Artwork for podcast Data Career Podcast: Helping You Land a Data Analyst Job FAST
185: How I Would Become a Data Analyst in 2026 (if I had to start over again)
Episode 18511th November 2025 • Data Career Podcast: Helping You Land a Data Analyst Job FAST • Avery Smith - Data Career Coach
00:00:00 00:24:24

Share Episode

Shownotes

🏆 Follow this roadmap w/ The Data Analytics Accelerator (My Bootcamp): https://datacareerjumpstart.com/daa

⌚ TIMESTAMPS

00:19 - Step 1: Skills

02:33 - Step 2: Data Roles

06:38 - Step 3: Projects

10:22 - Step 4: Portfolio

13:20 - Step 5: Resume & LinkedIn

17:59 - Step 6: Job Hunting

21:12 - Step 7: Interviews

22:53 - The SPN Method


💌 Join 30k+ aspiring data analysts & get my tips in your inbox weekly 👉 https://www.datacareerjumpstart.com/newsletter

🆘 Feeling stuck in your data journey? Come to my next free "How to Land Your First Data Job" training 👉 https://www.datacareerjumpstart.com/training

👩‍💻 Want to land a data job in less than 90 days? 👉 https://www.datacareerjumpstart.com/daa

👔 Ace The Interview with Confidence 👉 https://www.datacareerjumpstart.com//interviewsimulator




🔗 CONNECT WITH AVERY

🎥 YouTube Channel

🤝 LinkedIn

📸 Instagram

🎵 TikTok

💻 Website

Mentioned in this episode:

✨ Try Julius!

This episode is brought to you by Julius – your AI data analyst companion. Connect to your database and/or business tools, pull insights in minutes–no coding required. Thanks, Julius, for sponsoring this episode. Try Julius at https://landadatajob.com/Julius-DCP

https://landadatajob.com/Julius-DCP

Transcripts

:

Here's exactly how I would become a data analyst if I

2

:

had to start all over again in 2026.

3

:

Now I'm low key, pretty lazy,

and I'm also very impatient.

4

:

So I'd want to choose the fastest

roadmap with the least amount of work

5

:

required to actually land a data job.

6

:

That roadmap is called the SPN method,

but it still has a lot of work.

7

:

Step one, I'd wanna figure out

exactly what skills are required

8

:

because there's literally.

9

:

Thousands of different data

tools and skills that you

10

:

could possibly be learning.

11

:

And if you're gonna master them

all, it's gonna take you so long.

12

:

It's gonna take you decades before

you even feel close to ready.

13

:

Once again, remember, I'm very

lazy and I'm very impatient.

14

:

So I want to learn the bare minimum of

skills required to land my first data job.

15

:

So which skills and what

tools would I focus on?

16

:

Ideally, I choose the skills that

have the biggest bang for your

17

:

buck, the lowest hanging fruit.

18

:

So basically what that means are the

ones that are used the most in industry.

19

:

But also the ones that are the easiest

to learn, so I can learn them quickly.

20

:

That way I could have employable in-demand

skills really, really, really fast.

21

:

Uh, so what are those skills?

22

:

You're probably wondering, well, you

can do the research for yourself by

23

:

going through like hundreds, thousands

of different job descriptions and

24

:

keeping tallies and track of what data

tools are mentioned the most often.

25

:

But obviously that's

gonna be a lot of work.

26

:

The good news is I already did all that

research and work for you, so here you go.

27

:

The most in demand tools that are

also pretty easy to learn are Excel.

28

:

Tableau sql.

29

:

Literally, that's it in that order.

30

:

These are the top three data skills

that you should be learning when you're

31

:

just starting out in data analytics.

32

:

And if you need any help remembering

that I came up with something called

33

:

a pneumonic, I think is what it's

called to make it kind of easy.

34

:

It's every turtle swims.

35

:

E for Excel, T four

Tableau and S four sql.

36

:

And that's where I'd personally start.

37

:

If I had to start all over, I wouldn't

really study anything else until

38

:

after landing that first data job.

39

:

Now I can hear everyone

in the comments already.

40

:

Well, what about Python

and what about Power bi?

41

:

And here's the truth, I love Python.

42

:

It's literally my favorite data tool.

