August 20, 2020 5 min to read

Today I left my job

I consider myself a lucky person. When most of my peers are still studying at the university, I had the chance to work as a Data Analyst at one of the top 3 E-logistics companies in Vietnam. That chance is even more precious since I did not have any prior experience in this field of data.

I first started this job on 20/06/2019. After over a year, today (20/08/2020), I officially quit my job. Don’t get me wrong, this article is not one of the online-ranting article used to backbite the company or colleagues. Instead, this one is made for the aspiring data scientist/data analyst/business analyst to obtain some knowledge from my experience.

I would also like to save a part of this article to write something as an acknowledgment.

• 1. What did I do to get that job
• 2. What I learnt during the time at GHTK
• 3. What will I do after leaving GHTK
• 4. Acknowledgement

1. What did I do to get that job

I started pretty late in the field. Until the first term of my last year at the university, I was still thinking that I would end up working in Human Resources industry. But as I came across Data Science, I realized that this is the career I want to pursue.

For around 3 months of intensive learning on DataCamp (which is a great source of learning the foundation), I was finally able to code (R and SQL) and do some basic machine learning models like linear regression or decision tree.

Moreover, the learning on DataCamp is somewhat project-based, which is a great way for you to apply your freshly-learned knowledge.

With such knowledge, I applied to Giaohangtietkiem JSC. and finally got a job as a Data Analyst (Bear in mind that I did apply for a lot of other places, and many did not even reply. So don’t be frustrated, keep developing yourself and the right opportunity will come).

To sum up: Prepare yourself with the knowledge required by the job you applied for (R, SQL, basic ML). Eagerness to learn is a must.

2. What I learnt during the time at GHTK

At GHTK (or at least my team), you are required to be very proactive. Tasks are rarely delegated, instead, you are expected to define a problem that worth putting effort into.

From my point of view, there are two types of people, while one works best with their self-defined task, the other works best with clearly-defined delegated task. So this style of working really frustrated me at first, since I feel like I am the latter type of person. I do acknowledge how much better I would get if I was able to do such thing, but the hurtful truth is that I AM NOT. I tried reading books on how to be more creative, how to be a leader of yourself, etc. but the situation didn’t get any better in the next 4-5 months after I joined the company. Have you ever felt that you are so incompetent and not able to do anything valuable? That’s exactly how I felt at that time, stressed and stupid at the same time.

That frustratedness at times almost made me quit the job. But that same feelings helped me grow the most both as an individual and as a Data Analyst. All the trying and learning paid off as I can finally define my own equation of how to define a problem to pursue. Eventually, I accept the fact that I am not that kind of person who can instinctively define tasks on his/her own, but I can perform roughly the same with my own equation.

To sum up: Be resilient, don’t give up. At times it will be hard, but who can hold on to the positive prospect will be the most successful.

3. What will I do after leaving GHTK

As my Data Science master course is starting soon (1 month left), a heathen like me have to prepare myself with the foundational knowledge in the field. So currently I am reviewing Statistics (distribution, hypothesis testing, etc.). Data structures and algorithms will be my next focus after Statistics. Hopefully I will make it on time ^^

4. Acknowledgement

In this last part of the article, I would like to thank:

• Ms. Tram Pham: for spending time to talk to me in my hard time, and teaching me a lot of things about analytics and visualization.
• Ms. Lan Trinh: for supporting me a lot when working with the main customers of the company, also a good sister whom I can share things with.
• Ms. Trang Tran: for supporting me a lot when working with the main customers of the company.
• Mr. Hung Nguyen: for teaching me a lot on computer science, also my best man in GHTK.
• Mr. Thuong Le & Mr. Anh Cao: for supporting me a lot when the problem (we all know that it is :D) arise.
• Mr. Man Nguyen, Mr. Huynh Nguyen, Mr. Thuyen, and Ms. Hien Nguyen: for all the training and supports on data engineering.
• Ms. Trinh Truong, Mr. Huy Nguyen, Mr. Don Nguyen: for teaching me a lot on analytics and modeling.
• Mr. Hai: for teaching me a lot on statistics and modeling.
• Ms. Chi Do and Ms. Tam Nguyen: for supporting me a lot when working with customers.
• Ms. Binh Vu and Ms. P.Anh Tran: for being my first mentee as a Data Analyst, though I did not have a chance to teach you guys much

And many others at GHTK. Please note that the listing is based on no particular order ^^.

Thank you all for being such important parts of my time at GHTK. I wish that you guys will strive and thrive beyond your highest expectation.

May our paths cross again in the near future!