Michelle L. Schneider

My name is Michelle Schneider and I am currently pursuing my MS in Business Intelligence with Full Sail University. I grew up on a farm in rural Minnesota, so a strong work ethic was instilled in me at a young age. I intend to use the Master’s degree along with my BA in Music Business to find a position in radio. In my downtime, I like to go hiking and participate in Rally Obedience with my dog, Remy. You can also find me on: Twitter and LinkedIn

[michellelschneider]

Business Intelligence Capstone Reflection

The Business Intelligence Master of Science Program has been a whirlwind of a journey. I quickly realized that the expectations and goals I outlined in the Mastery course weren’t necessarily relevant. At that time, I didn’t have a great understanding about the individual courses and I was just guessing what they would be like. The actual courses far exceeded the expectations I had developed. I was so busy with the assignments and individual study on related technology that I didn’t spend much time on the goals created in Mastery. I was surprised that we didn’t spend any time learning Tableau like we had with Visio. I think this would have been beneficial, but I did take time to explore the software on my own so that I could use it for assignments.

 Every course provided me with new skills and information as I am transitioning careers and had little hands-on BI experience prior to starting the program. I learned that I am especially interested in data visualization. I like how it allows for creativity and makes complicated data and insights more accessible. The accelerated pace of the program also helped me refine my time management and prioritization skills. I believe that these are important skills that should be continually developed because I frequently work in fast-paced, high pressure work environments. I also found it encouraging to get a better understanding of how BI can be used in all industries. In the past, I have worked in very specific niches and it is exciting and freeing to have so many different opportunities.

  I will be continuing to learn SQL, R, Python, and Tableau to improve my technical skills while I am job searching. I want to transition to a BI position within two months of graduating, so I will be using the time that I had dedicated to assignments to my job search. I will be focusing on improving my skills with Tableau because I have identified multiple local positions focused on this software. As I gain practical experience, I will be checking in with music industry companies to identify the skills they require. I will create strategies to develop those skills so that I can pursue positions in my preferred industry.

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Business Intelligence Case Studies Course Reflection

When I started the program, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect when I got to Business Intelligence Case Studies (ICS). Going into this course, I was expecting to read at least one case study per week. It came as a surprise to find out that we would only work on the DuPont case study as a group before focusing on our Capstone client. ICS exceeded my expectations and relieved some of the anxiety I had regarding the Capstone Data Solution Plan. I found it beneficial to do a complete solution plan for DuPont, so that I would have a better understanding of the expectations for my Capstone client. I have had very limited free time, so I wasn’t able to work on the goals developed back in the Mastery course. That being said, one of the goals was about problem solving which I have frequently had to do this month. I have had to figure out how to balance work, family, school, dog obedience classes, a languages course, and getting a new puppy.

 Working through the data informed solution plan during the first two weeks really improved my understanding of what needs to be included. It also helped me realize the type of language that should be used in order to convince others to buy into the plan. I think the Cost-Benefit Analysis assignments have been particularly important for me. I had to learn to take the time and think deeper about the impacts of the solution. For my Capstone client, I had to determine how to quantify improvements to customer experience because that was a primary aspect of my solution. I found the Capstone solution plan to be easier than the DuPont one due to having a more solid understanding of SiriusXM’s business model and industry.

  This course provided me with a number of skills that will be useful in the future. Gap Analysis in particular could be used in a variety of situations. I can’t imagine a scenario where it wouldn’t be helpful to outline steps to help get from a current state to a desired one. I will be using this in preparation for job searching to help me find the type of position I really want rather than taking the first one that is offered. Researching and becoming familiar with different vendors will also be important for the future. While looking up options for SiriusXM, I found that there were more radio-specific options than I thought there would be. In the future, I will need to remember to look for niche vendors rather than just automatically selecting well-known ones.

[michellelschneider]

Business Intelligence Leadership & Communication Course Reflection

Business Intelligence Leadership and Communication (BIL) was an interesting course. It met my expectations that there would be focus on presentation skills, communication skills, and ethical concerns. I thought the two development plans that we created were particularly important assignments. They helped me identify where I need to improve in regards to communication and leadership skills. I think that my experience working in the human services field was a benefit when it came to creating SMART goals. This is something I have had to create for clients so it was easy for me to develop goals that were measurable and determine how to evaluate progress.

