What does data analytics look like in your day-to day?

Question

As we celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States, we think about the experiences and people we are grateful for. With this discussion series in collaboration with SparkED, we hope our amazing community can give back to the future generation of data professionals with advice and insight.

The Alteryx Community provides the space for working professionals and students alike to come together to solve problems, grow their skills in the field of analytics, and learn new ways to use Alteryx. Now that the North America Fall semester is well underway, the SparkED team wants to connect proud alumni and learners across the globe and provide space to share what the road to an analytics career looks like to you.

Read Alteryx Cofounder, Libby Duane’s blog to learn more about the SparkED program and use this place to show pride for your alma mater by providing insight and guidance to the next generation of data workers.  The university or academic institution with the most representation in the four threads that are a part of this series will be eligible for SparkED swag and an opportunity to participate in a virtual career exploration event with an Alteryx executive, so make sure you include your alma mater in your reply to this thread! *Bonus points for photos of you showing your school pride.

This week let us know in a reply to this thread, what does data analytics look like in your day-to-day job?

If you would like to reply to our question from last week about educational pathways to a career in data analytics, click here.

Luke_C · Answer

I mostly operate with tax related data. Corporate tax departments face a number of challenges:

* Little control over source data (finance, operations, etc)
* Regulatory deadlines and increasing complexity from new legislation
* Staffing shortages like many other fields

Often times they spend most of their time wrangling all of their source data together before they can even start analyzing tax calculations! In my day-to-day I work with my clients to improve their processes and introduce technology and automation. We've successfully helped clients use Alteryx to trim weeks of manual effort from processes (processing hundreds of excel files, moving data from ERP systems to Tax software, etc). Like @Kenda, my colleagues and I often compete each week to finish the weekly challenges, and I'm working out the kinks on a Power Automate flow to post new challenges to our teams channel as they're posted.

#GoCats

Kenda · Answer

I'm still trying to learn all of @MarqueeCrew's magic tricks!

In the actuarial field, we need lots of good, clean data to complete our analyses. Alteryx is a wonderful tool that helps us access and transform data so that we can use it to gain insights! We also like to use Alteryx to make processes more efficient so we have more time for fun things like studying for actuarial exams or completing weekly challenges on the Community.

#GoDons

MarqueeCrew · Answer

@JessL ,

Happy Thanksgiving 🦃 to you!

In my day I touch data often.  I'm relentless in my pursuit of code-free ways to make magic happen

I try to use the magic of Alteryx to make things happen.  I've learned so much by using and helping other's to use Alteryx that analytics in my day looks like I'm with friends in the Magic Kingdom.  I know the rides so well and like to experiment and find new paths to insights.  It isn't all about the end as much as it is the journey (means to the end) that matters.

I enjoy the challenge as much as the accomplishment.  Advice that you can use is to explore your data more thoroughly and look for the nuggets that exist.  The can be needles (a bad thing) or gold.  Don't simply follow instructions but be an analytics adventurer.

Cheers,

Mark