43

:

But honestly, there is a little

bit of a steep learning curve,

44

:

and it's only required in like.

45

:

13% of data analyst jobs.

46

:

It just takes so freaking long to learn.

47

:

And remember, I'm not trying to be

in this job hunting mode forever.

48

:

I'm trying to land a data job quickly.

49

:

So learning Python, it's gonna

take a freaking long time.

50

:

And to me, it's just not worth the

time investment at the beginning

51

:

because it's not the most in demand

skill and it's not the easiest.

52

:

So it makes sense for me to

leave it till later, and at that

53

:

point I can probably learn it.

54

:

On the job, so I'm gonna be getting

paid to learn and I'm all about

55

:

that, so sign me up for that.

56

:

In fact, I did a video in the

past about how to get paid to

57

:

learn stuff in data analytics.

58

:

You can check that out right there.

59

:

Step two, I'd wanna make sure I understand

all the different data jobs available.

60

:

Obviously there's data analyst and

that is a great place to start.

61

:

In fact, I think it's the best

place to start, but there's actually

62

:

so many more jobs than just.

63

:

That they all have slightly different

names and slightly different

64

:

responsibilities, but a lot of the times

they're doing pretty similar stuff to

65

:

what you'd be doing as a data analyst.

66

:

So the first two I wanna talk about

are data scientists and data engineer.

67

:

If you're just getting started,

I would not try to get those jobs

68

:

because it is hard to land those roles.

69

:

It requires a lot of programming knowledge

and math knowledge land, those roles.

70

:

And I just think they're

really hard to land.

71

:

So instead, I'd focus on things like

data analyst, financial analyst,

72

:

healthcare analyst, marketing analyst.

73

:

Almost anything that has the word analyst

in it, or that might have the word

74

:

data in it, I would at least consider.

75

:

Now, there's so many different

jobs here and I can't possibly

76

:

tell you every single one, but

let's just start with the big one.

77

:

So financial analyst and business

analysts are two of the most

78

:

common analyst roles I've been

seeing on job boards quite a bit.

79

:

In fact, I run my own data job board.

80

:

We'll talk about it here in a

second, but on that job board.

81

:

Financial analyst and business

analyst roles are pretty much more

82

:

common than data analyst roles.

83

:

The financial analyst roles you're

going to be dealing with, like p and

84

:

ls, a little bit more profit and loss

statements, uh, a little bit like more

85

:

kind of data plus accounting, e uh, a

little bit about forecasting and just

86

:

like how much cash you have on hand.

87

:

A business analyst role, that's like

half business, half data analyst

88

:

kind of meet in the middle, so

their jobs can be quite varied,

89

:

um, in what they're actually doing.

90

:

But a lot of the times they're just like.

91

:

Approaching business problems

with like Excel or with Tableau or

92

:

with SQL or something like that.

93

:

The next most common one is healthcare

analyst, and it is kind of self-evident,

94

:

but basically you're doing data

analytics with healthcare data.

95

:

A lot of the times you'd think that this

is like looking at medical charts and.

96

:

Different medicines and

procedures and stuff like that.

97

:

But honestly, unfortunately, a lot of

the healthcare analyst roles are more

98

:

about the operations of healthcare,

like appointments and billing, uh,

99

:

and scheduling and stuff like that.

100

:

There's a huge demand for healthcare

analyst roles, and I don't see that

101

:

demand going away anytime soon.

102

:

So this is a great role, especially

if you have healthcare experience

103

:

in the past, if you've worked

maybe as a nurse or some sort of.

104

:

Medical tech, this could

be a great fit for you.

105

:

Marketing analyst, once again,

very self-evident in the name,

106

:

but basically you're doing data

analytics on marketing data.

107

:

If you've ever worked as a

marketer, if you know anything

108

:

about ads, if you know anything

about social media or like website

109

:

analytics, this is a great place to.

110

:

For you to start now.

111

:

There's so many more jobs I can't even

talk about right now in this video.

112

:

So here's a big list on the screen

right here, and if you're listening

113

:

to the audio version, I'll have a

link in the show notes down below.

114

:

But there's so many

different data jobs you guys.

115

:

So pause this video, take a screenshot of

this, and start looking for these jobs.

116

:

The reason you wanna start looking for

these roles instead of data analyst roles

117

:

is one less people know about these roles,

so they're going to have less applicants.

