OT: Career advice Part II

[SnowblindNYR]

Do you know if your job will pay better elsewhere? Or maybe think about a career switch or a transfer in your company to another role.

The only jobs at my company that pay well are sales, which I have no interest in, and executive-level roles. My job would definitely pay better elsewhere. FP&A sometimes pays twice as much as what I earn. I don't know how it compares to other FP&A roles though.

 

[Bricho]

The only jobs at my company that pay well are sales, which I have no interest in, and executive-level roles. My job would definitely pay better elsewhere. FP&A sometimes pays twice as much as what I earn. I don't know how it compares to other FP&A roles though.

Unfortunately, unlike sales, it’s hard to measure the added value of your position and your function. Rarely will you be responsible for added revenue or lower costs. Sales get paid more, in every industry, because it is easily quantifiable how much revenue you are responsible for.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Unfortunately, unlike sales, it’s hard to measure the added value of your position and your function. Rarely will you be responsible for added revenue or lower costs. Sales get paid more, in every industry, because it is easily quantifiable how much revenue you are responsible for.

Well, I think it's also due to the commission structure. I've always been more of a nerd though, so not really a sales guy.

 

[Blueblood9]

hey guys i was wondering if anyone here can give me pointers on my resume.

A little background about me and the position im going for:

Since i graduated college in 06 ive worked primarily as a field engineer overseeing heavy construction projects mostly on air side projects(runway taxiways and more). While projects are running im working days/nights/weekdays and weekends. Just to give you a point of reference last yr between memorial day and labor day i worked 500 hours of overtime. That's a consistent 70-80 hr week for 16 straight weeks.

I have been approached by a company that investigates and audits construction projects for major state agencies about a possibility of coming to work for them. The base pay would be about my take home after 400 hrs of OT in 1 yr but for a 40 hr week.

After my summer of hell i felt beat up, exhausted and during the season i was so stressed i was getting panic attacks. This season is slow due to covid but i know the plans for the next 5 yrs and i don't think my body can handle it.

If anyone can help me with my resume id be extremely thankful.

 

[ThirdEye]

@Kane One, I had an annoying salesperson call me yesterday about Alteryx. I agreed to watch a demo. I have no idea how he found my cell phone number. But it did sound like it might help.

Alteryx is a godsend... bit of a learning curve like with excel but once you get the hang of it you'll find yourself creating workflows for everything. The best part is as long as your workflows are robust and well thought out you can pretty much rule out human error. When you have large ass spreadsheets with a million formulas you'll going to accidentally screw something up at some point (most likely pasting values over a formula and not noticing)

Between Alteryx and RPA (we use blue prism) my company has saved nearly 1000 hours of manual work a month. And there really isn't an end in sight...

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Alteryx is a godsend... bit of a learning curve like with excel but once you get the hang of it you'll find yourself creating workflows for everything. The best part is as long as your workflows are robust and well thought out you can pretty much rule out human error. When you have large ass spreadsheets with a million formulas you'll going to accidentally screw something up at some point (most likely pasting values over a formula and not noticing)

Between Alteryx and RPA (we use blue prism) my company has saved nearly 1000 hours of manual work a month. And there really isn't an end in sight...

Well, I sent my boss an email about it and he complained to me that I'm involving him with spam. So there goes that. I like creating complex formulas in spreadsheets and it makes me less replaceable, so maybe there's the silver lining.

 

[sbjnyc]

Well, I sent my boss an email about it and he complained to me that I'm involving him with spam. So there goes that. I like creating complex formulas in spreadsheets and it makes me less replaceable, so maybe there's the silver lining.

I'm kind of the same way but I have to update it every year which can be a royal pain. I've been toying with the idea of migrating it to R and scraping websites to update it but I just don't have the time.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

I'm kind of the same way but I have to update it every year which can be a royal pain. I've been toying with the idea of migrating it to R and scraping websites to update it but I just don't have the time.

Update what, a report?

 

[ThirdEye]

Well, I sent my boss an email about it and he complained to me that I'm involving him with spam. So there goes that. I like creating complex formulas in spreadsheets and it makes me less replaceable, so maybe there's the silver lining.

