Getting Started: Google Data Analytics

When I decided I wanted to pursue Data Analytics as a career, I started off with the Google Data Analytics certification through Coursera.

I felt like this was a really great introduction to the concepts and some common tools used by analysts, but I also felt like I had a great heap of new things to work my way through at my own pace once it was completed.

Pros:

• Seemed like a good introduction to most popular tools

• The progression made sense

• Easy enough to follow/understand

Cons:

• I felt like it talked about the theories behind data analytics, but didn’t do well at showing it in action -- I felt like the places where they showed data manipulation being done received a disproportionately small amount of teaching time.

• Taught about the importance of case and spacing, but the examples didn’t adhere to it

• I feel the need to pursue more knowledge and skills now that I have “finished.” So I don’t think anyone should expect it to be a one-and-done thing for learning the skills.

How I think it could be improved:

1. Start a project at the very beginning, and as each step is explained, do that step in the project along with the student, so they can make connections between what is being said and done in examples to something they complete throughout the course.

2. If not the above suggestion, then perhaps a guided case-study from beginning to end before releasing students to the capstone. In education terms: I do, we do, you do.

3. Spend a little more time on actual analysis--finding meaning in the numbers.

So what's next?

1. I felt most confused and frustrated at SQL, which also seems to be the most important to be able to do, so I'm going to solidify my understanding of that first.

2. In the Excel portion of the Google course, there were only a couple of things I hadn't used before, so I'll be brushing up on those soon after, too.

3. Projects: With these tools under my belt, I plan to work on my portfolio and begin applying to jobs.

4. Keep learning! Projects, Portfolio, Applications, those aren't the end! I plan to continue learning and sharpening my skills. I will need to buff up a visualization tool a little bit, as well as keep sharp on my newly-acquired skills.