Summary

Rashi, an Analytics Consultant in the health insurance industry, provides a glimpse into her dynamic and engaging work routine on a typical Thursday in 2024.

Abstract

Rashi, an Analytics Consultant based in Chicago, shares her typical Thursday workday in 2024, illustrating the versatility and excitement of her role. Her day begins early with a relaxed morning routine, followed by a short commute to the office. Once at work, she engages in a variety of tasks including coding, data analysis, dashboard creation, and team collaboration. Rashi's role has evolved from data analysis to include data management guidance, identifying process gaps, and recommending improvements. Her workday is punctuated by social interactions, such as lunch with colleagues and one-on-ones with her supportive manager, where she often discusses her weekend plans. Rashi values networking and learning about other areas of the business, as evidenced by her coffee chat with a member of the User Experience team. Her productive day concludes with a workout, dinner, and preparations for the weekend, reflecting a balance between professional responsibilities and personal well-being.

Opinions

Rashi appreciates the variability in her daily tasks, which keeps her job interesting and prevents monotony.
She values the focus time in the morning, which allows her to delve deeply into her work without distractions.
Rashi believes in the importance of mentorship, as reflected in her positive relationships with her current and former managers.
She emphasizes the significance of ethics in the workplace, as indicated by her discretion when discussing team matters.
Networking and understanding the broader business context are important to Rashi, as demonstrated by her initiative to engage in coffee chats with colleagues from different departments.
Rashi enjoys a work-life balance, with time for personal activities like working out and cooking dinner, and she looks forward to the weekends.
She is a proponent of continuous learning and skill development, as suggested by her transition from a data analyst to an analytics consultant.
Rashi is an advocate for storytelling and sharing knowledge within the data community, as she blogs about data and encourages others to engage with her content.

A Day in the Life of an Analytics Consultant in 2024

Everything you’d ever want to know about a day in the life of a data professional

Hi! I’m Rashi, an Analytics Consultant from Chicago, working in the health insurance industry since 2021.

I joined my company as a data analyst and worked my way up to becoming an Analytics Consultant. I interned for a year while I was in grad school (2020–2021) but this, was my first ever 9–5 job and it was nerve-wracking to find a place for myself in an ocean of professionals with a multitude of skills and talents.

About three years in the job, I have a good place carved out for myself, I have unique strengths and skills that I bring to the table, and a perfected-over-time 9–5 routine at workday. Each of my days at work looks very different and that is what I love about my job — no two days are the same, so I stay far away from getting bored or saturated.

Saying that my workdays look different, what I do, the tools I use, and the conversations I have in a day have a lot in common so, I can write up this blog about a day in my life as an Analytics Consultant.

Let’s peek into a Thursday of my life (usually one of my busiest days of the week)

[07:00 AM]: Rise & Shine

I am a morning person and highly energetic in the morning so I can take my own sweet time to get ready, have my coffee and breakfast, and make my lunch in the morning (because I hate eating leftovers at work).

[08:30 AM]: Leave For Work & Hope To Catch The Bus

I have to go to the office three days a week and I do Tuesdays-Wednesdays-Thursdays from the office, making them my most productive days of the week. I try to leave for work at 8.30 AM and it only takes me 15 minutes to reach my office (a luxury of life I will not give up).

[09:00 AM]: Login and Start The Day

Because I am a social person, I love greeting everyone a good morning as I reach my desk and say no third word after that.

Just as I start my day, the first three hours (9am–12pm) are usually my focus time where I am —

writing code
working on analyses
going through my notes, trying to make sense of what I meant when I took those notes
creating dashboards
checking in with folks who owe me data or deliverables
attending meetings on projects I’m working on and/or involved in
trying to extract data to help an escalated delivery issue

…you get the point!

During these three hours, I am unbothered by distractions, staring deep at my screen (vibing to eclectic music), and checking off to-do’s from my weekly list.

The Data Consultant work I do today is an addition / a bit different from the data analyst role I previously had. As a data analyst, I was responsible for gathering, cleaning, analyzing data, making sense of the data, and communicating actionable insights based on defined business objectives and problems.

Now, as a data consultant, I do all that I used to do as a data analyst plus, I guide data management across teams, identify gaps in the data analytics & business processes, and create recommendations for process improvements.

[12:30 PM]: Lunch with Work Friends

Around noon, I will turn around to my co-worker to ask her about her weekend plans, and that conversation can lead to anything from what we heard in the latest Travis Kelce podcast to our latest Amazon home decor purchases or how the flowers from Trader Joe’s last so long!

At 12.30 pm, I step away from my desk to get lunch with my work friends, talk about our weeks, get some tea about other teams (but not share any tea about my team because I take ethics very seriously duh) and talk about my weekend plans for the second time.

[02:00 PM] One-on-One With a Manager

The one-on-ones with managers at my company are meant to be casual conversations around progress on work, share new ideas, thoughts, and opportunities, and talk about career progression when relevant.

My current manager and my ex-manager are the best managers anyone could ask for! These ladies are ambitious, smart, and hard-working and they support the ambitions and vision of people reporting to them. Finding a mentor in your manager is a solid plus!

My manager and I talk for 30 minutes each week, sharing updates on projects or things I need her direction on, and end the conversation by talking about our weekend plans, I’m talking about mine for the third time in a day.

[03:00 PM] Coffee Chat

I love to understand the business and meet people from different areas of the company to get a better perspective of how things work. I do not have a coffee chat every Thursday, obviously, but this Thursday in particular, I met someone from the User Experience and Customer Experience Design team and learned more about him, his overall team, and what they work on.

By now, I have talked about my weekend plans for the fourth time but got to know a lot new about the business, which was great!

[05:00 PM] Byeee!

3 pm — 5 pm is a time I will usually not have any meetings so I use this time to send emails, work through access, document things, help a teammate with Excel issues, or send things I owe to people.

As the clock strikes 5, I am packing my bag to leave my desk, wishing everyone a great weekend, and leaving the office building. By now, the caffeine has kicked in so I have all this renewed energy that I can use at the gym.

[6:30 PM] Workout

My gym is a 15-minute train ride from work and usually, I sign up for the 5.30 pm classes so we can comfortably make it to the class. Working out after work makes me feel super productive if the 9–5 wasn't enough.

After 60 minutes of heated yoga, feeling happy and accomplished, and talking about my weekend plans for the fifth time in a day, I am finally headed home for the day.

[7:30 PM] It’s Dinner Time!

As I said, Thursdays are usually the busiest days of my week but I love making me a meal plan on weekends so when it’s Thursday and once I’m back home at 7, I am ready to cook a meal and eat dinner by 7.30 pm. I usually talk to my parents or watch a show while eating (which I know is not great but it is what it is!)

[11:00 PM] Today Was A Success! It’s Time To Sleep

I love everything about a Thursday evening because the next morning is Friday, and then it’s the weekend!

Before bed, I like to do my night-time skincare, watch some TV, talk to my mom on the phone, and end my day by journaling and reflecting on the day.

That’s it from my end on this blog post. Thank you for reading! I hope you found it an interesting read. Let me know in the comments about your experience with storytelling, your journey in data, and what you are looking for in 2024!

Happy Data Tenting!

Rashi is a data wiz from Chicago who loves to analyze data and create data stories to communicate insights. She’s a full-time healthcare data analytics consultant and blogs about data on weekends with a cup of coffee…

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