Student Ambassador Spotlight: Tanish Jain

Meet rising data rockstar and Tableau Student Ambassador Tanish Jain.

The Tableau Student Ambassadors program gives students a jump start for career success, connects them with networking opportunities, and develops soft skills necessary for the workforce. Since the program’s start in 2019, we’ve supported more than 50 students around the globe—evangelizing Tableau and nurturing the data rockstars of tomorrow.

We wanted to learn more about our 2020/2021 Student Ambassadors and their biggest takeaways from developing and hosting a Tableau workshop for students. Hear from these amazing students—Vedant Lakhani, Tokolo Kashupi, and Tanish Jain—on their ambassador journeys and their collaborative global workshop:

Let’s start from the beginning. Why did you become a Tableau Student Ambassador?

I started learning Tableau in January 2020. I was amazed by its capabilities in data visualization and advanced analytics and decided to pursue a career in it. As I was learning, I was introduced to the Tableau Ambassador Program. There are so many perks and benefits to being a Tableau Student Ambassador. First of all, the title is recognised globally. Student Ambassadors are taught by Tableau professionals and data experts. They also receive great swag kits and gifts from Tableau. Becoming a Student Ambassador will not only improve your data skills but also interpersonal skills because you get to interact with many students and experts.

What have you learned from the ambassadorship?

I learned a lot by working closely with the Tableau Academic Team during this journey. I received great support for learning, event management, teamwork from my academic mentors and supervisors (Bergen Schmetzer, KJ Kim, and Candra McRae), as well as fellow student ambassadors. It has really felt like a Data Family when we all work together. The ambassador program also helped me build strong connections with students around the world.

Let's talk about your amazing student workshop! You three are all from different universities, in different parts of the world. Tell us about your workshop and how you all collaborated to run such a successful event?

We led our first-ever collaborative workshop during the ambassadorship program. Though we student ambassadors were from India and Nigeria, we were able to engage students from all over the world. We got a whopping 195+ registrations, and there were students from Morocco, Hungary, United Kingdom, South Africa, Namibia, Nigeria, and India. The five-day workshop’s curriculum was evenly distributed and covered all the basics.

What challenges did you face, and how did you overcome them?

A major obstacle came even before we started to prepare for the workshop: picking the best time zone for students. Because the majority of students were from India and southern Africa, we had to pick a time that worked for both regions as well as our guest speakers. Another challenge was internet connectivity. Many students (even us) had erratic connections, so we had to state most of the important things twice.

What is one thing you learned in this experience that surprised you?

The best thing I learned is that you should always have backup plans and that teamwork really boosts productivity and efficiency. There were many occasions where the speaker couldn’t field questions while demonstrating, so the ambassadors took care of the Q&A and chat. Each ambassador had their part to demonstrate, but we also prepared our fellow ambassador’s parts too, just in case, and it actually helped us with the workshop flow and preparedness.

What advice would you give to other students who want to learn Tableau?

My advice to the upcoming Tableau champions and data leaders is to enjoy learning and always be enthusiastic. Tableau is a tool that will enlighten you frequently with its capabilities and amazing visualizations, so play around and experiment with your data to learn more quickly.

If you could give a tip or suggestion to the current academic world regarding data analytics and data skills, what would it be?

My tips would be:

Try to work with a variety of datasets.
Focus more on problem-solving with data rather than the tools and technologies required to do the task.
Work on real-life projects. Also, keep in mind the motive behind the project and plan accordingly.

What have you been working on recently?

I graduate this year, and it’s my last year of being a Tableau Student Ambassador. I’ll be entering the professional world very soon where I’ll work in the domain of data analytics and business intelligence. After a few years, I plan to start preparing for the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) program. I’ll be very happy to share my journey and experiences with you all.