Can i get competent in Power BI in 6 weeks?

Bassmansam · 3 Jul 2023 at 09:21

Hi All

I recently went for a BI report developer job and I got it. My main skills lie in excel where i feel i am at an advanced level however the majority of the time in the job i will be using Power BI and recreating their excel reports in their plus making any new ones needed.

In my current job i have remade a couple of reports in BI, it didn't seem too complex but i wouldn't say i am competent at the moment as i had to do a bit of googling(Dax stuff mainly). I have used power query in excel so know my way around making queries in that and a bit of M language.

So i bought a udemy course and have around 6 weeks to get competent. I've never thoughtit would be a problem before, with the udemy course and google/forums to fall back on. But on Saturday night i had a bit of an anxiety episode about it all worrying about my ability to do the job.

Can i do it?

D3K · 3 Jul 2023 at 09:25

Unless you lied at job application they won’t expect you to be proficient at it.

That aside, learning apps like this isn’t the problem. It’s the knowledge and intuition on how to manipulate the data effectively that is key. Sounds like you may already have that.

Ayahuasca · 3 Jul 2023 at 09:29

Imposter syndrome is common.

6 weeks is tight, but if you do the course alongside using something like ChatGPT you should be fine. Just don't copy/paste answers without trying to understand and cross-reference the information provided.

tom_e · 3 Jul 2023 at 09:31

D3K said:
It’s the knowledge and intuition on how to manipulate the data effectively that is key. Sounds like you may already have that.

100% and also figuring out the usual mess of company specific data that makes no logical sense what so ever but "It's always been that way".

As said unless you rolled out a bit too much BS and claimed to be a wizard I wouldn't even give it a second thought, by all means brush up a bit if you've got the time but don't worry about being able to nail it all from memory. Google isn't going to disappear as soon as you start the job

Bassmansam · 3 Jul 2023 at 09:44

tom_e said:
100% and also figuring out the usual mess of company specific data that makes no logical sense what so ever but "It's always been that way".

As said unless you rolled out a bit too much BS and claimed to be a wizard I wouldn't even give it a second thought, by all means brush up a bit if you've got the time but don't worry about being able to nail it all from memory. Google isn't going to disappear as soon as you start the job

I did say i was a wizard in excel haha.

mattx4 · 3 Jul 2023 at 09:46

tom_e said:
100% and also figuring out the usual mess of company specific data that makes no logical sense what so ever but "It's always been that way".

As said unless you rolled out a bit too much BS and claimed to be a wizard I wouldn't even give it a second thought, by all means brush up a bit if you've got the time but don't worry about being able to nail it all from memory. Google isn't going to disappear as soon as you start the job

This, Excel reports to power bi is very easy it's only when you want to do the fancy click through and UI stuff it gets a bit more tricky. I think part of that is I don't have a natural eye for design so don't forget that part of the job.
Also one of the things that's often missed off the generic courses is adding power automate connectivity which can be handy to trigger refreshes or actions based off the data

Trigger flows from Power BI reports

<p>Learn how to trigger flows from any Power BI report using the new Power Automate visual for Power BI and the Power BI button clicked trigger.</p>

powerautomate.microsoft.com

Bassmansam · 3 Jul 2023 at 16:55

mattx4 said:
This, Excel reports to power bi is very easy it's only when you want to do the fancy click through and UI stuff it gets a bit more tricky. I think part of that is I don't have a natural eye for design so don't forget that part of the job.
Also one of the things that's often missed off the generic courses is adding power automate connectivity which can be handy to trigger refreshes or actions based off the data

Trigger flows from Power BI reports

<p>Learn how to trigger flows from any Power BI report using the new Power Automate visual for Power BI and the Power BI button clicked trigger.</p>

powerautomate.microsoft.com

Isn't the ui stuff just dragging a chart/graph/card to the dashboard?

Bassmansam · 3 Jul 2023 at 16:58

Ayahuasca said:
Imposter syndrome is common.

6 weeks is tight, but if you do the course alongside using something like ChatGPT you should be fine. Just don't copy/paste answers without trying to understand and cross-reference the information provided.

Yes i think i do suffer imposter syndrome. I had it at the start of my current job as it was my first analyst job mainly using excel. The first few months were stressful but i learnt so much (thanks google/ forums). Doing this course should prepare me although im not a total noob to power bi..

mattx4 · 3 Jul 2023 at 17:29

Bassmansam said:
Isn't the ui stuff just dragging a chart/graph/card to the dashboard?

Knowing what graph to use and how to make the overall dashboard easy to understand

Power BI Dashboard Design: Avoid These 7 Common Mistakes

This tutorial explores the most common mistakes in Power BI dashboard design. A dashboard redesign and follow-along PBIX example included.

zebrabi.com

Bassmansam · 3 Jul 2023 at 17:42

mattx4 said:
Knowing what graph to use and how to make the overall dashboard easy to understand

Power BI Dashboard Design: Avoid These 7 Common Mistakes

This tutorial explores the most common mistakes in Power BI dashboard design. A dashboard redesign and follow-along PBIX example included.

zebrabi.com

Ah right yeah, will have a look cheers.

dazzerd · 3 Jul 2023 at 21:25

Keep it simple. I use power bi and similar tools. Do most of the hard work in power query, i.e. build an appropriate model. But don't get hung up on schemas. From a ui perspective use simple matrix, bar, column and line graphs. And yes also use pie charts though the experts will tell you not too. But always remember you are build reports for your audience which generally don't give a damn about best practice.

gpuerrilla · 3 Jul 2023 at 23:09

I sometimes doubt myself mostly because I expect my brain to remember syntax perfectly. But then I remember I am over 40 and accept my noggin is aging and there's no point in sweating over that stuff when a google or search gets you there easily.

I taught myself heaps of my analysis skills over the years, but never set out on specifically being a data analyst as a career.

If I ever need a reminder that I have the skills and then some, I just take a look at the past developers or colleagues work that I have fixed/improved/rebuilt and all is good again! :cry:

The problem I have found is I rarely spend all day or week on the same applications, sometimes many months go by when I am back on that software so its hard to progress fast when too long passes between sessions.