118

:

And two, a lot of the time.

119

:

Your domain experience is going to

be very valuable for these roles.

120

:

So for example, if you've been

an accountant before, a financial

121

:

analyst role is a really good

fit for you because you already

122

:

have that accounting experience.

123

:

So when you go to apply to financial

analyst jobs, they can look at

124

:

your resume and be like, oh, this

person's already been an accountant.

125

:

They're gonna understand this

data set better than most.

126

:

And that's something that

I'd have to take in as well.

127

:

So in my previous life, I was a chemical

lab technician, so I'd be probably

128

:

looking for data jobs that maybe have

to do with laboratory data or companies

129

:

that deal with some sort of chemicals.

130

:

Now there's also a bunch of like these

in-between jobs that are like half

131

:

data jobs, half domain jobs, um, and

they're a little bit more entry level.

132

:

They require less skills.

133

:

Maybe they only require

Excel, for example.

134

:

You've probably never heard of

these jobs and that's totally okay.

135

:

I made a whole separate video,

so you can watch that on YouTube

136

:

right here, or we'll have a link to

it and the show notes down below.

137

:

And that will basically explain these

roles that are a little bit more entry

138

:

level than even a data analyst role.

139

:

They don't pay as well as data

analyst role, but you could probably

140

:

land them today if you know Excel.

141

:

So once again, check that out.

142

:

And honestly, if I had to start all

over again, I might go for one of

143

:

these roles first because when I

was a chemical lab technician, I was

144

:

making like $15 an hour, and these

roles are like closer to $25 an hour.

145

:

So I might wanna start with one of these

roles, get the word data on my resume,

146

:

and then start applying for data analyst

jobs after I get data on my resume.

147

:

Step three is I need to figure

out a way to convince a hiring

148

:

manager to actually hire me.

149

:

Why would anyone wanna hire me?

150

:

I'm a chemical lab technician.

151

:

I've never been a data analyst.

152

:

I don't have very many data skills,

like why on earth would someone hire me?

153

:

Um, and you've maybe felt this way before.

154

:

I call it the circle of doom.

155

:

It's basically like I can't

get data experience because I

156

:

can't get a data job because.

157

:

I can't get data experience.

158

:

And so this never ending cycle of doom

where it's like, how the heck am I ever

159

:

supposed to get a job when I don't have

experience, but I can't get experience?

160

:

'cause no one's gonna gimme a job.

161

:

And honestly, it's the absolute worst.

162

:

If you're in the circle of

doom right now, let me know in

163

:

the comments and I'm so sorry.

164

:

That is not a fun place to be.

165

:

But here's the truth, is you could

actually create your own experience

166

:

and you do that by building projects.

167

:

Now a project is basically.

168

:

A real world life example

of you analyzing data.

169

:

It's almost like you have some sort of

proof that like, hey, not only does my

170

:

resume say that I can do Excel, that I

can analyze data in sql, that I can make

171

:

a Tableau dashboard, but here's some

tangible proof via project that I can.

172

:

And it's one thing to know the skills.

173

:

It's another thing to show

that you know the skills.

174

:

And those are different things.

175

:

So think about it, if I'm

like interviewing with a

176

:

hiring manager and I'm.

177

:

Tell the hiring manager, Hey, yeah,

I know sql, I've been learning sql.

178

:

They're gonna be like, well,

can you prove it to me?

179

:

Right?

180

:

And if I can have a project where

like, I'm like, yes, I can look it.

181

:

Here's some healthcare

data that I analyzed.

182

:

You know, here's some financial

transactions that I analyzed.

183

:

Here's some manufacturing sensor data

that I actually analyzed, and I created

184

:

this dashboard for you in Tableau.

185

:

See how powerful that is.

186

:

All of a sudden, the hiring manager is

like on the defense at the beginning,

187

:

like, I don't know if this person

actually can do what we need them to do.

188

:

Two, oh my gosh, this person already

has done what I need them to do.

189

:

Here's the evidence.

190

:

I like this person.

191

:

I mean, it's hard to do, but put

yourself in the hiring manager's shoes.

192

:

Let's say that you were a hiring manager.

193

:

For like the next Fast and the

Furious movie that's coming out and

194

:

you need to hire a stunt double.