 I believe that GRIT and Ambition are important for leadership. In the Mastery course, I took self-assessments in both of those areas and learned that I had high scores. While creating the development plans in BIL I learned the importance of self-assessments and how they can be utilized to improve skills. Leaders must have GRIT to persevere through challenges in order to meet the goals. This perseverance and passion can inspire others to see the vision through to the end. Ambition is also important to leadership because the individual needs to be driven to create change in both their personal and professional lives.

  BIL has helped me identify communication and leadership skills that need to be improved. I will be implementing the goals that I set in order to improve my weakest points. Leadership and communication skills are crucial for success in the workplace. Additionally, I strongly believe that it never hurts to continually improve current skills and take the time to learn new ones. The resources on presentations were also helpful because they provided me with some new tips. Professional presentations are crucial to keep the audience engaged and enhance their understanding of the information that is being communicated.  

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Data Visualization & Creative Reporting Course Reflection

Data Visualization and Creative Reporting (VCR) has been the most fun course within the program. It was a nice change of pace from the previous two courses. I was very happy that VCR provided the opportunity to be more creative. VCR exceeded my expectations by providing a variety of fun assignments and encouraging the use of multiple visualization tools. I was able to take the time to gain more experience with Tableau. I do think it would be helpful if some time was taken during the program to provide instruction on this software like it was with Visio.

At the beginning of the course I was excited to realize that one of the textbooks was a book that I had previously considered buying and reading for fun. I have always been impressed by creative visualizations and was excited to learn how to branch out from just doing standard charts and graphs. The Lord of the Rings and superhero assignments were by far my favorite assignments throughout the entire program. I am a fan of these two subjects and it was a great opportunity to mix what I’m learning with topics that I am passionate about. I was enjoyed the time spent learning how to make infographics. I think this is a very effective way of presenting large amounts of data to the general public. The visuals are eye catching and have a better chance that the viewer will read all of the information.

I think the time I spent learning and using Tableau and Adobe Illustrator will benefit future courses as well as my future employment. These are two important tools for creating visualizations and will be a benefit to have listed on my resume. I would enjoy finding a position where I could design eye-catching and informative visualizations. In future design work, I will be sure to take color-blind safe color palettes into consideration. This will ensure that individuals with visual impairment can still understand and benefit from the information that is being communicated. I was feeling a little burnt out prior to this course, but now I will be able to finish the last three months strong.

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Process Modeling & Analysis Course Reflection

Process Modeling and Analysis was a very interesting course. I came into the class with an open mind and didn’t have any specific expectations other than to learn something new. That expectation was definitely met and I discovered my interest in modeling and simulation. At first, it seemed like an intimidating topic, but it quickly made sense to me. I particularly that the models can be utilized in a wide variety of industries. I did not have time to watch the Lynda.com course I outlined in the Mastery course, but intend to do so over the break.

I was surprised by all the different types of diagrams that were utilized during the course. I thought it was great practice to have so many assignments that required their use. I appreciated that I had to take additional time to learn how to create the diagrams in Visio. The stock and flow and causal diagrams were new to me. I also enjoyed that our on-going project this month was to create a website. This provided a break from writing papers and was a nice change of pace from the PowerPoint assignments from the previous course. I found the chapter on human behavior modeling particularly enlightening.

This course gave me more practice using Visio to create a variety of diagrams. This will benefit upcoming courses and my future career because I hadn’t used the program prior to starting the BIM program. I believe that business process modeling will be a useful skill for the future. Businesses will always need to make decisions, so I can’t image that these skills will go out of demand. This project provided me the opportunity to see a model through and examine the different aspects that the business would need to consider. It gave me a better understanding of what employers may expect from me.

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Patterns & Recognition Course Reflection

I found the Patterns and Recognition course to be more challenging than the previous ones. I think this was partially due to how rigorous the BIM program has been and I was feeling rather burnt out. I did not have time to work on any of the goals that I had initially set in the Mastery course, but I plan to work on them during the December break. Patterns and Recognition exceeded my expectations because I wasn’t entirely sure what we would be doing. I really liked the text book for this course. I thought it was particularly beneficial to see how analysis can play a part in so many different industries.