I hate being pushed to use or buy anything as well... it's a shame how far some of these sales people (who, in many cases don't even have a rudimentary understanding of what they're selling) go. They don't realize they're undermining their own product

Anyway, Alteryx has been around for quite a while now and is a (healthy) publicly traded company. I can bet you a vast majority of fortune 500 have companies are using it in some capacity to get ahead. Maybe present your boss with some sort of use case from a reputable company (there are tons out there) if it helps in convincing him. As great as excel is, it's a bit of dinosaur these days

 

[SnowblindNYR]

I hate being pushed to use or buy anything as well... it's a shame how far some of these sales people (who, in many cases don't even have a rudimentary understanding of what they're selling) go. They don't realize they're undermining their own product

Anyway, Alteryx has been around for quite a while now and is a (healthy) publicly traded company. I can bet you a vast majority of fortune 500 have companies are using it in some capacity to get ahead. Maybe present your boss with some sort of use case from a reputable company (there are tons out there) if it helps in convincing him. As great as excel is, it's a bit of dinosaur these days

They were super pushy with me. The guy emailed me at least twice, connected with me on LinkedIn, and then called my cell phone.

 

[sbjnyc]

Update what, a report?

A spreadsheet (or rather several) which are the basis of a report.

 

[SickNice]

@SnowblindNYR Just catching up on this thread and few comments and suggestions for you. They're from different posts so figured this easier...

1) Gardener hit on this but always be looking. There's limited effort required these days, and you don't have to answer hypothetical "would I leave" questions until defined offer in hand.

2) Sales positions are lucrative, and generally speaking, compensation increases the closer you get to the customer. I totally understand the lack of interest in those positions, HOWEVER, do not underestimate how critical the sales competency is to ones success. Especially in the long-run / future. You are required to sell in every role you'll be in as you progress - be it ideas, a proposal, a vision, etc. you highlighted two examples in this thread alone.

3) On the project that users, think about from a sales perspective. Why should they use it? What do they need to jump on board? Did your solution consider that?

4) I'd delete a spam email you FWD me too. Did you connect with the vendor, understand everything about them, how they could help your group? I'd do all of those things and build a solid case to discuss with my boss. Not FWD an email and expect him to do the work - what value are you providing then?

Just some thoughts...

 

[SnowblindNYR]

@SnowblindNYR Just catching up on this thread and few comments and suggestions for you. They're from different posts so figured this easier...

1) Gardener hit on this but always be looking. There's limited effort required these days, and you don't have to answer hypothetical "would I leave" questions until defined offer in hand.

2) Sales positions are lucrative, and generally speaking, compensation increases the closer you get to the customer. I totally understand the lack of interest in those positions, HOWEVER, do not underestimate how critical the sales competency is to ones success. Especially in the long-run / future. You are required to sell in every role you'll be in as you progress - be it ideas, a proposal, a vision, etc. you highlighted two examples in this thread alone.

3) On the project that users, think about from a sales perspective. Why should they use it? What do they need to jump on board? Did your solution consider that?

4) I'd delete a spam email you FWD me too. Did you connect with the vendor, understand everything about them, how they could help your group? I'd do all of those things and build a solid case to discuss with my boss. Not FWD an email and expect him to do the work - what value are you providing then?

Just some thoughts...

Thanks for the tips!

 

[SnowblindNYR]

So this is in my LinkedIn right now and will more or less be in my resume when I update it. Thoughts?

Data analytics point person

Forecasted ~$30mm per year company budget, including projecting the performance of pivotal Covid-19 loan products.

Developed financial models for key company initiatives: Hispanic Chamber of Commerce fund and African American Chamber of Commerce fund.

Modeled the cash flow, amortization, defaults, and prepayments of WBL's performing loan portfolio, including complex "Interest Only" product.

Performed economic analysis of high yield "Gross Equity Product" loans, indicating they provided negative value. The analysis was a key contributing factor in halting the underwriting of the loans.

