JD's career advice without commentary.
You will see many of the advice is what myaesi blog always stands for.
Future posts will discuss some of this points again in details.
Be a profit center, not a cost center.
Use tools you don't have to ask permission to install (i.e. open
source).
Dependence on tools that are closed license and un-scriptable will
limit the scope of problems you can solve. (i.e. Excel) Use them, but
build your core skills on more portable & scalable technologies.
Learn basic database tools.
Learn a programming language.
Your internal job description may say, "Analyst" but get something
else on your business cards. Analyst is so vague as to be meaningless.
My external title is currently "Sr. Risk Economist." I like the
term "Data Scientist" for now. I expect that term will be
meaningless in 5 years.
Large organizations do not properly appreciate agile and smart
analytic types. Time at large firms should be seen as subsidized
learning. Learn lots, but get out.
Ensure you can explain any of your projects to your wife or non-
technical friends. It's good practice for board meetings later in
your career.
Be sure you know the handful of things that you can do better than
most anyone else. Add something to that list every year. Make sure you
can explain these things to non techies.
Be a profit center, not a cost center. At least be as close to the
profit center as possible. The chief analyst for the sales SVP is
closer to the profit center than an IT analyst supporting billing
operations.
Get really good at asking questions so you understand problems before
you start solving them.
Yes, that bit about being a profit center not a cost center is in
there twice. It should probably be in there 5 times.
