As we (DSNY12) enter into our second week of training, I wanted to share some thoughts about our first week. (Spoiler alert: it was a blast!)
On Monday, we kicked off with introductions. We got to meet Tom Brown (the founder of The Information Lab), our amazing coaches Lisa and Carl, and many other people in the company. We were also each assigned a buddy, which is basically a member of a previous cohort whom you can turn to for guidance. Monday was particularly helpful in figuring out our points of contact, although the nature of TIL is that you can ask anyone for help, which I really appreciate. Aside from meeting our coworkers, we spent the rest of the day doing onboarding and laptop setup.
We began our actual training on Tuesday, which is when we learned the basics of data, including data sources, architecture, and terminology. Then on Wednesday, we learned about data cleaning methods, and on Thursday we applied them using Tableau Prep. In my application dashboards, I had used Python to clean my data since that's what I was used to, but to my surprise I really enjoyed Tableau Prep because I found it easy to work with.
On Friday, we were assigned our first weekly project, where we received different datasets pertaining to different industries and applied the concepts we learned throughout the week. (Yes, I'm being purposefully vague, but I don't want to spoil anything for future DSers!) It was stressful, but it was great practice for developing presentation skills and scoping out work.
Since we only get ~4 hours for each project, I learned that the most important things to keep in mind are time management and communication. With the former especially, not only should you expect to run into issues, but also set aside time to deal with them. Basically, when planning out your day, be flexible with your schedule!
With the latter, I learned that as a consultant, you should overcommunicate with your stakeholders. You might think you're being annoying, but you'll save a lot of time and anguish—both on your end and your stakeholders'—if you can clarify project specifications from the get-go.
In addition to training, our first week was coincidentally packed with events, such as:
- the Lunch & Learns (where you eat as a speaker presents a topic to you),
- the Town Hall (where anyone at TIL can ask questions),
- and Board Game Night!
Overall, I really enjoyed this past week and I'm excited for what comes next!