Generate monthly "Executive Committee" meeting reports that include performance tracking for Finance, Human Resources, Production (Sales), Credit Management, Credit Operations, and Asset Resolution.

Measured sales team KPIs, performed root cause analysis, and provided recommendations to senior management for sales performance optimization.

 

[Irishguy42]

So this is in my LinkedIn right now and will more or less be in my resume when I update it. Thoughts?

Data analytics point person

Forecasted ~$30mm per year company budget, including projecting the performance of pivotal Covid-19 loan products.

Developed financial models for key company initiatives: Hispanic Chamber of Commerce fund and African American Chamber of Commerce fund.

Modeled the cash flow, amortization, defaults, and prepayments of WBL's performing loan portfolio, including complex "Interest Only" product.

Performed economic analysis of high yield "Gross Equity Product" loans, indicating they provided negative value. The analysis was a key contributing factor in halting the underwriting of the loans.

Generate monthly "Executive Committee" meeting reports that include performance tracking for Finance, Human Resources, Production (Sales), Credit Management, Credit Operations, and Asset Resolution.

Measured sales team KPIs, performed root cause analysis, and provided recommendations to senior management for sales performance optimization.

It *looks* good to me, even not in that field.

It's broken up into well-digestable bullet points.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

It *looks* good to me, even not in that field.

It's broken up into well-digestable bullet points.

Thanks!

 

[SnowblindNYR]

I officially updated my resume. I was pleasantly surprised that it all fit.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

I had this conversation about Alteryx recently and one thing they're supposed to do is not have excel formulas be too complicated. And I LOVE using complicated excel formulas, but this last one is 5 and a half lines, it's insane.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Does anyone know of a way to learn Python without spending the $15k on Bootcamp? Other than learning it yourself through educational websites such as Coursera? Or am I being lazy and cheap?

 

[Trxjw]

Does anyone know of a way to learn Python without spending the $15k on Bootcamp? Other than learning it yourself through educational websites such as Coursera? Or am I being lazy and cheap?

Depends on two things:
1. What you need to prove your knowledge at the end of it. Do you need a piece of paper to show someone, or is it so you can just start doing it at your current job to make your life easier and bolster your resume?
2. How motivated and inquisitive you are. I.e., can you guide yourself through learning something without instruction, or do you need someone to say "this is what you have to learn next?"

If you need a certificate or other proof, then you're kind of limited to things like bootcamps, Coursera, etc. If you can get by with just a portfolio of projects you've worked on, then you have to answer #2. If you can learn on your own, then you can learn anything code-related for free on YouTube right now. I've found that except for very specific circumstances, almost everything you can find on paid sites like Udemy, Pluralsight, Coursera, etc, can be found for free on YouTube. Check out Traversy Media's channel specifically. He has a really solid Python crash course and also several videos that get into some of the common frameworks like Django, some of the things that go into deployment and DB connectivity, and even some of the conceptual applications like ML and data viz.

I've been out of school for 13 years and I've only ever paid for a handful of conferences. Even then that was mostly to keep up on trends and new technologies. Everything I've needed to learn on my own I did through YouTube videos, trial and error, and lots of googling, haha.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Depends on two things:
1. What you need to prove your knowledge at the end of it. Do you need a piece of paper to show someone, or is it so you can just start doing it at your current job to make your life easier and bolster your resume?
2. How motivated and inquisitive you are. I.e., can you guide yourself through learning something without instruction, or do you need someone to say "this is what you have to learn next?"

If you need a certificate or other proof, then you're kind of limited to things like bootcamps, Coursera, etc. If you can get by with just a portfolio of projects you've worked on, then you have to answer #2. If you can learn on your own, then you can learn anything code-related for free on YouTube right now. I've found that except for very specific circumstances, almost everything you can find on paid sites like Udemy, Pluralsight, Coursera, etc, can be found for free on YouTube. Check out Traversy Media's channel specifically. He has a really solid Python crash course and also several videos that get into some of the common frameworks like Django, some of the things that go into deployment and DB connectivity, and even some of the conceptual applications like ML and data viz.

