I remember not knowing anything about spreadsheet at all. It was specially pathetic given that most people at work know how to use it, except me. In fact, it's the only tool most people know how to use to this day. I mean, someone needs to be able to do a quick tool that everyone can understand right? Change is hard for most people. Even though there are already a lot of fancy data visualization tools these days like Tableau, Power BI, etc., to be honest, spreadsheet never dies! You won't believe that a lot of big companies still use this for their critical reports and stuff.
I remember asking one of the clients during a client visit (lol I didn't know why I even did this) to help me add two numbers on a spreadsheet. I was already a QA, young and fresh from uni and yet I didn't know how to do simple stuff. The client looked at me as if I'm the most pathetic thing he has ever encounter in life. Well, of course that was just my thought, he actually helped me. He made me realized that I was indeed pathetic.
That was the major turning point in my career or life overall. So I came home that weekend and studied basic to intermediate or everything else that I need to know about spreadsheet. I've mastered pivot tables, formulas, and stuff in no time. I came to work and asked my lead to let me send the reports. "You?", she asked. Yup!
I became the master of what I do on a day to day basis. My team mates asked me for help anything reports/data related at the time. My team lead made me an "example" during our meetings. Anyone can learn anything they set their mind to.
And of course, that also lead me to a career change eventually. Fast forward, Now I know SQL, VB, Tableau, Power BI and recently, I'm learning Python for automation. Sometimes I compare myself to who I was yesterday to see how far I've come. Truly everything is possible.
Currently, I'm doing some pure hard work in so little time. I was constantly putting myself out there and gaining the bosses' approval (which is not so me lol). Initially, my main motive was just to be able to do good work in order to prove that I can be trusted to work remotely indefinitely. So I proactively asked the management to let me jumpstart new programs or accounts so I could solely design their data infrastructure and dashboards. And you know, gain the reputation of being an individual contributor. I'm actually happy enough just to be able to keep my work situation. But guess what, I might even be up for promotion sooner than I think. At least that's the direction they told me. And if that's the case, I guess I'm gonna experience upward mobility in the same company for the first time ever lol. Faith in humanity restored. Sweet right?
Deep down I wish that I stayed longer at my past work instead of job hopping or traveling around during those years. I'm paying the price because it feels like I'm working so hard now trying to catch up. Why do I feel like this all of a sudden?
I know my peers and other people I know from uni are so way ahead of me now career-wise. But then I should not be regretting those life experiences and adventures I got. Even during those long gaps, I still ended up working in a foreign country, in some small travel agency, doing the same tasks for people. You know what they say, wherever you go, there you are! Learning never stops.
I guess I'm gonna attribute all of these to my constant desire to learn and grow. It's fun but not easy. It's having the willingness to get out of your comfort zone and try new stuff. It's asking my leaders to like give me new challenges that are stimulating and will push me to grow.
When it comes to discomfort zone, I'm the expert in that lol. It's being able to strike the balance between YOLO and FOMO. I want to learn what's new out there and not be left behind but at the same time, I also want to enjoy and master the skills that I have right now.
I feel like this is going to be a great year for me.