How did a hospitality worker become a data analyst without an additional degree?

Hana Kobayashi
5 min readOct 1, 2021
Photo by Nilotpal Maity https://unsplash.com/photos/3NVnZRU6UVg

I dreamt to be a data analyst since a decade ago.
I became interested in data analysis when I was completing my hospitality management degree. The marketing subject touched on segmentation and the importance of understanding the data. I enjoyed analysing charts and graphs to make sense of what the data meant. From that day, I dreamt to be in the marketing / analytic field. Unfortunately, I had to choose a different career path due to my visa restrictions.

After I got my permanent residency visa in Australia, I decided to explore my career option. I met intelligent and experienced data analysts when I was doing some research. These people all had pretty intimating educational and career backgrounds. Master of Engineering Degree, Statistics, Computer Science, with 10 years of IT programming experience.

I thought to myself, there is no way I get to be a data analyst.

Especially I only worked in the hospitality industry at the time. I did not even have any office experience. I do not hate studying but spending more money and a degree seemed daunting. Completing a degree is not an option.

It seemed impossible to achieve my dream.

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Hana Kobayashi

Migrated to Australia. Passionate about financial independence, psychology, career and relationship.