I Almost Hung Up During the First Call

I Almost Hung Up During the First Call

Teaching was all Emily Parker had ever planned to do.

For eleven years, she taught middle school science in Minneapolis.

She loved her students, but by her early thirties, the stress had become overwhelming.

"I was taking work home every night. I was exhausted."

She started thinking about other careers.

One evening, a friend who worked in technology suggested data analytics.

"I honestly didn't know what a data analyst did."

So she started researching.

The Call She Almost Ignored

When SkyStates reached out, Emily was skeptical.

"I almost hung up."

She had already looked at several programs and was tired of sales conversations.

"At first, I thought they were trying to sell me something."

But the conversation surprised her.

"They kept asking about my goals and why I wanted to change careers."

No one had asked her that before.

"Then I realized they were actually trying to understand why I wanted to change careers."

Going From Classroom to Code

Emily enrolled in the Data Science track.

The transition wasn't easy.

"I hadn't been a student in years."

Her biggest challenge was Python.

"I remember staring at my screen wondering if I'd made a huge mistake."

The mentors encouraged her to keep going.

"They never made me feel behind."

The flexible class schedule helped because she was still teaching full-time.

Most nights, she studied after grading papers.

"There were evenings when I didn't start studying until nine o'clock."

Building Real Skills

Her favorite project involved analyzing student performance data.

"It combined my teaching background with my new technical skills."

She also built:

* Tableau dashboards * SQL reporting projects * Customer segmentation models

"I finally started feeling like a data professional."

Getting Ready for Interviews

The mock interviews changed everything.

"I didn't realize interviews could actually be practiced."

The resume team also helped her reposition her experience.

"They showed me how teaching had given me communication and analytical skills."

A month after graduation, she received an offer for an Education Data Analyst position.

"I remember calling my mom immediately."

Today, she works remotely and helps school districts analyze student performance data.

"I still help students. I just do it differently now."