 After spending so long writing papers, it was surprisingly difficult to switch to doing PowerPoint presentations. The time it took to upload the video to YouTube added pressure to making sure that deadlines were met. I liked how we spent time analyzing different topics that I had never considered. I found the stock price assignment to be the most interesting. I was excited to finally have a better understanding of how the stock market works. I also enjoyed taking time to learn about Twitter and Facebook analytics in more depth. Social media is such an integral part of life that it will be beneficial to know how to gain understanding from those platforms.

 I want to continue to explore different social media analytics tools in the future. I think this is another skill that will be beneficial to have during the job search. Many businesses that I have encountered are on these sites, but don’t know how to use them to the best of their ability. I’m also interested in expanding my understanding of stock analysis. I am interested in knowing more about how I could make smart investments. Overall, this course provided a lot of knowledge that I look forward to utilizing in the future.  

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Data Mining Course Reflection

Data Mining was an intense course primarily because I was unfamiliar with the techniques and there was a lot of new information. The assignments broke everything down and made the reading assignments feel less overwhelming. I intend to go back to the text book after this program is finished, so that I can gain a better understanding of the material when I have more free time. I didn’t have the opportunity to work on my initial goals for this course, but plan on reviewing R and Python over the December break. While I enjoy theoretical classes, I had originally thought that the course would be more hands on with relevant tools and techniques.

I was intrigued by all the industries that can benefit from data mining. I knew that businesses used data mining to have better target marketing campaigns, but hadn’t thought about applications beyond retail and consumer goods. Biological, biomedical, and audio data mining were some of the trends that really caught my attention (Han, Kamber, & Pei, 2012, section 13.5). I intend to take time to gain a more thorough understanding of the data mining algorithms that were covered in the course. I read about them, but didn’t have the time to do a more in depth study. I would also like to gain some practical experience with them.

I believe that data mining will be an important skill to have while job searching. In 2016, LinkedIn found that data mining was the second most important skill that employers were looking for (Fisher, 2016). The importance of R and Tableau were also highlighted during this course. Tableau has become one of the top 10 technical skills with the largest increases in demand and R continues to be one of the most popular programming languages (Kauflin, 2017). I will spend the rest of the program and beyond increasing my proficiency in these areas. This will help me stand out as a valuable candidate to potential employers.

 References

Fisher, C. (2016, October 20). LinkedIn unveils the top skills that can get you hired in 2017, offers free courses for a week. LinkedIn Official Blog. Retrieved October 20, 2017, from https://blog.linkedin.com/2016/10/20/top-skills-2016-week-of-learning-linkedin

Han, J., Kamber, M., & Pei, J. (2012). Data mining: Concepts and techniques, 3rd edition. Waltham, MA: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.

Kauflin, J. (2017, January 8). The 10 technical skills with explosive growth in job demand. Forbes.Retrieved October 20, 2017, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2017/01/08/the-10-technical-skills-with-explosive-growth-in-job-demand/#79f1e1414f5c

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Business Intelligence Analytics Course Reflection

Business Intelligence Analytics (BIA) was one of the courses I was looking forward to the most. I’m happy to say that it exceeded my expectations and that I have learned many valuable skills. I enjoyed taking the time to improve my abilities in Microsoft Excel. It has been years since I have needed to use most formulas and create graphs or charts, so this was an excellent refresher. I thought the statistics text was very helpful and clearly laid out what needed to be done. I haven’t had to work with statistics since I finished my undergraduate degree so my skills were a little rusty at the beginning of the class. I enjoyed working on the tech blog assignments because it made me really think about the different types of situations that we may need to address in the future.

This course has highlighted areas that I want to go back to during my free time. While I was able to do the statistical analyses, I would like to be faster and not need to refer to the text as frequently. I believe that increasing speed and competency would be beneficial in upcoming classes as well as future jobs. I am inspired to continue expanding my working knowledge of Excel and to start exploring what Tableau could do in order to create better analytical visualizations. I think that it is important to be proficient in software that employers care about. I’m also planning on reviewing R, Python, and SQL during the breaks in order to be more well-rounded. I want to make sure that I have a skill set that potential employers find desirable so that I can select the position that best fits my needs. I am excited to see how I can incorporate the skills from BIA into the upcoming courses.  

