Alter.Nation
Community news, customer stories, and more!
Given the current state of flux in which we, as a species, currently find ourselves, I thought it would be nice to bring to highlight something positive.
It is with this in mind I would like to share a success story of someone who deserves to be called out for what I believe to be a fantastic achievement.
When the pandemic hit our shores, and schools and businesses were forced to close, many younger people were at a loss as to how best to spend their newfound free time.
A friend of mine and Bulien customer, Martin Railton, got in touch and said, “McEleavey, you kalopsian Adonis, my son, Gabriel, is out of school now, and I was wondering if you could provide him with a bit of work experience and maybe see if he can have a go at the Alteryx Core exam?”
I thought this was a marvellous idea, given that Gabriel is only 15 years old! Now, when I was 15, I was primarily focused on getting girls to hate me less and revelling in the fact that my hand-me-downs had been made fashionable by Kurt Cobain. Fortunately, Gabriel is a little more advanced than I, and he took to the task with gusto.
We jumped on a Teams call, and I gave Gabriel his first taste of Alteryx. He took to it like a duck to water, and after an hour of going through the basic Alteryx functions, how it works, etc., we got him set up on the Alteryx Community. And here began his new life under the alias … Zangoly! Feel free to reach out to him on the Community and let him know you’ve read about him. I’m sure he will provide autographs for a very reasonable fee.
Following the first session, he went away and threw himself into the weekly challenges, completing 22 challenges in his first few weeks and earning himself a few badges along the way.
Once he had a grasp of how Alteryx works, and after applying that logical brain of his to a few scenarios, he wanted to have his first go at the Core exam. Now, this is going to be a huge step for a novice user of any age, and so we sat down together and went over a few hints and tips and things to do to prepare. We were treating the first attempt as a learning experience, simply as a way of getting to grips with how the exam works and what he can go away and learn before attempting it for real later.
The first attempt gave him what he needed, which was exam experience, and despite not passing, he didn’t let it get to him and went straight back to work.
A couple of follow-up sessions later and another attempt, and a session with Shifty who passed the core exam relatively recently from a standing start, and who had a few interesting insights into how to approach it from a beginner perspective, and he was ready to have a real go at it again.
I noticed his questions had become more targeted and more sophisticated, which led me to believe he was getting more to grips with Alteryx and was really starting to understand the platform.
So, with scores of 49% and 69% under his belt, on Sunday the 7th of June 2020, he had a final attempt.
We were all awaiting the email nervously … had he passed? Had he managed to just sneak through over the required 80% pass mark?
The answer was no.
He’d only gone and absolutely smashed it! Coming in with a gargantuan score of 91.5%!
I think this is a great achievement for anyone, but to do this at only 15 years old is outstanding and worthy of mention.
So, I raise my glass to you, young man.
Well done, and I look forward to seeing how you get on with the Advanced exam. No pressure.
