Meet Reilly! He has been at Dispatch for almost three years and transitioned recently from his role as a Driver Engagement Agent to Data Analyst. Learn more about his journey at Dispatch.
In this Employee Spotlight, we introduce Reilly Tegan. Reilly has been at Dispatch for almost three years and transitioned from his role as a Driver Engagement Agent to Data Analyst this year. Here's what he had to say about his time at Dispatch!
1. What motivated you/why did you want to transition into a role on the data team?
I had been exposed to the business intelligence tool we utilize at Dispatch when I started on the Driver Engagement team, and took an instant interest. I assumed the role of an unofficial data point person for my manager data-wise, and these increasingly complex tasks became the most engaging part of my day-to-day. Eventually, I saw a future for myself in data analysis, and when the position opened up at Dispatch, I quite literally jumped for it.
2. How has Dispatch supported you in your learning/transitioning?
Two key ways. First, Dispatch offers a stipend for education, which I utilized for an intro course to looker, which gave me the tools I needed to be a resource for my team as we made plenty of data-driven decisions in managing our markets when it came to driver recruitment and retention. Second, my manager Brendan, cared about my development and what I wanted, and was sure to give me plenty of opportunities to aid the team and the entire marketplace operations department through my newfound “skill”, while also allowing me to block off time to learn more data querying language during slow parts of the week.
3. Any tips for people who are looking to transition into a role similar to yours?
If you’re specifically looking for a Data Analyst role, be prepared to put in time taking advantage of the thousands of free resources available online (Reddit, W3) to give yourself a baseline knowledge. SQL specifically, is noted as taking little time to learn, but a lifetime to “master”.
4. What does a typical day in your role look like?
Typically I will start my day finishing up and sending out data to the Dispatch Team member who needed something pulled. We have a standup at 10am every day where we catch up with our team and bounce SQL questions and looker improvements off of each other. Then I’ll work on a different data ticket(s) that come through to our team over the course of the day, and hopefully finish it. Then, I set aside an hour some days of the week for training. Just started a Python course… wish me luck!
5. So far, what accomplishments are you most proud of here at Dispatch?
Generally speaking, I am very proud to have gone between 3 different departments, and delivered results quickly. I have Dispatch partly to thank for believing in me and giving me the flexibility to “find the right seat”. One specific accomplishment was launching a fairly successful pilot for a big trial customer in Chicago. The cross collaboration between our Operations Team and our Account Executive team for this customer was seamless and allowed us to deliver big time for this massive customer.
6. Which Dispatch core value resonates with you the most?
People first has always resonated with me most at Dispatch, across each department I’ve worked under. As a BDR, it was my 3rd or 4th day, and a family emergency took me out of my work mentally, and my manager at the time was completely understanding, and let me get some much needed mental rest. On the operations team, I was welcomed into this new team and given every chance to succeed. I wouldn’t be on the data team now if my boss, Brendan, hadn’t encouraged me to continue pushing myself on Looker and training elsewhere for the data analytics position, even knowing he would lose a valued team member.
