E is for Eskwelabs Issue 67 - Leveraging Passions for Success ⚒️
What we have is enough for us to reach unimaginable feats. ✨ Issue 67 lays the groundwork for our journey to find our niche.
We created this newsletter to keep our alums, partners, and anyone interested in learning skills for the future of work updated and connected to our ever-growing community. If you want to read our previous issues, you can check them out here.
What we have is enough for us to reach unimaginable feats. ✨ Issue 67 lays the groundwork for our journey to find our niche.
Ciao! This is Meg speaking. 😉 Thinking about January’s theme has put me in a pickle. How will I further convince you, dear Eskweloves, to find your niche when—since we were young—we were already constantly asked about what talents we have and what we want to be in the future? 💭 The question of where you belong will always be present, so the more important thing to consider is WHY you need to find your own niche in the first place. 🔮
The world is changing at a much faster pace because of how accessible information is. It is unrealistic to assume that one can easily stay ahead of all of the changes relevant to our career and personal life. 🏃♀️ The solution: focus on what you love and what you’re good at so you can develop a core set of skills that align with your passions and interests. This does not necessarily mean striving to be good at only one skill, rather leveraging your expertise to actively seek out opportunities to learn and grow in other areas. 🌱 By doing so, you can stay engaged and motivated in your work and personal pursuits, while also positioning yourself to be adaptable and valuable in an ever-changing world. 🌏
So, dear Eskweloves, we are here to guide you in your niche expertise with a commitment to staying current so you can set yourself up for success in an evolving landscape. 👏 Issue 67 will answer the question “What does it mean to be a learner this 2023? ⌚”
Some questions to reflect on in this letter: 🧐
What does success look like in the role that I am in now? 🤔
How can I maximise my resources to do my tasks more efficiently? 📚
Happy reading! 📒
READING TIME: 8 minutes
What does it mean to be a learner this 2023? ⌚
To strategize our search for our niches, we have to do some reading and keep up with trends and predictions in the near future. 🕵️ I hope that by the end of this letter, you can identify areas of opportunities and anticipate future changes in your respective industries!
Learning Platforms
There are a lot of existing learning platforms to date–so how do we choose one that is effective, efficient, and worth its value for money? 👀 Before, Learning Management Systems (LMS) were E-Platforms that had all the information needed in it and its learners would just have to go through course catalogues at their own pace. 📋 Then arises the question of being able to track progress from these courses and how to check whether its contents are applied correctly. ✏️ Thus, Learning Experience Platforms were developed with much more impact in the long run because they:
Utilise multimedia resources that are grouped according to one’s skill set
Encourage collaboration, offering live experiences on top of asynchronous online learning
Provide opportunities for conversation among its learners, especially on topics related to leadership, innovation, and entrepreneurship
The popularity of such platforms has risen over the past few years, but according to renowned analyst and thought leader Josh Bersin, Mastery-Based Learning Platforms are the trend for 2023. 🤯 In his article, he states that companies are now seeking a guarantee of skills mastery from employees, which is why this kind of platform goes beyond administering courses as it pushes you to a higher level of performance in your current roles. 📈 It is an improvement from Learning Experience Platforms in the sense that it’s focused on connecting experts and innovators to learners grouped in small cohorts and assigned relevant projects. 🤝 This set-up delivers at scale as it usually has a business sponsor, a specific set of business goals, and an enormous ROI. ✅
Read more about this trend here!
At Eskwelabs, our Learning Sprints are following a similar path this 2023. ✅ Learning Sprints are project-based, cohort-based time-boxed learning experiences focused on helping learners through human-centred, future-of-work education. With the mentorship and instruction of experts, sprints on Data Storytelling, Data Literacy, and SQL are expertly provided to train teams with industry-relevant skills. 💪 We are currently preparing for a Mentor Preparation Sprint for FHMoms, our Data Literacy Skillscourse learners!
