Ready, Set, Go!

Beginning the journey of advancing from Database Administrator/Manager to Data Analyst will take proper planning and dedication. In this post, I am going to outline for myself a learning plan. This is both as an example, while also being a pacing guide for myself. I am already familiar with Python, R, SQL, Access, Excel, and Tableau; however, I would scarcely call myself intermediate with any of them. What I do well is use Dr. Google to fill in my knowledge gaps. From what I have read and learned in my Grow with Google classes, I should focus heavily on becoming an Excel wizard. From there, I should brush up my SQL - I used to be very good at it in my community college days. Here is where a tricky split happens - do I go with Python or R? In school, we focused solely on Python. In Google, we focused solely on R. From what I can gather both are great skills, but Python is used significantly more in the data realm. Lastly, I need to build my visualization chops. The very little bit that I have played in Tableau, I really like the program. I did buy a book on basic math for Data that I will also be reading. I quite loved statistics in community college. I feel very fortunate to not feel daunted by this mountain to climb - I am actually rather excited. What will be difficult will be finding the energy after a 9-5 job to sit and study in my free time.