Meet Elizabeth: A Data-Driven Social Media Analyst at a large U.S. financial services firm

Elizabeth Whitmore, a social media analyst for a large financial services firm, was looking to hone her data analytics skills and further her career by upskilling. She monitors the company’s social media output and analyzes the data to determine what content truly resonates with its audience. 

“Our objective is to curate and distribute content strategically across social media platforms. This approach enhances engagement and boosts our overall performance. I identify what’s working well and share these insights with my team. Though I lack a traditional technical background in data analytics, I’ve acquired some knowledge on the job over the years.”

She recognized that to maximize the potential of the data at her fingertips and to further her career, she required formal training in data analytics.

“This is my first role as an analyst and my reporting required a lot of manual work. I realized mastering tools like SQL and Tableau is crucial to improving our processes. When I discovered my employer paid for a course that aligned perfectly with the skills and tools I had hoped to learn, I saw it as an opportunity ,” she explained.

Leveraging Education Benefits for Professional Development

A commitment to continuous learning was a pivotal factor in Elizabeth’s decision to join her organization. Her background in education instilled in her the importance of lifelong learning. 

“I was specifically seeking an employer that encouraged and supported continual learning,” she said. “My organization underlines this support by providing all their employees with educational opportunities, even allowing for study time during the workday.”

On exploring her employer’s diverse catalog of curated online certificate programs and degrees, Elizabeth’s interest was piqued by the NYU Data Analytics and Agile Leadership Certificate, including SQL and Tableau courses. She took full advantage of generous education benefits and enrolled in the program at no cost to her. 

The Pathstream Program: Challenge and Reward

While challenging, Elizabeth’s ongoing journey with the Pathstream program has already proven to be an enriching experience. She appreciates the program’s structure, finding it both logical and beneficial. 

“The material is presented in a way that’s methodical and builds on each lesson. The projects are challenging, and you need to manage your time to complete the coursework. I am lucky that my employer has generously accommodated my study and project completion time,” Elizabeth said.

Having participated in online courses before, Elizabeth found that the NYU Data Analytics and Agile Leadership Certificate exceeded her expectations based on past experiences. 

She expressed her satisfaction, saying, “I was pleasantly surprised. I’ve completed an online certification with another company, and the user experience was nothing like Pathstream’s. The labs are impressive and well-designed. Pursuing a Pathstream certificate is proving far more educational than trying to learn these concepts on my own using a free course or YouTube.”

Boosting Her Productivity and Improving Processes 

Elizabeth is excited about the potential of her new data analytics skills to enhance her contributions to her team at her organization. She anticipates that these skills will streamline her current work processes, making them more efficient. This increased efficiency will afford her more time to concentrate on data-driven insights, facilitating more strategic decision-making. 

Elizabeth shared, “I haven’t been able to use it [SQL]  at work yet. But I’m getting access soon to our databases and will get to pull data from SQL. We’re also going to be improving our reporting capabilities. Our goal is to move our reporting to a Tableau dashboard and once I get that setup, I’ll be able to automate our social media reporting. It will save us more time and give us better insights into what content engages our audience and helps us achieve our business goals.”

Elizabeth also found that the course improved her existing skillset, enhancing her work productivity.

“The first module taught us about data analytics and gave us some useful tips on how to use Excel. These tips have made it much quicker and easier for me to clean up, manipulate, and organize my data. I’ve started using what I learned in my daily work already. This course improved my existing skillset and taught me how to use new tools to do my job better.”

Pathstream Program: A stepping stone toward an advanced Data Analytics career

Elizabeth sees the completion of her Pathstream program as the first major step toward the future she envisions for herself. She’s excited about the prospect of progressing into a more technically intensive role, such as a data scientist or a specialized analyst. She believes the skills she’s acquiring now, particularly in SQL and Tableau, will be crucial in positioning her for these advanced roles in her field. 

“Completing the NYU Data Analytics and Agile Leadership Certificate will strengthen my credentials and I see this program as my gateway to a more specialized data role, like data scientist or technical analyst.”