With a burning passion for order amidst the chaos, making clear dashboards and readable tables became kind of my thing. Now I can apply my knowledge in a variety of projects while I further broaden my skills with HTML, CSS and JavaScript React.
After getting my MBO-4 diploma in journalism and (online) media, I found out that HBO wasn’t exactly my cup of tea – in other words: I quit. Bills were stacking and without any job experience nobody wanted to hire me at 22, even with my diploma. I wish they told me that when I was still in school. With all the volunteering experience I had, people told me I have an amazing CV, but just not what they were looking for.
Excel? What?
Someone I worked with closely during the internship I had for journalism met up with me for coffee, and gave me a push in the right direction. Obviously I was a bit hesitant to go into a different direction, but decided to just go for it. I threw myself in the deep end and applied for SkillsUP Lab. Excel was something I knew absolutely nothing about, except SUM meant… Something?
At the SkillsUP Lab I managed to learn Excel and SQL faster than I expected. It was uncomfortable at first. Strange new people, being the youngest and doing something I’ve never done before felt weird. However, I came to terms with it after taking time to get to know my peers.
Besides, I learned some personal skills they neglected to teach me in school. Self leadership, interview training, self neutrality, presentation skills, you name it. When we were still at the CIC, someone from Offcourse_ came over to see how we were doing. They actually offered me a traineeship! Enjoying my time there, I did learn quite a lot, especially in the web development field. Everything helped me grow as a person on both a technical and personal level.
“Before I started, I knew nothing about Excel. I went from ‘SUM what?’ to somewhat competent, if I say so myself.”
Now I work as a trainee at the Do Good Only Company, where I further develop my data visualisation skills. During my internship I discovered my interest in design and web development (in fact, I’m helping with this website while I’m writing this), so I’m learning Python, JavaScript React, HTML and CSS on the side.
I have to say, I’m glad I made this step, and I have so many more steps to go.