Who am I?
Well, I guess everyone comes at some point in his life to this Question and the answer is for everyone a bit different. But for me it was not easy to find the right answer. When I’m looking back to my own history, I think it was clear that I would end somewhere in the field I’m working now. But let’s start with the Basics…
Hey, my Name is Daniel Müller. I’m 29 Years old and I’m working for a big telecommunication company as a digital expert. Besides that I started working as a freelancer and writing my own little blog about different Topics in the Data Science environment.
In my free time I’m also studying for a Master of Science in Big Data & Business Analytics. Sometimes it’s very stressful but most of the time I can do what I love. Explore data sets, automate working steps and get interesting insights in the data. As you can see I’m a little Nerdy about it. When I get time I try to get some fresh air while I’m out sailing or snowboarding.
What is a Digitalisation Expert?
So, now I hope you know who I am. Maybe you want to know what exactly a digitalization expert is.
The Digitalisation is running through our society and changes every aspect of how we read books, watch TV, order food or even the way we think. It changes our whole lives with a very disruptive power. Whole branches are struggling to survive. For companies it’s very important to be ready for the whole changes. They have to change their products, distributions, processes to keep up with the technological changes and not to get substituted by competitors. Digital Experts have knowledge about new technologies and how to use them in a productive way. So we identify digitalization potencial in a company and set this free. As a Digital Expert you have to keep an open mind for changes and, up to some extent, you have to be able to speak the language of the software engineers also as the language of the business side or the customers.
I see myself also as a data analyst or data scientist. I really love to dig into data and find answers about some questions the business side has.
What is my story?
I Hope you have gotten an idea of what a digitalisation expert is doing. Let’s talk how I ended being one. As the most things it started back in my younger days. I had always been curious about technology but also about the complex connections between business environments. After School I had to ask myself what I want to do. I was more interested in the business side. I didn’t want to study something like software engineering. In Germany we have the possibly of the dual apprenticeship. I tried to get an apprenticeship as banking clerk or insurance clerk and thank god I didn’t got a job in this field. I’m really bad at selling stuff. I have no problem with presentations or discussing topics but selling a product I’m not totally concerned you need it… I’m somehow not able to do that very good. After that experience I found an apprenticeship as an industrial clerk and started at a telco company. I also found out again that I like to work with data and engineered my first solutions for some questions during the 3 year apprenticeship. Because of this knowledge about Virtual Basics Application (VBA) and SQL I gained during this time I got my first job in the production and business management area.
I automated a lot of data processing tasks and built up some project databases. During this time I also started to study Business Informatics (B.Sc). My employer helped me a lot with paying 50% of the study fees and gave me some additional days off every semester so I could prepare for my exams. I started to gain more and more interest in data science and wanted to get more professional in that field. When I came to the end of my Bachelor degree, I wanted to change my Job with more technical tasks as I had at the moment. When I found an Job Offer as Senior Mobile App Architect I directly sent my CV in although I had no Idea of the IT Architecture of mobile Apps. But I thought Ok I need some experience with my CV and how to apply for new jobs and maybe they got some Junior jobs in that field which I could apply on later. Of course I didn’t got the job.
A few weeks later I found an Offer for a Data Analyst or Data Scientist Job. Exactly what I was looking for. From my experience with former similar job interviews it was a very high paid job and I thought I have no chance in getting this Job. But with this thinking I got to the Interview and was like “Ok I’m not gonna get this Job anyway, so you can lay back relax and have some chill talks with the interviewers”. I had then an interesting discussion with them about different project management aspects and as it looks like they were really convinced from my attitude and knowledge. When I was driving home. I had a clear statement that I would get the job and a few months later I started in that Job. The company itself totally transformed during this time and I landed not in the process management department but in the new founded department for digitalisation. Now I’m a digital Expert carry out different digitalisation projects based on data insights and I really love it.
But… than Covid happened and the way of working totally changed for all of us. In March from One day to another we all was sent into Home Office and almost a year later I’m still working from my home. I started a Master Degree in October. This time without the help of my employer but I really want to learn more about the field Big Data & Business Analytics. While the Bachelor Degree was driven by a career oriented thinking like “I do this mainly to get new career options”. The Master Degree is mostly driven by my interest in that field. The same goes for my own Blog I started by the beginning of 2020 and my projects I do as a freelancer. If I make some money with that it’s nice but I want to do some interesting data driven projects and get new ideas for my own projects and do not want to earn a ton of money as Freelancer.
Last Words
After all, what is my story? I think I had a lot of luck until this point of my career life. I started with no idea what I liked to do in my Job. At the beginning I wanted to start at the banking or insurance sector and I luckily can say that not one Bank in Germany wanted to give me an apprenticeship. While I was really in secure during that time because I really applied for a lot of Job Offerings back then it was a good thing when I look back to that time.
When you are in the similar situation. Here is my tip. Look a bit more to left and right of your “dream job”. Because when you don’t get this kind of job you probably are not applying for your dream job but for a fantasy kind of the job. Employers are often pretty good in seeing if the Person fits to the job and when no one gives you the job maybe you are not the person for these jobs.
When you are seeking for a job and you find something you are interested in. Always. And I Mean Always. Call the employer a few days after you sent in your CV. It will always be appreciated. The employer already knows you and you have the possibility to get an idea of the working environment, typical task and the actual projects they are working on. Also you’ll get an idea what kind of questions they are going to ask in the interview.
When you are thinking of getting a Job as a Data Scientist (or other data related jobs). Don’t do it only for your career orientation or because it’s possible to earn good money with it. You got to love the work with data. Because your work won’t end after you come home from a long day in Office. The field is big and you must be able to learn new stuff every day. There is no day where I learn something new. Often in the evening when I try to understand a new algorithm or to solve a problem I didn’t had before.
And the last thing is. Follow your profession. There is no definition of a good career. There are some steps which always helps but you can get there where you want to be only by yourself. A lot of people think it’s super important what you have studied and at which university. But If you are not only money orientated and want to do something you really love than I think the university you studied is not important. Just believe in yourself and when the big step doesn’t work at first try than make a lot of small steps in the right direction. Regardless if it’s a data job, a creative job or what ever you want to be.
Also read How John Chao Got Data Scientist Job at LinkedIN