195

:

Let's say you get two applicants.

196

:

Applicant, a, you know, on their resume

it says that they can jump over a car.

197

:

Great.

198

:

Uh, applicant B'S resume also

says they can jump over a car.

199

:

Fantastic, but they also send a

video of them jumping over a car.

200

:

Who are you more likely to hire?

201

:

Uh, option A or option.

202

:

It's option B, right?

203

:

Why?

204

:

Think about it for a second, because

they gave evidence that they can

205

:

do what the job description says.

206

:

They took the risk out of it

because now that I'm on the other

207

:

side of, I hire people, right?

208

:

I'm a hiring manager now and I

hired some wrong people this year

209

:

and it has bit me in the butt.

210

:

It has cost me honestly

thousands of dollars, uh,

211

:

because I didn't hire correctly.

212

:

And so when you are, you know, trying

to convince a hiring manager that

213

:

you are the right person, if you

can lower that risk with projects.

214

:

All of a sudden you're

breaking the circle of doom.

215

:

You have experience and you're

letting the hiring manager know in a

216

:

undeniable way, Hey, I've got this.

217

:

Don't worry about me.

218

:

So I would need to

start building projects.

219

:

And if I didn't know where to go or how

to start building projects, you always

220

:

gotta start with a dataset and you

gotta find a dataset somewhere online.

221

:

So one of the best places you

can find data sets, well, there's

222

:

a bunch of different options.

223

:

I actually did a whole nother

video about it right here, you

224

:

can find in the show notes.

225

:

Um, but the short answer is Kaggle.

226

:

Kaggle is a great place to

find, uh, a data set like.

227

:

90% of the time, and usually

that's like good enough.

228

:

So that's where I'd start.

229

:

And then in terms of like what

to do in the project, first

230

:

pick, should you do it in Excel?

231

:

Should you do it in sql?

232

:

Should you do it in Tableau?

233

:

Uh, just pick whatever one you're maybe

the best at, and then start to answer some

234

:

business questions about the data set.

235

:

Think about how many, what's

the max, what's the average?

236

:

What's the relationship

between these two columns?

237

:

What happens over time?

238

:

Those are some of the questions that you

can ask at the beginning, and you can just

239

:

answer maybe two or three or four of 'em,

and all of a sudden you have a project.

240

:

You have evidence, all of a

sudden you have experience.

241

:

And I would be qualified, or at

least I would be able to talk to a

242

:

hiring manager with like some sort

of defense like, no, I am good.

243

:

You should hire me.

244

:

So I need to build projects.

245

:

Step four, I would need to create

a home for these projects, right?

246

:

Because if you do these projects.

247

:

But they're not tangible, then.

248

:

They're not tangible.

249

:

And how are you gonna convince the hiring

manager that you're the person, right?

250

:

So if your project is just in your

head, it doesn't really count.

251

:

If it's just on your desktop,

it doesn't really count.

252

:

That doesn't do you any good.

253

:

You need this to be public.

254

:

You need this to be easily shareable.

255

:

You need this to look good and look

pretty and make yourself look good, right?

256

:

This is really key to have a portfolio.

257

:

So a portfolio is basically a home.

258

:

For your projects, and you'll want to have

maybe one to, I don't know, 10 different

259

:

projects that that's a big order.

260

:

It depends on the, the

quality of your projects.

261

:

One really, really, really good

project could be better than

262

:

like seven mediocre projects.

263

:

It really just depends.

264

:

So where should you build your portfolio?

265

:

There's a couple different options.

266

:

And I teach all these different options

inside of my program, the data Analytics

267

:

accelerator, and I actually give them

templates to just do this really easily.

268

:

Probably the most common place

to have a portfolio is GitHub.

269

:

Uh, but I don't like GitHub as

a portfolio for data analysts.

270

:

Um, I can hear you guys in the comments.

271

:

Oh, GitHub's awesome for data scientists

and data engineers and programmers.

272

:

Yeah, I get it.

273

:

Okay.

274

:

But a lot of you guys at the beginning.

275

:

You're not gonna be writing code.

276

:

GitHub is literally meant for code.

277

:

Now you can kind of reverse engineer,

hack it and make it for anything, and

278

:

it, it could work as a good portfolio,

but it's really hard to navigate and it's

279

:

really hard to look good inside of GitHub.