I've been out of school for 13 years and I've only ever paid for a handful of conferences. Even then that was mostly to keep up on trends and new technologies. Everything I've needed to learn on my own I did through YouTube videos, trial and error, and lots of googling, haha.

I was kind of hoping for a course that's cheaper than a Bootcamp but provides projects and homework. I don't need a piece of paper. It's not for THIS job but other subsequent jobs and just to put on my resume and be able to do it. I doubt anyone would ask for a certificate. Hell, no one asks me for my school diplomas.

 

[SickNice]

Depends on two things:
1. What you need to prove your knowledge at the end of it. Do you need a piece of paper to show someone, or is it so you can just start doing it at your current job to make your life easier and bolster your resume?
2. How motivated and inquisitive you are. I.e., can you guide yourself through learning something without instruction, or do you need someone to say "this is what you have to learn next?"

If you need a certificate or other proof, then you're kind of limited to things like bootcamps, Coursera, etc. If you can get by with just a portfolio of projects you've worked on, then you have to answer #2. If you can learn on your own, then you can learn anything code-related for free on YouTube right now. I've found that except for very specific circumstances, almost everything you can find on paid sites like Udemy, Pluralsight, Coursera, etc, can be found for free on YouTube. Check out Traversy Media's channel specifically. He has a really solid Python crash course and also several videos that get into some of the common frameworks like Django, some of the things that go into deployment and DB connectivity, and even some of the conceptual applications like ML and data viz.

I've been out of school for 13 years and I've only ever paid for a handful of conferences. Even then that was mostly to keep up on trends and new technologies. Everything I've needed to learn on my own I did through YouTube videos, trial and error, and lots of googling, haha.

Agree with everything here. I taught myself VBB, jeez, maybe 20 years ago. I already had programming experience so wasn't coming from no where, but I basically picked a couple of relatively simple use cases, started with the first, and then built out the most basic features 1 by 1 (using websites - videos weren't as widely available back then - to help w steps along the way). It's honestly not that different from school, where I always felt real learning was application aspect of things in HW, projects, etc. as opposed to classes.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

I just don't know if I have the discipline to sit there learning Python by watching youtube videos, also it would be nice to get projects and homework assignments.

 

[Oscar Lindberg]

I just don't know if I have the discipline to sit there learning Python by watching youtube videos, also it would be nice to get projects and homework assignments.

Are you starting from zero with this or do you have some programming knowledge? Even a little gives you an advantage

I had to learn python for work, and it can be tedious

If you're starting from zero, I would recommend checking out "Automate The Boring Stuff with Python" on Udemy.

It's a relatively straight forward beginner course and teaches you the basics, and applies that to doing small projects writing python scripts that can be used in your everyday life (i.e web scraping, Microsoft office hacks)

And as luck would have it, I just looked at the Python reddit and the course is free until July 4th (normally 15$).

Once you start to get a better understanding from there you can move around to different resources such as "Learn Python the Hard Way"

Honestly there isn't a "best way" to learn this stuff, you kinda just have to choose a method and stick with it. You'll only learn by doing it everyday

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Are you starting from zero with this or do you have some programming knowledge? Even a little gives you an advantage

I had to learn python for work, and it can be tedious

If you're starting from zero, I would recommend checking out "Automate The Boring Stuff with Python" on Udemy.

It's a relatively straight forward beginner course and teaches you the basics, and applies that to doing small projects writing python scripts that can be used in your everyday life (i.e web scraping, Microsoft office hacks)

And as luck would have it, I just looked at the Python reddit and the course is free until July 4th (normally 15$).

Once you start to get a better understanding from there you can move around to different resources such as "Learn Python the Hard Way"

Honestly there isn't a "best way" to learn this stuff, you kinda just have to choose a method and stick with it. You'll only learn by doing it everyday

Thanks that could be a good resource. I have gone through a couple hour primer from a coworker but I'd still call it 0. I think I'd be decent at it. I have little SQL background and I do think logic formulas in excel are a very simple example of programming, and I'm good at that. But I should still start from step 1.

I was kind of hoping I could take classes that aren't self-direct but cheaper than Bootcamp. Does something like that exist?