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Business Intelligence Technologies Course Reflection

So far, I think Business Intelligence Technologies has been my favorite course in the program. I thought the pacing of this course was a nice change from how fast moving Enterprise Data Management was. Once again, I realized just how far off the expectations and goals I developed in Mastery were. I thought that we would be having more hands-on experience with the technology rather than doing in-depth research on various BI vendors. Due to the lack of free time in my schedule, I did not work on any of the goals I outlined during Mastery. Over the winter break, I intend to go through and complete the tasks indicated in the PowerPoint. I still think that it will be incredibly beneficial to learn SQL because I don’t have any experience with it.

The time spent learning about Gartner’s Magic Quadrant was a highlight of the course. I had known that the Magic Quadrant was important, but hadn’t previously taken time to really understand it. I thought it was very interesting to learn about their research methodologies and the evaluations of the vendors. I used this course to really work on developing professional looking papers. This was a change from research papers that indicated the need for a strict adherence to APA style. During this course, I took the time to explore the different templates that Microsoft Word has and how they can be customized. I was particularly interested to learn how to create Table of Contents that linked to the text when clicking within the TOC.

I will bring the importance of document presentation forward with me. This is an easily overlooked aspect of professionalism, so it could help me stand out from the crowd. I am also more focused on writing these documents with my audience in mind. It is imperative that the information be presented in a way that is easily understandable for the intended reader. I gained valuable research skills and spent more time navigating the Gartner and Forrester websites. I am particularly interested in third party reviews because they provide unbiased information that isn’t available directly from vendors. I plan to continue exploring other BI vendors that I didn’t get the time to research in order to expand my knowledge of products on the market.  

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Enterprise Data Management Course Reflection

Enterprise Data Management (EDM) has been a fast-paced and highly detailed course. I was surprised by how much more challenging it was compared to Foundations of Business Intelligence. I didn’t have any set expectations going into EDM other than being excited to learn new skills. It has been hard for me to have expectations for these classes because I have little to no background in the topics so I know that everything will be new and beneficial. While more stressful, I did enjoy the increased intensity of the assignments. It matches up with what I had initially expected graduate school would be like.

 I really liked that the course required so much outside research to be done in order to complete the assignments. The flexibility of the discussion posts made me take the time to watch videos on multiple ways that EDM/BI technology is being used in a variety of industries including health, sports, and education. I don’t think I would have taken the time to learn about those industries if I had been left to my own devices. The EDM plan assignment was incredibly beneficial. I had to do extensive research to determine the best ways to complete it while keeping my specific company in mind. I think I had the hardest time with the visualizations that needed to be created. I often didn’t feel like I knew what I was being asked to create, so I just took my best guess and hoped it was right.

 I intend to build upon the skills from EDM as I move forward in the program. With the understanding of EDM I will be able to create better plans as I learn about related topics in more depth. It has been beneficial to look at the information covered in the course and then apply it to a small business. The textbook and other resources online tend to focus on much larger corporations. For my final project, I used a company within the music industry. This is where I would like my career to go, so it was fun to try to see how these technologies and skills could apply within my preferred field. It was particularly challenging that companies in the live music business have been slow to adopt BI, so there weren’t any vendors or products that were directly marketing to those companies. I’m excited to continue to discover ways to integrate BI into different aspects of the music industry.

[michellelschneider]

Foundations of Business Intelligence Course Reflection

The Foundations of Business Intelligence (FBI) course exceeded my expectations from when I created my Mastery Journal Timeline. Despite reading the course description, I wasn’t sure what to really expect from the course. The goals I set gave me additional information that wasn’t covered in the course. My goals regarding industries using business intelligence did tie into the assignments during Week 4. I am excited to gain certifications from Lynda.com in the other areas that I selected as goals. I wasn’t aware that we would get certifications when I selected them. That was an unexpected benefit and will enhance my resume and LinkedIn profile.

The entire course was new material for me because my background primarily includes farming, music industry, and human/social services. The vocabulary was particularly important because I haven’t had any formal training in the area of computer science. Through the Master Glossary assignment, I was able to further explore topics that caught my interest like Natural Language Processing (NLP). I am excited to research NLP further once I’ve gained more information and will have a better understanding of what I’m reading.