280

:

Just trust me on this and try one

of these other things instead.

281

:

I really like to use LinkedIn.

282

:

LinkedIn.

283

:

That's a great place where

recruiters are right?

284

:

Like it's like 97% of recruiters are

actively using LinkedIn every single day.

285

:

So why not be where they are?

286

:

Right?

287

:

Because those are the people

that can change your life.

288

:

Those are the people that

can all of a sudden reach out

289

:

to you and offer you a job.

290

:

So I like using LinkedIn.

291

:

There's a featured section on there.

292

:

There's a project section on there.

293

:

We like to use LinkedIn articles

too, to make these projects go.

294

:

And that's what I suggest.

295

:

That's one of the things I

teach inside of my bootcamp.

296

:

The next thing I also do inside

the bootcamp is card dot, uh, co.

297

:

I think.

298

:

I'll, I'll put a link, uh, right here

and in the show notes down below.

299

:

But basically it's just a website

builder, a simple website builder.

300

:

Um, I think it costs like nine to

$20 a year and it's so worth it.

301

:

You guys, your portfolio looks, looks so

good and you can build it pretty quickly.

302

:

So, uh, our students inside of

our bootcamp actually just get.

303

:

This template from us right here, that

they can literally just fill in the blanks

304

:

with their information so it doesn't

take them like the, I don't know, couple

305

:

hours that it might take you to set up.

306

:

But, uh, I really like card.

307

:

I really like LinkedIn.

308

:

You could do it on Medium, you could

do it on any sort of Squarespace

309

:

or Wix or other website builder.

310

:

Also, if you like GitHub, there is

an alternative called GitHub pages.

311

:

GitHub realize, Hey, people

are using this as a portfolio.

312

:

We're not really built to be a portfolio,

so let's build a like separate product

313

:

that makes portfolios really well,

and that's called GitHub pages.

314

:

And I really recommend that it's

just a little bit of a steep

315

:

learning curve if you're not really.

316

:

Knowing about GitHub or you don't

know about markdown, markdowns kind

317

:

of like a programming language.

318

:

It's kind of not, but uh, regardless

it's a little bit more technical, so

319

:

I'd wanna make sure I have a portfolio.

320

:

Ideally in LinkedIn or card step five,

I'd need to make sure that my resume

321

:

and LinkedIn are working for me.

322

:

And these are really the only two tools

you get when you're trying to land a

323

:

data job and you need to invest in them.

324

:

They need to be like little mini.

325

:

Employees running around working for you.

326

:

Okay.

327

:

And let me talk about what I mean by that.

328

:

Number one, when you're applying for

jobs, your resume either is going

329

:

to pass what's called the a TS, the

applicant tracking system, or it's not

330

:

every time, it does not pass the a TS.

331

:

There's kind of two scenarios.

332

:

One, your resume couldn't really

be read very well, and it's not.

333

:

A TS compliant, meaning there's some

formatting issues on it, or two, you

334

:

didn't fit what the job description

or the a TS was looking for.

335

:

Number one, you wanna just make

sure that you have a really

336

:

good a TS friendly resume.

337

:

We give our students all a bunch of

templates that they can choose from, but

338

:

the key here is basically no pictures,

one column, no tables, and make sure

339

:

it's like pretty simple, like don't

try to do too much with your resume.

340

:

Next, these ATSs, they're

honestly not very smart.

341

:

Even with ai, they're kind of dumb.

342

:

Basically what they're looking for

is they're looking at your resume

343

:

and they're looking at the job

description, and they're trying to

344

:

figure out if you're a match or not.

345

:

Now, what would make you a match?

346

:

Think about it.

347

:

Whatever's on the job description

should match your resume, and so if

348

:

you're applying for a data analyst role.

349

:

Well, I'm sorry.

350

:

You live in a world where they want

to hire someone with experience.

351

:

There is no non-zero

experience jobs anymore.

352

:

The lucky thing is we talked about

earlier how to create experience.

353

:

So if you're applying for data

analyst jobs and you don't

354

:

have the term data analyst.

355

:

On your resume anywhere, you're

probably not gonna pass the a s, so

356

:

you can kind of hack the system here.

357

:

You can put it next to your

name at the top of your resume.

