Our mid data analyst on her career development - Meet the bonsai.team

A lot can happen in a year and Ana, our talented data analyst, has the perfect story to back up the saying. We sat down for coffee and juice around her 1-year-anniversary to talk about her recent career development(s).

Hi Ana, how are you today?

I’ve had better days, but I feel good because I just handled something that was bothering me and now, I’m having coffee with you!

Yesterday we discovered a problem on a project we thought was already in the past, so we were working on it at full speed this morning. It doesn’t happen often that we find something is off, but luckily, we have an amazing, detail-oriented PM on the project that was looking into something we thought was done and found a problem within the data.

What is your story around becoming a data analyst?

I studied applied mathematics and had a few jobs as a student, but before coming here I had a little under a year of experience. My previous role included a little bit of data analysis and I noticed I kept leaving those tasks till the end, as I enjoyed them the most. Once I realized I could be doing that full time, I started looking for a data analyst position and, a year later, I'm still here.

Just a few months ago, you became a Mid-Level Data Analyst - congrats again! How have you been liking the new role and its responsibilities?

Thank you! It came about very naturally, it’s not like someone came and told me I’ll be having more responsibility from then on. With time and experience, I learned new things and started to take initiative in new ways, make better and quicker decisions.

The transition was very smooth and, since we always had independence within the team, I don’t feel a significant difference. By looking at juniors on my team, I can see them struggling with the same things I struggled with, only now I know when to help and how to speed up the process.

What I did notice is that, since I understand better what I can and cannot do at given moments, I’m much better at time management.

And what role did bonsai.tech and your team have in your career development?

When a problem occurs, I love finding out why and trying to fix it – it’s a great way to test your knowledge. So, the independence and warm atmosphere here did wonders for me! There are constant opportunities and support to learn something new.

Before, I worked in a big corporation where there wasn’t a lot of freedom, so I found myself not even thinking about why something was the way it was. The first time I stumbled onto a problem here, Petra said I should investigate it and try to solve it – she really encourages us to dig for ourselves first. Sometimes, she even lets me do things in ways even I wouldn’t allow myself to try yet. I really appreciate that trust.

What is one highlight or memorable experience you wish to share with us?

Well, the biggest surprise was right in the beginning.

It was one of my first reports for a client and Petra said she wanted us to deliver something a bit different, so I played a bit with the design aspect of the report (that’s when I discovered I enjoyed doing it). I didn’t know at the time it was for one of their executives. He ended up liking our take on the report so much, it gained us a lot of his trust and working with him has been really enjoyable. That was pretty cool.

What would you say makes bonsai.tech a company you wish to work at?

You have the freedom to try new approaches to things and a lot of say in developing yourself professionally. The data visualization course I recently took is a great example.

I thought I would be doing just a lot of tech work here, but ever since finding my love for design, I had enough support to allocate time to develop in that direction as well. I think Petra really wants us to know we can set time aside to pursue our interests.

That's amazing! How have you been enjoying the course so far?

I love it! It helps me relax and I find greater satisfaction in my other work if I get to make it look nice, too.

Before, I used to focus on making the reports look clean and nice and I didn’t pay that much attention to the placement of things, what draws the most attention etc. This course gave me interesting insight to apply going forward.

Who or what are some of your biggest inspirations within the company?

The entire company radiates ambition, everyone wants to learn and develop their skills by doing all the projects justice. It’s contagious.

And finally - who should apply to the ADA team? What kind of profile would best fit the data analyst role?

Definitely someone ambitious and hungry to learn. Technical skills are important, but the way you approach tasks and problems has proved to be even more significant. You should enjoy analyzing tasks in front of you and have attention to details.

Thank you, Ana! <3