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Thought this was interesting. Across 160 teams of researchers, just about all failed to make good life outcome predictions on things like GPA, evictions, layoffs, and others. Data followed 4.5k families across 15 years, with 13k features (varied over time). Haven't looked at it directly yet, but will be turning the docs and data inside out... In the meantime, authors claim this as showing the limits of ML. Oh, and it's published in PNAS, so you know there's some big publication energy there.
https://www.pnas.org/content/117/15/8398
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Sounds like you're in the wrong line of work, or more likely have been thrown into a role that you do not yet have the skills for. What we do isn't often rocket science, despite what you may read from some folks here.
That said, you should reach out for help, if you haven't already. Don't start with "I can't do this," or "I don't know how to do this, please help!"
Start with, "I'm having some difficulty with (x) part of this task. I'd like to be more efficient and contribute more. Do you have some time to discuss this?"
I don't like helping people who come from a place of desperation due to lack of skills. I sure as heck don't mind helping people who want to get better and are specific in their ask as it shows you understand enough about the problem, and the gap, to be helped.
Keep in mind it may not be that they don't want to help you, and more that they do not have a lot of time, or they may not understand your position, or any other myriad of reasons. Give it a shot, modify your approach to get your desired outcome. Don't give up easily, and if all else fails search for something that better suits you. Life is short, spend it happy.
This is normal. Every consultant gets thrown in the deep end at first. There’s only so much that can be taught. Only constant practice and struggling through things make you better. If you can’t “swim” then you’re going to be facing issues in pretty much any job that requires technical skills.
You obviously have the skills because you landed the job. Like others mentioned, your colleagues are probably swamped because of the time of year and don’t have the time to help you.
Don’t give up just yet. You CAN master excel. Here are resources for you:
1. Schedule this weekend to only learn excel:
https://www.udemy.com/course/microsoft-excel-2013-from-beginner-to-advanced-and-beyond/
2. Have a reference book (not eBook) and work ALL of the examples: https://www.amazon.com/Excel-2021-All-Step-Step/dp/B09FC8973D/ref=asc_df_B09FC8973D_nodl/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=532852595509&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12780984655381068399&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9013464&hvtargid=pla-1430102102339&psc=1
3. Bookmark and follow the examples. https://www.mrexcel.com/
Make friends & develop relationships at & above your level! Excel, Word, PPT are all learned skills. Don’t fret, just have the resolve & patience to learn new things and reach out to peer group/friends/mentors so you’re not stuck reinventing the wheel