358

:

You can put it in like your objective

statement at the top and or you

359

:

can put it in your experience

section and have a data analyst job.

360

:

That could be one that it's just

you making projects on your own.

361

:

You could hire yourself,

start your own company.

362

:

All of a sudden you're doing data,

freelance, data analytics, just you

363

:

need to have the word data analyst, or

whatever role you're trying to apply

364

:

for financial analysts, marketing

analysts, business intelligence engineer.

365

:

You need to have that

somewhere on your resume.

366

:

And if you don't, you're not

likely to get called back.

367

:

So I'd wanna make sure that my

resume said data analyst like

368

:

three or four different times.

369

:

Now, on a similar note, if the

job description is asking for sql,

370

:

I'll wanna make sure that I have

SQL on my resume multiple times.

371

:

So once again, I wanna put

it in my skill section.

372

:

Maybe I put it in my statement,

my objective at the top, uh, maybe

373

:

I tried to put it in my bullet

points in my experience section.

374

:

Maybe I have a project

section now on my resume.

375

:

I'd want to put it there.

376

:

You want to add as many

keywords as you can.

377

:

If you don't have the word Excel, the

word sql, the word Tableau, power, bi,

378

:

python, whatever, whatever terms you're

trying to go for, if those aren't on your

379

:

resume, you're not gonna get interviews.

380

:

So I wanna make sure that I

put SQL, Tableau in Excel, and

381

:

in many places I possibly can.

382

:

On my resume along with

a data analyst tile.

383

:

Next, I'd wanna do the

same thing with LinkedIn.

384

:

I wanna make sure that all

of my experience section

385

:

on LinkedIn is filled out.

386

:

I wanna make sure it has bullet points.

387

:

I wanna make sure I have a

really good about section.

388

:

I have a really good headline, a

clear profile picture, a good cover

389

:

photo on LinkedIn, and make sure every

single part of my LinkedIn profile.

390

:

Has information.

391

:

Why?

392

:

Because once again, 97% of recruiters,

these are the people who hire

393

:

you, are on LinkedIn every day.

394

:

And if they're on LinkedIn every

day, I think I should probably

395

:

be on LinkedIn every day as well.

396

:

I can't tell you how many times people

go through my program and they do

397

:

our LinkedIn section, they update

their LinkedIn, and all of a sudden

398

:

they have people reaching out to

them, recruiters, Hey, would you be

399

:

interested to interview for this role?

400

:

Would you be interested to

interview for that role?

401

:

And all it does is take

some LinkedIn optimization.

402

:

Once again, you want to keyword

stuff on your LinkedIn in as

403

:

many places as you possibly can.

404

:

Add skills, add whatever's in the job

description, put that on your LinkedIn.

405

:

The other thing to kind of consider

on your resume in LinkedIn, and

406

:

this is a little controversial,

so uh, if you don't like it, I'm

407

:

sorry, but this honestly helps you.

408

:

Can you change any of

your previous titles?

409

:

Can you go through your titles and can

you make them sound more data analyst?

410

:

Can you add the word analyst anywhere?

411

:

Can you add the word data anywhere?

412

:

The more that you have data and

analyst on your resume in your

413

:

title section of your experience?

414

:

The better.

415

:

So maybe you are a program specialist.

416

:

Can we substitute the word

analyst for specialist?

417

:

Would that be the end of the world?

418

:

The term analyst is pretty broad,

so I feel like it's safe to do.

419

:

And honestly like most titles

are all over the place.

420

:

Like a title at one company

does not mean the same as what

421

:

it would be at another company.

422

:

They're all made up.

423

:

There's no such thing as like

real titles, to be honest.

424

:

So I think if you can do this.

425

:

You should, and I honestly,

I would elect to do that.

426

:

So chemical lab technician, maybe

I'd be chemical lab analyst.

427

:

That feels like a little bit of

a stretch, but here's the key.

428

:

If it feels like a stretch, just

remember you're just tricking the a TS.

429

:

You could explain it to a human.

430

:

Oh, that was actually more of

like, uh, lab like technician role.

431

:

But I did do a little bit of

Excel analysis on that job.

432

:

Humans can understand nuanced computers,

ATSs cannot, so I'd probably update

433

:

my LinkedIn and resume those ways.

