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⌚ TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – How hiring managers think

04:18 – The mirror test

05:06 – Your resume is invisible

08:36 – Your LinkedIn has red flags

11:57 – Your portfolio is your proof

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I'm begging you, stop applying

to data analyst jobs at least

2

until you do this one thing.

3

Look, if you sent out 50 applications,

100 applications, 200 applications, and

4

you're getting absolutely nothing back,

I know what you're telling yourself, that

5

the market is broken, that you're not good

enough, that the algorithm hates you, that

6

recruiters are ghosting you on purpose.

7

And actually, the truth

is, it's none of that.

8

You're just skipping a step, and

it's a very important step, but

9

it only takes about 30 minutes.

10

And once you do it, everything changes.

11

It's called the mirror test, and if

you're applying to data analyst jobs

12

in 2026, you need to do this before

you send another application out.

13

Let me explain what it

is and why you need it.

14

But if you're new here, hello,

my name is Avery Smith, and

15

I'm a senior data analyst.

16

And I'm on a quest to help one million

people land their first data job.

17

So if that is you, which, let's be

honest, it is since you're listening

18

to this already, go ahead and hit

subscribe to follow the journey.

19

All right, here's the thing that nobody

applying to jobs ever stops to think

20

about, and that is, how does the company

see hiring from their point of view?

21

And the truth is, hiring is absolutely

terrible for the company and for the hire.

22

I mean, think what they're about to do.

23

They're about to take a complete

stranger, someone they randomly found

24

on the internet, they talked to a

few times, and then they're going

25

to hand that stranger the car keys.

26

They're gonna give that stranger a salary,

sometimes a big salary, six figures.

27

And they're going to give them access to

sensitive company data, a seat in internal

28

meetings, a spot on a team that has to

actually work with this person every day,

29

like, you have to deal with this coworker,

and they have to make that call based off

30

of a simple PDF and a few conversations.

31

That's literally it, you guys.

32

That is all they get.

33

And that's kind of a stressful

job because here's the kicker.

34

Hiring managers will get

blamed for bad hires.

35

It will hurt their reputation.

36

It will hurt their team.

37

It eats into their head count budget.

38

And honestly, a bad hire can take,

like, six, eight, 12 months to undo.

39

And in the meantime, everyone around

them is miserable and pissed off at them.

40

Sometimes it can even cost

the hiring manager their job.

41

It's that serious.

42

So when a hiring manager or a recruiter

look at your resume, they're not

43

really looking for reasons to say,

"Oh, this is a good candidate."

44

No, they're looking for reasons to say,

"No, this is not the right candidate,"

45

because no is safe, and saying yes is

sticking their neck out on the line, and

46

that is very dangerous for them to do.

47

Kind of like Hinge or Tinder or whatever

dating app you've used, or maybe you're

48

like me and you've been married for

10-plus years now, but regardless, you're

49

playing this game, this dating game, on

this app to see who you're gonna spend

50

the rest of your life with, or at least

you're gonna spend a lot of time with.

51

And when you're swiping,

you're not rejecting people

52

because they're bad people.

53

They're probably decent people,

but you're rejecting them because

54

they're not the one for you.

55

Now, you're making that judgment off

of six seconds, three photos, and a

56

one-line bio to make that decision, but

the point here is any red flag is enough

57

to keep you swiping and scrolling on

to the next person, because there is

58

always another profile to take a look at.

59

And that doesn't mean you're being mean.

60

You're not being judgmental.

61

It's just you're on a big mission.

62

Who are you gonna spend your

time with on a time crunch?

63

And you're moving on to the next person.

64

There's nothing wrong with that.

65

But realize that's the exact same

scenario that your recruiter's in.

66

That's what your hiring manager is doing.

67

They're essentially swiping left

and swiping right on potential job

68

candidates with their job on the line.

69

And you see, here's where

most job seekers get it wrong.

70

You're sitting there, thinking, "But if

they would just get to know me, they'd

71

know how smart I am and how hardworking

I am and how good of an analyst I am.

72

They don't know me.

73

They don't know my story."

74

And you're 100% exactly correct.

75

They don't.

76

And that is exactly your job as

a job seeker, is to help them get

77

to know you, because think of it.

78

You've been being

yourself your entire life.

79

You know yourself the best out

of everyone on planet Earth.

80

You know your effort.

81

You know your context.

82

You know your potential.

83

You know your story.

84

And all the hiring manager and

recruiter have is this- Piece of

85

paper, PDF resume, and six seconds.

