Our first weeks @ Lytix
Introduction
A new start at a company is like writing a new chapter in a book, you have a general idea of the storyline however it can still go in various directions.
- Which new things will the characters learn?
- Which new characters will be introduced?
- What is the mindset of the characters?
- What role will the characters exactly play in the story to come?
After more than a month working at Lytix, we starters would like to answer these four questions. Consequently, the rest of the blog will be structured around these. Firstly, we will give an overview of the various new tools/programs/… we came across during the Academy. Secondly, we give an insight into the way we were guided by the new people we met at Lytix/Cubis. Thirdly, the overall mindset at Lytix is discussed. Lastly, a description will be given of how we see the future.
New things learned
The first week of the Academy was kicked off by David. He introduced us to the different architectures that exist in the data landscape and also gave a quick explanation of the various components. It all seemed a bit overwhelming at first. In the next few days, we dived into Power BI with Klaartje. For some of us, it was their first experience with the tool. We were astonished by the power and the ease of use! On Friday, Tom Carpentier taught us how to do data modelling. He learned us the basics of Kimball modelling. We can go on for a long time but we are data people after all.
In the second week, Robbe assisted us with the Power BI and Paginated Reports self-study guides. Emma gave training about Azure Data Factory and Ken made us more familiar with (advanced) SQL code. We already arrived at the third week of the Academy. Time flies when you are having fun learning interesting things! Lou introduced us to Data Warehouse principles, Emma explained to us how we can use serverless SQL pools. Jasper demonstrated how we can apply our knowledge about data modelling in practice when making use of Azure SQL databases. On the last day of the week, Mattias showed us how we can use DAX in Power BI and learned us some tips and tricks. In week 4, Neil introduced us to DevOps or DataOps. How we can use the Azure DevOps platform to work in an agile way. Robbe assisted us on Tuesday on how we can build PowerApps ourselves. This week we also obtained the AZ-900: Azure Fundamentals certification with a glance! Week 5 was completely dedicated to Python. How we can use Python to do Data Engineering in Databricks but also about Data Science.
The academy does not consist of just technical training. In week 7, we also had the opportunity to stretch our soft skills during these weeks. We had a two-day training to improve our presentation skills. During this session, we received many tips and tricks to give an interesting presentation and how to connect with your audience.
Way of teaching
The wide variety of tools, tips and tricks gave us an idea of what our future clients might expect from us as consultants. Apart from this framework, however, another important aspect of the Lytix Academy consisted of meeting and getting to know our brand-new colleagues. While we were learning from them and their experiences, we also got the opportunity to have a little chat during coffee or lunch breaks. This makes the step to give them a call or ask them a question via Teams a lot smaller should we ever experience a problem during projects.
Therefore, we can happily say the Lytix Academy not only opened doors to raw knowledge about data but also offered easier access to a network of competent and helpful colleagues.
Executing the following SQL statement illustrates this by displaying the number of colleagues we met during the internal trainings:
Luckily, our ‘teachers’ were not sharing knowledge by solely going over endless PowerPoints of theory, which restricted our back-to-school feeling to the bare minimum. Instead, the trainings were organized more dynamically. The discussion of theoretical concepts was alternated by hands-on exercises and our senior colleagues were happy to help a hand when connection or authorization problems with Microsoft arose (nothing compared to the deep jungle of SAP).
Furthermore, we were encouraged to present our results to the others during some trainings. This took the focus on knowledge sharing to an even higher level and also enhanced the dynamic aspect of the Lytix Academy.
Spoken of dynamic things, the interplay between the offices in Boortmeerbeek and our home desks was also a plus in our opinion. On the one side, we were glad that we could start our career in a period corona seemed to belong more to the past than the present. Meeting everyone in person made the first weeks and the first talks a lot easier. Unfortunately, a coin has always another side and in this example, the other side consisted of the ring of Brussels. Three of us (Joachim, Niels, Yoren) were forced to join the after-corona queues on a regular basis and apart from some quiz knowledge about the suburban towns of Brussels, this felt like a waste of time. That’s why following trainings from our home desks was a relief at some points in time!
Work hard play hard
The Lytix Academy was not just learning new material as you do in school. “Work Hard, Play Hard” is the mindset Lytix strives for. We also had time to have some fun and get to know each other on a different level.
In the middle of our training program, we had the opportunity to attend the biggest data event in Belgium: DataMindsConnect! This was really the cherry on the cake!! in the beautiful city-center of Mechelen surrounded by other data minded people. A renowned data-event completely dedicated to the Microsoft platform. Two days 51 speakers gave the best of their selves which resulted in very informative sessions!
The week after the data-event, all the colleagues came together for a fun teambuilding day in Waterloo. After this we really felt part of a spontaneous group of likeminded people!
Future
After a training of two months filled with interesting topics regarding data and getting to know the company and colleagues, we are ready to help our first customers with finding their path to the right insights in data. Some of us are already working with their first customer while you are reading this blog, some of us will be starting in November. Exciting! We are grateful to be part of the Lytix team and are enthusiastic about which opportunities will come next and who will join us (and who will be writing the next starters blog… ).
