2024 Review
Overview
This post discusses and revisits 2024. The first section covers me losing my job, applying to jobs, and finding a job. The second section discusses my mother’s illness, my girlfriend’s graduate school, and my graduate school. The third sections looks at my progress in my personal projects. Finally, the conclusion reviews of myself throughout the year.
Professional
Professionally, 2024 was a unique year for me. For the first time, I lost my job, navigated the job market as an analyst (instead of a junior analyst), interviewed with multiple companies, and graduated with my master’s degree.
Job Loss
In June, I learned my contract was not being extended. My last day was July 31. My employment agreement with the firm was unique, and I knew my contract was uncertain every August. I was an intern that started during the Covid-19 pandemic, graduated amidst high turnover, and lucked my way into temporary role that had been extended. Thankfully, colleagues, friends, and family were extremely supportive. If you know someone going through a similar life changing event and are unsure of how to support them, I endorse what I offered: pertinent advice and respectful listening. Without advice and feedback, I would have made more mistakes during this time. Without someone to listen to my rants and plans, I might have gone insane.
Knowing that my place at the firm was at risk every year, I had a plan in case I lost my position. I hoarded paid time off (PTO) and planned to use the payout as a cushion to reduce the financial stress of losing my job. Additionally, while at the position, I was conservative with my finances, buying me more time. By July 31, I had accumulated ~25 days of PTO. The additional one month of income built my confidence, and I took a two week staycation1.
Job Search
After my staycation, I began applying to positions. In retrospect, I wish I had kept better track of applications to create a sankey diagram 2. In the beginning, I applied to positions via job boards; however, with the prevalence fake job postings (especially on LinkedIn), I began to use job boards as an aggregator. From the middle of my job search onward, I only applied on company websites.
Once I began applying on company websites, I received more interviews. My theory is that if human resources see 100 applications from each job board and five from the company website, they will look at the smallest number of applications first to find a candidate quicker and easier.
This year, I also had my first technical interview. It did not go well. I was extremely nervous and was unsure of the question difficulty. The interview was divided into three sections: PowerBI, Python, and SQL. Each section had five questions at varying difficulty levels. Each section was 10 minutes long with the expectation that I would not finish. I did fairly well on the Power BI section, but I had poor results in the Python and SQL sections. I was able to get the two most difficult questions in for both, but I was unable to answer the easier questions. I was embarrassed but used it as a learning experience.
After six months, I received an analyst job I am extremely happy with! The position is with a firm I previously applied with but on a different team. The position pays fairly, is flexible, and the work is interesting. I am very thankful to have found this job!
Personal
Personally, this was a tumultuous year for me. Between illness in the family, my girlfriend starting graduate school, and me finishing graduate school, there is a lot of change.
In June, my mother was diagnosed with cancer. Around the same time she was diagnosed with a partially detached retina in one eye. Thankfully, as of December, she has finished chemo, radiation, and been declared cancer-free! Now she working on getting her vision back in affected eye. She has been very brave and strong through the experience, and I am very proud of her.
My girlfriend has started her Master of Public Health degree. She worked very hard to gain acceptance into the program, find housing, and get a new job. She did extremely well her first semester, and I am very proud of her!
I received my Master of Business Administration degree with a 4.0 grade point average (GPA)! I am proud of myself! I did not do well during my undergraduate degree (especially during Covid-19), so my performance in graduate school felt redeeming.
Projects
My personal projects did not advance as much as I would have liked. Currently, I have three projects half-completed that I planned on completing by December. While I can be sympathetic toward myself and the positions I found myself in this year, I believe I could have done more in a sustainable and healthy way.
Conclusion
This year had many challenges. I believe I handled the most important things well. I was able to support my mother as she battled cancer and my girlfriend as she started a new chapter in her life. I maintained my 4.0 GPA in school and graduated. I was able to find a new job. Overall, with the support from friends and family, I believe I did well
Goodbye to 2024 and welcome 2025🥂