86

It's not fair, but it's your job to

actually go out there and make a PDF,

87

a resume, that is so compelling that in

those six seconds it's going to portray

88

you in the best light possible to get

them to spend more time on you, to

89

actually take the time to get to know you.

90

And the mirror test

exists to close that gap.

91

So what is the mirror test?

92

Well, the mirror test is checking

yourself digitally with clean, fresh eyes.

93

You basically look at yourself the

way that a stressed out hiring manager

94

with only six seconds and their entire

job on the line would look at you.

95

And there are three different surfaces

you need to check for this test.

96

Number one is your resume,

number two is your LinkedIn, and

97

number three is your portfolio.

98

And the rule is dead simple.

99

Pretend you've never met this person,

this person being you as the job

100

applicant, and pretend that you are

actually going to be hiring you.

101

And I know that's really meta, but

think about it here, like, you're

102

trying to decide if you want to let

this person come into your life.

103

If you look at this resume, if you

look at this LinkedIn, if you look at

104

this portfolio, would you trust them?

105

Would you want to spend time with them?

106

Are there any red flags?

107

And would you be willing to put

your job on the line based off

108

of their performance once hired?

109

Let's go ahead and go through each one,

starting with number one, the resume.

110

So your resume is the number one digital

asset you have as a job seeker, and

111

you need to start treating it that way.

112

It is an asset.

113

It is going to work for you, so it's worth

the investment to spend the time to get

114

this right because if you get it right,

it's going to work for you your whole

115

job hunt cycle, or the dreaded, dreaded

ATS, the applicant tracking system.

116

So here's what you need to do

right now, and that is, step one,

117

run it through an ATS checker.

118

Once again, the ATS or the applicant

tracking system is basically a

119

software that reads your resume

before any human ever reads it.

120

It's the computer.

121

It's the AI that stands between

you and the hiring manager.

122

And honestly, most resumes are designed

to be read by humans, not to be readable

123

by software, but most resumes are

only read by software, unfortunately.

124

I wish it wasn't the case,

but it's just how it is.

125

An ATS parser or a resume checker

will show you exactly what the

126

ATS sees when you apply for a job.

127

And I promise you, you guys, if

your resume has anything weird like

128

sidebars, fancy tables, columns,

icons, weird formatting, it's going

129

to fail the ATS and you're literally

going to be completely invisible to

130

the system and not get an interview.

131

I just promise you that's

how it's going to be.

132

So you need to check your resume right

now before you apply to any more jobs

133

and see what it actually is seeing.

134

And if you're not sure where to

find one, I actually made one for

135

you that you can use for free.

136

It's at findadat job.com/resume.

137

And this is my data analyst job board,

and we created this resume checker

138

for you guys for this very purpose,

to make sure that before you apply

139

for any jobs on findadatjob.com

140

or anywhere else, that your resume

is up to snuff and you're ready to

141

actually get seen through the ATS.

142

Step number two is the six-second test,

and basically, you need to open up your

143

resume on your phone and set a timer.

144

You're literally gonna look at it for

six seconds, and now close your phone.

145

Now, what do you remember

from your own resume?

146

What jumped out?

147

What did you read?

148

And what was the most

important thing that you saw?

149

Now, give it to a friend, your mom,

your cousin, your neighbor, and

150

have them do the exact same activity

and report back what they noticed.

151

If data analyst isn't one of the

things that you remember or that

152

you saw, you have a big problem.

153

And if a specific tool like SQL,

Python, or Tableau wasn't abundantly

154

clear, you have two big problems.

155

And if a number or a result or impact

didn't catch your eye, then you have

156

three big problems, because that is

what the hiring manager wants to see in

157

those six seconds, those three things.

158

So update your resume to make very

clear who you are, what your title

159

is, what your skills are, and what

impact you've had in the past.

160

Step number three is to match your

resume with a real job description.

161

So you can pull up any job that you

actually want to apply to, bonus

162

points if it's from findadayjob.com,

163

and copy the job description and paste

it into Claude or ChatGPT alongside

164

your resume and ask, "Hey, what is

this actually missing in my resume?

165

What's a stretch?

166

What would a manager see as

suspicious or as a red flag?"

167

Or heck, you could even do it the

old school way for all I care.

168

Print the job description out,

highlight every keyword and required

169

skill, and then go to your resume

and highlight every match there.

170

What's missing?

171

How many keywords show up?

172

What's in the job description

that's not in your resume?