434

:

Step six is I would need

to start applying for jobs.

435

:

Um, obviously this might be really

obvious, but I'm not going to land

436

:

a job if I don't apply for jobs.

437

:

And the same is true for you.

438

:

So if you're applying to only a few jobs

and you're not getting any bites and

439

:

you're like, why can't I land a job?

440

:

The answer is apply for more jobs.

441

:

Now, I hate saying that because I'm

also not a fan of just the spray and

442

:

pray method where you're literally,

you know, bombing your resume out

443

:

to hundreds of thousands of people.

444

:

Like I don't think that

is a good method either.

445

:

I think that there is kind of a

middle ground where you're applying,

446

:

probably unfortunately, in today's

economy for hundreds of roles.

447

:

But you're doing so in a targeted manner

with human-centric motion in mind.

448

:

And what I mean by that is 67% of jobs

come from being recruited or referred.

449

:

So that's why I really wanted

to update my LinkedIn earlier.

450

:

Right.

451

:

So I can get recruited, but let's

talk about referrals, referrals.

452

:

Are amazing.

453

:

This is when someone at a company will

refer you to a role at that company

454

:

and hiring managers and recruiters

love that because if your friend's at

455

:

a company and they're doing good work,

they probably like your friend and they

456

:

would probably be glad to hire more

people like your friend, and hopefully

457

:

you're just as good as your friend.

458

:

So.

459

:

Networking is really key here.

460

:

You need, you need, you

need to be networking.

461

:

If you're not networking, your job

hunt will take, I'm not even being

462

:

dramatic here, 10 times longer.

463

:

Networking is literally the key

to landing a data job quickly.

464

:

Now, how do you do that?

465

:

We talked about updating

our LinkedIn profile.

466

:

That's a great start.

467

:

I would also tell you to start

documenting your journey on

468

:

LinkedIn via posts and comments.

469

:

Um, that's what we teach our students.

470

:

I know that's scary for a lot of you.

471

:

But I've literally seen it work wonders

for so many students who had zero

472

:

job experience and they were able

to land a data job because of that.

473

:

If that sounds scary, no worries.

474

:

You can go to your neighbor, you

can go to your cousin, you can go to

475

:

your mom's friend's aunt and just be

like, Hey, what do you do for work?

476

:

Pull out your phone.

477

:

Go through every contact in your phone.

478

:

Write down what every single

person does for work and

479

:

where they work, and then ask.

480

:

Would they ever hire a data analyst?

481

:

Do they, do they have data analysts

working at their company now?

482

:

If so, send them a message.

483

:

Start with the people who in

your network already are in the

484

:

data world or in the tech world.

485

:

They can be really good resources

for you and if they're actually your

486

:

friends, if they're actually your

family, they're willing to help you.

487

:

They will be willing to help you.

488

:

You just need to ask the right way.

489

:

So a really easy way to not be intrusive,

it's just to be like, Hey, I know that

490

:

you're, you know, a program manager.

491

:

At IBM, do you enjoy it?

492

:

Just start the conversation that way.

493

:

Oh, like, yeah, it's great.

494

:

Yeah, it's awesome.

495

:

You can be like, yeah, cool.

496

:

I'm like looking to become a data analyst.

497

:

Do you know any data analyst at IBM?

498

:

Oh yeah, I know this guy.

499

:

That's very cool.

500

:

I can introduce you if you'd like.

501

:

Oh yeah, that'd be great.

502

:

See, I didn't even ask, I didn't

even ask for anything right in that

503

:

scenario, but I got what I wanted.

504

:

So if you're not networking,

it's gonna be hard.

505

:

You need to be applying for jobs.

506

:

Also I recommend varying

where you apply for jobs.

507

:

LinkedIn, great place to apply for

jobs, maybe check your local listings.

508

:

Those will don't get as many

applicants and could be really,

509

:

really easy to land interviews.

510

:

Also, try other job platforms.

511

:

I'm not gonna list them

all, but I'm biased.

512

:

You can try find a data job.com.

513

:

This is my free data job board where

I post a lot of different data jobs.

514

:

I also have another one that is premium.

515

:

It is paid.

516

:

It's called premium data jobs.com.

517

:

Those ones.

518

:

Always have a recruiter or hiring manager

that you could reach out to today.

