The college diploma is fake. The degree is fake. The award is earned. The training is real. I passed the classes for data analysis or data science. YouTube videos, online education, books, articles, and online posts are my learning sources. The part time self-training took nine years and two months. The self-training could have been completed in five years if I trained full time. The reasons for the part time included household responsibilities, family obligations, other personal commitments, and mistakes from Aug 2014 to Dec 2019. Nov 2014-Mar 2015 were excluded because of a contract job.
I summarize my self job training completion from start to finish.
Aug-Oct 2014: The Preview, The Foreshadow, The Seed
I failed an interview for a contract Data Analyst position because I failed the Excel tests in Jun 2014; in particular, I failed the VLOOKUP test. I never used VLOOKUPs in past jobs. I couldn't explain how I used Excel successfully without VLOOKUP. Bible truth.
I reviewed and learned Excel which included reviewing pivot tables and learning VLOOKUPs watching YouTube videos in Jul 2014. My contract job with a retail startup wasn't renewed in Sep 2014. My friend Appu introduced me to Python for the first time and Ubuntu for the second time. He introduced me to Ubuntu for the first time in 2008. My first Python learning came from a book written for kids. The self job training ended in Nov 2014 when I found another contract job in a networking company.
May 2015-Dec 2019: I Didn't Know What I Was Doing
I actually started in Apr 2015 during my last month at my contract job. The first topic was relearning Oracle SQL. I continued Excel which included dashboards, statistics, and data analysis in May 2015 when I became unemployed. I taught myself Salesforce watching YouTube videos and reading a tutorial book. I created a free Tableau account to learn Tableau from a .pdf book. I quit both Salesforce and Tableau because there was no progress.
VBA was added on Feb 2016. I continued Oracle SQL and Excel. Python began in Apr 2016 learning online from CodeUpStart promotion on Kickstarter. The lessons were terrible. The CodeUpStart convinced me to be skeptical when paying for online training courses. Linux and the text editor Sublime Text began in May 2016. I reviewed HTML, learned CSS, and learned JavaScript. I uploaded my redesigned webpage Innovate Infinitely on Jun 29, 2016.
A major change happened on Apr 2017. I was diagnosed with Acute Gallstone Pancreatitis. I was admitted as an in-patient in a local hospital requiring an Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangio Pancreatography which removed gallstones and a Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy which removed my gallbladder. There was no job training for the entire month. The self job training became a consistent five-day responsibility thereafter. Git was added in May 2017. Appu introduced me to Project Euler to practice Python in May 2017. Drill training began in Jun 2017. Excel was the first drill training topic; for example, formulas, tables, and pivot tables. VBA drill training began in Sep 2017.
The self job training became six days a week in Feb 2018. My friend Spiritsnare told me about free Salesforce official online courses which I learned on Sundays. I stopped the Salesforce in Mar 2018. The six days a week stopped in May 2018 because I got sick in Apr 2018. Power Pivot and Power Query were added in Jun 2018. Power Business Intelligence (Power BI) was added in Oct 2018.
The year 2019 became inconsistent for the topics I learned for the week. Some weeks its Power Pivot and Power Query one day, Python another day, and Power BI another day. Other weeks its Python and SQL one day, Excel another day, and VBA another day. Each week and each day were random topic or topics. I continued six days a week job training between Jul 2019-Nov 2019. No new topics were added.
Jan 2020-Mar 2024: The Light Bulb Turned On Bright
I built my second desktop PC in Jan 2020. Upgraded hardware. Windows 10 operating system. Office 365 subscription. Upgraded Ubuntu from 18.04 to 20.04. I also re-evaluated the topics. Power BI, Power Pivot, Power Query, Python, and SQL were the five topics each week. JSON were added on Apr 2020. A two group and two-week rotation started in Jun 2020 which continued to Mar 2024. The initial first group was Excel, Git, Linux, Power Pivot, Python, and SQL for six days. The initial second group was JSON, Power BI, Power Query, Python, and Sublime Text for six days. The COVID-19 global pandemic made the six day weekly rotation easier. Data analysis was combined with Power Pivot and dashboards was combined with Power BI starting on Aug 2020. I completed JSON in Sep 2020.
The year 2021 started with a winter break from Dec 20, 2020 to Jan 16, 2021. I changed my two group and two-week rotation. Excel and data analysis, finance, Power Query, Python, and SQL were the first group for six days a week. Git, Linux, Sublime Text; Power BI and dashboards; Power Pivot; and Python were the second group for five days a week. PowerPoint replaced finance in Jun 2021. R and R-Studio were added in Jul 2021 for Saturdays. Also, Access was added in Jul 2021 for which I finished in Nov 2021. Data analysis ended in Aug 2021. I took a Summer Sabbatical October 2021 from Oct 13, 2021-Thur Nov 4, 2021 because I was tired.