173

Because if there's a mismatch between

the two, you're not getting through

174

the ATS, and it's as simple as that.

175

Your resume is essentially

your dating app photos.

176

If you have good photos, you're

gonna get a lot of swipe rights.

177

If you have blurry, generic, ugly

photos or you're hiding the good

178

stuff, you're gonna get swiped past

every time and not have a chance

179

at actually going on any dates.

180

It's true in the romance world, and

it's true in the corporate job world.

181

You need to have good photos.

182

You need to have a good resume.

183

All right.

184

The second mirror you need

to focus on is your LinkedIn,

185

and this one is so easy to do.

186

And for some reason, so many people

just don't think it's important.

187

So go to your LinkedIn right now.

188

So first off, do you have a LinkedIn?

189

If so, good.

190

If not, you need to make one today.

191

Like, literally pause the

video and go make a LinkedIn.

192

Seriously, go do it right now.

193

Now look at your LinkedIn profile

and stare at it as a stranger would.

194

What would you notice?

195

Like, what would you actually think

about yourself if you were seeing

196

this from a stranger's perspective?

197

And here's a little bit of

a list about what to check.

198

Number one is your headline.

199

Does it say something like,

"Aspiring data analyst," or "Open

200

to work/seeking opportunities"?

201

Because honestly, one, those are super

generic, but two, it tells a recruiter

202

that you don't have a job right now, which

means you might be higher risk because

203

people who tend to be less risk tend to

hold onto their jobs a little bit longer.

204

Whether that's true or not, I don't

know, but my point here is it's

205

not what reality is, it's what is

being reflected in your profiles.

206

It's what you are appearing to do.

207

One of my favorite verses in the Bible

is 1 Thessalonians 5:22, which says,

208

"Abstain from all appearance of evil."

209

Now, notice it didn't say

abstain from all evil.

210

It says abstain from all appearance

of evil, and that's my point with

211

you guys here, is we wanna abstain

from anything, any red flags at all.

212

Even if they're not red flags,

just the appearance of red flags,

213

we gotta avoid those at all costs.

214

So what should you put

in your headline instead?

215

Well, you can say something like what you

actually do, which is you analyze data.

216

So you are a data analyst today.

217

Congratulations, you got the promotion.

218

Data analyst, SQL, Py-

Python, Tableau, Excel.

219

Put that on your headline even

if you're transitioning, 'cause

220

you're gonna frame yourself for

the thing you want to be hired as.

221

You make the recruiter and the hiring

manager decide how experienced you are.

222

That is not your call.

223

That is not your judgment.

224

Number two, make sure

you have a good banner.

225

Is it just the dumb gray

defaults, gray or blue banner?

226

That is literally prime real

estate at the top of your profile.

227

That's the first thing that people see.

228

So put something interesting there.

229

Project screenshot, your

tagline, anything that signals

230

you're a serious data analyst.

231

You can make these pretty easily in Canva,

and we have a whole set of templates

232

inside of the accelerator program for

you literally to just copy when you join.

233

Number three is your About section,

and the first three lines are the

234

most important because that's all

that you see unless you click See

235

More, and most people don't click.

236

So, like, literally make those

three lines very interesting.

237

Don't put some generic stuff.

238

Don't put some just AI slop.

239

Be interesting.

240

Tell your story.

241

This is your chance to actually

capture people's attention and get

242

them to take a chance on you, take a

chance to look a little bit longer.

243

Number four is your experience.

244

Is your experience section up to date?

245

Are there interesting bullet points

on each one of your different jobs?

246

Is each job experience tied to

a company on LinkedIn and has

247

the actual company logo there?

248

It's these little things that add up

in your experience section to actually

249

show that you've done really cool things

for really cool companies in the past.

250

Number five is your featured section.

251

This is so underutilized by

99% of LinkedIn profiles.

252

If it's empty, it shouldn't be.

253

You need to pin your best

projects, pin a post that went

254

viral, pin a portfolio link.

255

This section is really key for

recruiters to actually see how good

256

you are, how many things you've done

in the past, and who you actually

257

are Number seven is your activity.

258

Are you posting?

259

Are you commenting on other people's work?

260

Or is it kind of just like a

261

A live profile signals a live candidate.

262

Your LinkedIn is basically

the full dating profile, the

263

headline, the photos, the bio.

264

And here's the thing, 99% of

recruiters use LinkedIn, and not

265

only do recruiters just use LinkedIn,

they will DM interesting candidates.

266

So be interesting, and then

watch your inbox explode.

