Tag: studies

Forward Motion

Carl Setzer3 Comments
gray and black laptop computer

I haven’t written about this much, but my current career development focus is on Data Analysis. To start with, I like working in Excel. I’ve found spreadsheets fascinating since the days of Lotus 123. In addition, as many of you know, I spent the Pandemic working on a degree in Web Application and Cloud Development at Edmonds College. During that, I spent a huge amount of time studying data: databases, database construction, SQL, database theory and design. That was some of my favorite coursework.

Recently, I discovered the role of data analyst. It looks like a fantastic blend of these elements. And it’s a growing field, which says a LOT in today’s economic climate! This looks like a way I can make a solid contribution now, and have lots of room to grow. It seems a great blend of my past, my studies, and where I am right now, in order to grow into the future.

Digging a bit deeper, I see some key areas for growth in the short-term.

  • Data Visualization:
    • I have not worked with Tableau or Power BI…or any of the other visualization tools. I have created presentations where I manually built visualizations (yay PowerPoint!), mostly graphs, but a few times with PhotoShop. I’m really looking forward to diving in deeper to what I can do with Power BI (which is my next series of course work on Coursera).
  • Excel:
    • I’m a solid user of Excel, having it used it extensively in pretty much every role I’ve had in the past 20 or so years. Budgets, project tracking, dashboards, project feasibility, and operations analysis, I’ve done all of these in Excel. But there’s always room to grow! And it’s an evolving product, so even more to keep learning.
  • Statistics:
    • I have only a rudimentary understanding of statistics. I want to expand that greatly. I think I’ll take statistics at Edmonds College soon.

These are the short-term learnings I’m planning on feeding myself with. I also think that the WGU BS in Data Analytics looks really interesting. And having that Bachelors will be valuable, and that knowledge critical.

During my studies at Edmonds, we touched on big data, data lakes, data warehouses, as well as No SQL based stored data. This all looks fascinating to me.

So, I’ve launched into the Data Analytics studies with Coursera’s Microsoft Power BI Data Analyst Professional Certificate. I finished the first course yesterday, Preparing Data for Analysis with Microsoft Excel. It was solid review of my skills, which I appreciated. Now, I shift to Power BI, which will be new. I’m pretty excited for Power BI. And I’m excited at what my future holds.

I hope the same for you!

Moving Forward

Carl Setzer
person using silver macbook pro

Today was busy. Did a few more modules in my Google Project Management Certificate, as well as two projects in my 50 Projects in 50 Days course. This on top of spending my morning as part of my church’s tech team (our crew that manages sound, media presentation, and live-streaming). Also, my wife and I zipped up to the Everett Farmer’s Market (one of our favorite things). And we managed to cram in a walk (thank goodness the smoke from the fires has been washed away).

Today’s projects included Event Key Code, where you can type a key and get the underlying code. Also, I got the “FAQ Collapse” project done. This one we click on the down arrow, which changes the background color and expands out the box to show the answer (to answer dad joke).

For Project Management, we dove a bit deeper into starting successful projects. This all-important phase is where many projects are made or broken. Mastering the tools to ensure projects are successfully completed is critical to my future, and probably yours, too.

As my current project wraps up at the end of the year, I’m starting to scope out my possible next steps. There is the potential that my role will continue, perhaps even become full-time. But there’s no guarantee! And I like to hedge my bets, as the adage goes. What do I want to do next? That’s a great question! Ideally, I’d do something within IT, though I’m keeping my pride in check. I’m still being actively recruited as an executive assistant, which is what most of my career has entailed. For a dying career, it’s interesting how much energy recruiters have funneled my way. Anyway, I’m exploring and please let me know if you come across any leads.

I hope your weekend met your expectations. And that you got some rest. Time to call it a night and get ready for another hard-charging week!

tweets, xkcd comics, dreams and sticking to your guns

Carl Setzer

As I expect you all know, early in 2020 I returned to school to study web application development (head here if you need an update). I’m not the youngest student. However, I’m not the oldest, either. I have had a few people mention that, as I’m older, I don’t have as much to offer the world and that I’m keeping the space from those who will contribute more. Bah! I have a lot to offer. I bring a lot to my classes, to my fellow students, and will bring a lot to wherever I land, career-wise, next.

First thing this morning I came across this tweet:

Motivates me hard! Who knows? Maybe I’ll go after a master’s (not sure I want to do a PhD…though, in my heart-of-hearts, I want to know EVERYTHING about computers).

This comic from xkcd gave me pause, too.

xkcd - Dreams

Ultimately, I need to believe in myself, in what I bring, in what I know. Don’t hold back! I’m investing far too much time and energy to be timid about all that.

Ah, to live a bold life! We’ll see, my friends, we’ll see.