The time spent working with Visio was enlightening and I plan to explore the more advanced abilities on my own time. I had not used Visio prior to this course, but the tutorials were easy to understand and I caught on quickly. The assignments pushed me to learn more about graphic design elements to make my diagrams more appealing to the viewer.

Finally, I found the Week 4 assignment regarding industry analysis to be very interesting. I did extensive research on the music industry and learned many things I hadn’t know before. I’d never thought about the environmental impact that the industry has and it was very interesting to read about studies that had been done.

I plan to continue updating my Master Glossary because there are so many new concepts and terms that I will learn. This will help me pick up the jargon more quickly and will benefit my upcoming job search. FBI has already helped me find aspects of business intelligence that peak my interest and inspired me to do additional research. I believe that a strong understanding of the topics covered in FBI will be imperative for upcoming courses because they will build on what I learned this month.

[michellelschneider]

This is a great song to get motivated to achieve your goals!

References

Shaddix, J., Esperance, T., Evigan, N., & Furlong, N. (Writers), & Black Fawn Films (Director). (2017, March 30). Papa Roach - Born For Greatness (Lyric Video) (Music Video). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i8uLP71U8Q

[michellelschneider]

Ziai, A. (2013, March 5). Exercise Inspirational Quote. Licensed under Attribution 2.0 Generic license on Flickr.com

This is my inspirational post of the week because I started a fitness challenge in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle while balancing school, work, and my personal life. It has been very difficult, but I’m sticking with it. Like everything else in life, dedication to a task is important to me and I’m excited to see how much I’ve improved by the end of the month!

References

Ziai, A. (2013, March 5). Exercise Inspiration Quote [Photograph]. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/aryaziai/8533712432

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Mastery Journal Timeline PDF

Capstone project for Mastery: Personal Development & Leadership

This project covers my goals for all 12 of my classes and tactics to achieve those goals. It also includes a visual representation of that timeline. Other information that can be found within are industry leaders, organizations, innovative companies, and Full Sail organizations. I plan to look back on this as needed throughout my journey and in Month 12 to look back on all the progress I have made. 

[michellelschneider]

Batepola, Y. (2015, July 24). Wolves don’t lose sleep over the opinion of sheep [Online image]. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License on DeviantArt.com

I have always found this quote to be a great reminder and inspiration. I think it is important to remember not to let the opinions of those around you get you down. There will always be critics along the way, but it is up to you to decide how you will deal with it. I have found it to be incredibly freeing to let go of the worry over how others will react to my actions. It has been an important aspect of refocusing and making myself a priority for the first time in many years. 

References

Batepola, Y. (2015, July 24). Wolves don’t lose sleep over the opinion of sheep [Online image]. Retrieved from http://yesitha92.deviantart.com/art/Wolves-don-t-lose-sleep-over-the-opinion-of-sheep-548541910

[michellelschneider]

For this week’s inspiration post, I chose the music video for “All I Want” by A Day To Remember (Russ, 2011). To me, this song represents the desire to reach your goals and stay true to yourself by working hard and staying on track despite what others may say. In the past, this song has prompted me to job search or learn new skills when I was feeling stuck in a dead-end job. I think that A Day To Remember’s lyrics are honest and relatable.     

I was surprised to realize that this song corresponds to the readings that we have been doing in Robert Greene’s Mastery. “If you take it from me / Live your life for yourself / Cause when it’s all said and done / You don’t need anyone else” (McKinnon, 2010). I believe that these lyrics are similar to the strategy for avoiding the false path that we covered in Chapter 1. Greene stated, “It is a healthy part of your development to follow a path independent of your parents and to establish your own identity” (2012, p. 37). I think “All I Want” also touches on the idea of staying focused and letting your work speak for itself.

References

Greene, R. (2012). Mastery (p. 37). New York, NY: Penguin Group.

McKinnon, J. (2010). All I Want [Recorded by A Day To Remember]. On What Separates Me From You [MP3 file]. Chicago, IL: Another Victory.

Russ, D. (Director). (2011, September 30). A Day To Remember – All I Want. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn-6eOxnEMI 

[michellelschneider]

I created my LinkedIn profile when I was getting my Bachelor degree. I make sure to go in and update the information whenever I have relevant life changes or have worked on new projects. I have also used LinkedIn as a resource when I am job searching. You can visit my full profile here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-schneider-b795b215/