267

The third mirror you need to think

about is your portfolio, and the first

268

question is, heck, do you even have one?

269

And if the answer is no, it's not

the end of the world, but you're

270

missing out on a huge opportunity.

271

Remember what I said at the beginning,

the hiring managers are literally trying

272

to de-risk their decision in any way they

possibly can, and a portfolio is basically

273

a risk reduction tool from your end.

274

It's the thing that takes you from,

"Hey, this person says that they

275

can actually do SQL and Tableau and

Power BI," to, "Wow, this person has

276

actually done the work previously, and

there's tangible proof right here."

277

It's basically extra information

about yourself, and in a market

278

that's so competitive today, extra

information is literally everything.

279

You need to cling to it like

your life depends on it.

280

So I think you should have a portfolio

if you don't have one already.

281

And if you don't know how or

why or where to make one, you

282

can check out mydatafolio.com,

283

and it's my very own

portfolio hosting website.

284

I designed it specifically for

people like you, for data analysts

285

who want to land a data job.

286

So link in the description down below.

287

Now, for all my overachievers out there,

if you have a portfolio already, the

288

question is, is it really, really, really

ridiculously easy to read and to scan?

289

Do a ten-second test.

290

Send your portfolio link to a

friend and watch them open it, like

291

literally from behind their shoulders.

292

Where do their eyes go?

293

Where do they get confused?

294

Where do they click?

295

Where do they get bored?

296

What do they actually do on their

portfolio, and is it really sending

297

the right message that you want to

send to hiring managers and recruiters?

298

For instance, you want to see, does

your homepage tell enough about

299

you in those first five seconds?

300

It's not your life story, but it's

also just not, like, your name.

301

You need to explain who

you are and what you do.

302

Data analysts in this

industry using these tools.

303

That's pretty much it.

304

That's all you need.

305

Number two, can I scan one project

and understand it almost immediately?

306

Like, what's the problem,

what's the approach, what's

307

the insight, what's the impact?

308

Those four things.

309

If I have to scroll through like a

bajillion things to get all of those,

310

then that's probably not good enough.

311

But it also shouldn't

just be like three lines.

312

It should be somewhere in between.

313

And also, if I have to click through

like five different pages before I

314

actually get to any sort of work or

visualization, you've completely lost me.

315

And hint, that's one of the reasons

I hate GitHub as a portfolio,

316

but that's for another episode.

317

Number three, are your projects

business problems or are

318

they more tutorial data sets?

319

So if the only project that you've

really got on there is the city

320

bike center and the Titanic data

set, that's not really good.

321

You want to do something

that's more interesting.

322

Go find a real problem with real

data, a local business, a public

323

data set no one's even looking at,

something with like more stakes, with

324

more realistic, you know, entities.

325

And lastly, number four, can

I contact you in one click?

326

Don't make me hunt for your

email, hunt for your phone

327

number, hunt for your LinkedIn.

328

Those things should be so abundantly

clear that I can just click,

329

boom, and then talk to you, and

then hopefully hire you, right?

330

The rule is simplicity.

331

A confused hiring manager is the

hiring manager that closes the tab

332

and goes with another candidate.

333

And at this point, if they're looking

at your portfolio, you're already

334

so close to having that swipe right.

335

Their thumb's literally on the green

arrow and they're thinking about it.

336

This is just like the last thirst trap

picture you need to get that thumb to

337

the right, and if you have it, you'll

get those swipes and you'll get those

338

calls, and you'll get those offers.

339

If you don't have it, who knows?

340

You're leaving it up to chance.

341

And really, this is the mindset shift I

want you to take away from this episode.

342

You're not a bad data analyst.

343

In fact, you're probably a great one.

344

So we aren't changing who you are.

345

We are changing what they see, because you

might be appearing as a bad data analyst

346

based off your digital profiles, even

though you're a fantastic data analyst.

347

But you can literally fix that

today with the mirror test.

348

Look at your resume, your

LinkedIn, and your portfolio

349

with clean eyes, six seconds.

350

In a blink of an eye, would a stranger

take a chance on you, yes or no?

351

If the answer is yes, great.

352

Go back to applying.

353

You're doing great.

354

If the answer is no, well, you need

to fix it, and if you want help fixing

355

it, that's exactly what we do in my

bootcamp, Data Analytics Accelerator.

356

You can learn more about it by clicking

the link in the description down below.

357

You guys got this, I promise.

358

Mirror test, fix, apply, and

I'll see you in the next one.