The groups changed in 2022. Excel, Power BI, Power Pivot, PowerPoint and dashboards, Python, and R and R-Studio were the first group for six days a week. Sun was the day off. Linux, Sublime Text, and Git; Power Query; Python; R and R-Studio; and SQL were the second group for five days a week. Thur and Sun were the days off. I combined Excel with PowerPoint and dashboards in the first group in Jul 2022. Thur and Sun were the days off for the first group and the second group in Jul 2022. R and R-Studio was replaced with another Python in the first group in Sep 2022.
I added Windows 10 drill training on Jan 2, 2023. Windows 10 became part of the first group. The Thur and Sun days off changed to Sat and Sun days off in Mar 2023. Jun 27, 2023 was the turning point. It was my senior year. It was time to wrap up the topics. It was time to final review everything. Here came graduation. The endgame began. Power BI, Power Pivot, Python, R and R-Studio, and SQL were the endgame topics. Git and PowerPoint and dashboards were excluded in the endgame topics. Excel, Linux, Power Query, and Sublime Text topics continued as drill training. Excel, Linux, Power Query, Python, SQL, and Sublime Text were the endgame first group. Power BI, Power Pivot, Power Query, Python, and R and R-Studio were the endgame second group. Oracle SQL was the first endgame final completed on Jul 10, 2023. Windows 10 stopped in Aug 2023.
The rest of the endgame topics were completed in 2024. I finished Power BI on Jan 16, 2024. I finished Power Pivot on Jan 17, 2024. I finished SQL on Feb 14, 2024. I finished R and R-Studio on Mar 7, 2024. Topics completed were replaced with incomplete topics; for instance, one week two days of R and R-Studio and two days of Python because Power BI and Power Pivot were finished. I finished Python on Mar 25, 2024. I congratulated myself graduating. I never paid for any online training courses.
Apr 2024-?: Never Stop Learning
I began researching new skills to self-train on Mar 26, 2024. The new skills are the graduate self job training. The topics are either Excel and Power Pivot or Excel and Power Query, HTML and CSS, JavaScript, Python, and WordPress. Power Pivot and Power Query rotates every two weeks with Excel. One group. Sat and Sun are days off. Never stop innovating. Innovate infinitely.
There are multiple family priorities since Apr 1, 2024. There is no graduate self job training as of today.
Suggested Learning Sources
Here are suggested YouTube video channels, online education, and books in alphabetical order.
YouTube
Corey Schafer. Multiple topics for beginners to experts.
EJ Media. HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and JQuery.
Excel Campus - Jon. Excel career training.
ExcelIsFun. Excel, Power BI, Power Pivot, and Power Query. Best for Excel newbies.
Kevin Stratvert. All purpose educational content creator.
Manish Sharma. Oracle SQL expert.
MarinStatsLectures-R Programming & Statistics. R-Studio.
MyOnlineTrainingHub. Excel and Power BI career training.
ProgrammingKnowledge. Linux, Ubuntu, and VirtualBox.
sentdex. Professional programmer.
Socratica. Educational courses.
thenewboston. Bucky is a genius in multiple programs and multiple technologies.
WiseOwlTutorials. Excel and Excel VBA.
Online Education
Codecademy. Free and paid courses in technology. Examples are AI, programming languages, web design, data analysis, and game development.
Codewars. Learn programming by solving problems. Free to join.
Kaggle. Download data sets to practice data analysis.
Project Euler. Solve mathematical problems by writing code. Create an account to track progress and access solutions which must be solved by the user first.
Socratica. Free and paid courses in math and science.
SQLZoo. Learn SQL following their tutorials.
w3resource. Free online tutorial to learn and to practice.
Books
M Is For (Data) Monkey by Ken Puls And Miguel Escobar. Beginner Power Query.
Master Your Data With Excel And Power BI by Ken Puls And Miguel Escobar. Intermediate to advanced Power Query.
Python For Kids by by Jason Briggs. If you can't understand Python written for children, then change your career choice.
Supercharge Excel by Matt Allington. Power Pivot or DAX.
Supercharge Power BI by Matt Allington. Power BI and Power Pivot or DAX.
The Visual Display Of Quantitative Information Second Edition by Edward Tufte. Create professional charts. No chart junk.
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