Data Analytics
If you’re an innovator, entrepreneur, creative, or simply a data enthusiast, then these trends will surely excite you! 😄 In an article published by Forbes, predictions on data were summarised into the following:
Data As A Service 🎁 - Organisations with a large amount of homegrown data might market their tools to other interested parties, encouraging other companies to build their own data-as-a-service platforms.
Augmented Analytics 📝 - Businesses leverage machine learning and natural language processing to automatically generate analytics reports, empowering them to get instant insights.
Data Ops and Observability 👨🔬 - Organizations who wish to become more data-centric will team up with data scientists to provide the tools, processes, and organisational structure to support the business’ data management.
Data Clean Rooms 🚪 - These are external-facing environments where groups can share their sensitive data and intellectual property. This year, amplified efforts to work collaboratively in these clean rooms while adhering to data privacy and safeguarding can be observed.
Synthetic Data Generation 🎒 - Artificially produced data will increase along with the growing difficulty to gather them due to data privacy acts.
Data Mesh 🏗️ - A data mesh is a decentralised data architecture that organises data by a specific business domain, providing more ownership to the producers of a particular dataset. With more companies creating their own data mesh, it is predicted that they will eventually come together to share and benefit from their data.
ESG Data 🌳 - Environmental, Social, and Governance Data (ESG Data) is believed to be included in companies’ structures and processes as the pressure to reduce carbon emissions increases.
You can see more insights on this topic here!
One takeaway from the list above is that businesses and organisations are becoming more data-driven, hence also implying the need to have data skills and a mindset that is suited for the future of work. 🗂️ Worry not! Signing up for our Data Science Fellowship can set you up with exactly what you need to stay ahead in the years to come. 🤗 Here are some important dates to remember:
We will be having Review Sessions for those about to take the exam for the upcoming Cohort 11 admissions!
🖥️ Join us in Review Session 1 on February 2: https://bit.ly/DSC11-RS1
🖥️ If you’re not free then, you can still join us in Review Session 2 on February 13: https://bit.ly/DSC11-RS2
Build your foundation as a data scientist with us! https://eskwe.link/DSFellowship
Leadership Trends
Another landscape that is evolving this 2023 is the workplace! 👨💻 The recent years have been challenging to navigate but they have proven to be lessons for the future, especially for leaders and businesses.
Role retention and cost-cutting will replace 2022’s quiet quitting and productivity paranoia in the hopes of creating a more stable workplace that anchors employee confidence and loyalty. 👌
With people being less concerned with COVID this 2023, employees would probably be inclined to do hybrid work to re-establish the human connection that was lost during the pandemic. Companies, however, may prefer remote work to cut costs. It all boils down to preference, but the important thing to note here is that we now have the ability to choose what set-up works for us! 🚗
Leaders are also putting psychological safety and soft skills development, particularly internal communications, at the top of their priorities this 2023 as it is essential in the face of economic uncertainty. 🧘♀️
Other industry-wide predictions are elaborated on in this article published by Forbes!
We take pride in Eskwelabs as a workplace that is able to adapt to what the industry demands without compromising the wellness and learning growth of its team! 👐 So, dear Eskweloves, if you want to be part of this community, we are looking for mentors who have a passion to inspire change amongst learners. 🌟
Got schedule constraints? Don’t worry!
🌅 Click here if you’re an aspiring mentor available in the mornings: bit.ly/DSMentorAM
🌇 Click here if you’re an aspiring mentor available in the afternoons: bit.ly/DSMentorPM
Eskweloves, you reached the end of the letter. How do you feel about the trends listed above? 🤗
🔋 Excited and energised–I can’t wait to see what’s coming next!
😣 Overwhelmed and confused by constant change…
😪 Pressured to conform to these trends!
Part of the process of finding your niche is feeling the way you do about these predictions. 💯 You can look forward to Issue 68 to encourage us to be brave in this process, and know that our inbox is always open to hearing your thoughts about this letter! 💖 Until next time!
💌 Learning with you,
Meg Ruiz
Junior Content Designer at Eskwelabs