also see other people that are kind of going at the same pace I remember there was one person eight inside who was right ahead of me the whole time.

[00:37:57] So I got to kind of see like oh okay this is what's coming up you know so that was neat to find somebody just just two or three steps ahead the whole time I don't know if he's landed the job yet but I don't either I don't know but anyway so that was cool to watch him like oh okay in a couple weeks I'll be doing this in a couple weeks I'll be doing this and this is his approach and everything and.

[00:38:17] So yes that biweekly checking helped keep me accountable because I wanted to have something to put in there other than oh I haven't done anything you know so so anyways, but yes it does have that flexibility component as well.

[00:38:28] Which is great well Melissa thank you so much for giving an insight of what it's like to be inside the the data analytics accelerator I so appreciate it.

[00:38:37] yeah thank you I love it I mean anybody interested in this path you just do it just take that leap it's going to be new uncomfortable territory but that's how you grow and if there's any teachers out there I know that you say the same day to your students so now you get to be the student so just do it just join the group.

[00:38:56] Hey we'd be glad to have you Melissa thanks for being here.

[00:38:59] All right thank you.

[00:39:01] How awesome was Melissa I hope you guys enjoyed our story and this episode if you want to learn more about the data analytics accelerator please check the show down below to check out the website as well as the webinar webinar I'm going to teach you what skills you need to learn how you can actually get paid to learn analytics.

[00:39:25] And how to find awesome jobs and once you find those awesome jobs how to actually land an interview and get hired it takes about 45 minutes and the majority of it is explaining that at the very end I talk about the bootcamp and I'll explain everything that you need to know about what it's like to be a member inside the data analytics accelerator and maybe even giving you guys a discount I don't know gonna check it out to find out see you guys in the webinar see you guys in the next episode.