519

:

So that's why it's a little bit special.

520

:

That's why it's paid.

521

:

Check out both those, but just make

sure you're going to different job

522

:

boards and trying different application

methods because it is a little bit of

523

:

a luck, a little bit of a numbers game.

524

:

Now, if I've done steps one through

six, I'm probably ready for steps

525

:

seven, which is start landing

and preparing for interviews and.

526

:

Interviews are how you seal the deal.

527

:

That's how you actually

get job offers, right?

528

:

But you shouldn't be stressed.

529

:

I shouldn't be stressed about interviews

until I start landing them because there's

530

:

two different separate skills here.

531

:

The skills and the process of landing

interviews, and then the process of

532

:

passing interviews, and those are

two different things, and you should

533

:

prepare for them and work on them at

different times and in different ways.

534

:

So I would not be stressed about an

interview until I've landed an interview.

535

:

Once I landed an interview, I will cram.

536

:

Uh, and there's lots of different things

you have to think about in an interview,

537

:

but basically most data interviews

have two main parts, the behavioral

538

:

part and then the technical part.

539

:

The behavioral part.

540

:

They're gonna be asking questions

that usually start with, tell me about

541

:

a time, tell me about a time you.

542

:

Had to be a leader.

543

:

You had an issue with a coworker, and

these questions are basically like, let's

544

:

look in their behavior in the past to

predict what they might do in the future.

545

:

It's like, once again, the recruiter and

hiring manager here are trying to figure

546

:

out how risky you are and hopefully

not how risky you are once you've.

547

:

You've shown that, hey,

I'm a normal human being.

548

:

I can work.

549

:

They might ask more technical

questions, and a lot of the times

550

:

this will be maybe Excel specific

questions or SQL specific questions.

551

:

It kind of just depends on

the role and the company.

552

:

There's so many platforms you

can try to prepare for these,

553

:

these technical interviews.

554

:

Just to list a few analyst builders,

strato, scratch, uh, data lemur.

555

:

There's like so many different data

analyst prep, interview prep courses

556

:

and classes and online things that I

don't wanna talk about it right now

557

:

and you shouldn't worry about it.

558

:

I'm not worrying about it until I

land interviews, but once you do.

559

:

Those are right there for you to practice.

560

:

So that's how I would hopefully land

my first data job if I was starting

561

:

from absolute scratch this year.

562

:

And if you joined this method,

we call it the SPN method.

563

:

And what it means is it is not

just learning skills, that's

564

:

the s part of the SPN method.

565

:

If you're just learning skills.

566

:

You're not gonna land interviews, you're

not gonna land jobs 'cause you're missing

567

:

out on the other two thirds of the

equation for landing your first data job.

568

:

The P in the N, the P stands

for projects in a portfolio.

569

:

So that's what we talked about earlier.

570

:

You need to have projects,

you need to have that proof

571

:

and have it in a portfolio.

572

:

And the last part is the N, which

is the networking, which is if, like

573

:

I said, if you're not networking,

you're not gonna land a job.

574

:

So if you like this roadmap and

you actually wanna follow it,

575

:

please watch this video over and

over again until you can finally

576

:

figure out exactly what I said.

577

:

If you'd like a hand by hand guide.

578

:

Walking you through all the

steps, literally giving you

579

:

step-by-step instructions on this

is how you network, this is what

580

:

your LinkedIn should look like.

581

:

Here's a bunch of

projects that you can do.

582

:

Here's a template for the

resume and for the portfolio.

583

:

Then consider joining the

data analytics accelerator.

584

:

This is my all-inclusive data

analytics bootcamp, where I'll

585

:

take you from zero to data analyst.

586

:

Literally, this has worked for so

many different people in my program

587

:

from so many different backgrounds.

588

:

We've helped teachers, truck drivers, Uber

drivers, warehouse workers, accountants,

589

:

therapists, music therapists, like

whatever your current role is, we can

590

:

probably help you transition into a data

analyst if you wanna check that out.

591

:

I have a link in the

show notes down below.

592

:

It's called the Data

Analytics Accelerator.

593

:

I'll be your coach and my team will

help you land that First Data job.

594

:

We're super excited to help you.

Follow

Links

Chapters

Video

More from YouTube