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Over the past few years, I’ve interviewed some of the smartest people in data. You’ll hear three real stories of people with no experience landing their first data job, and exactly how they did it.

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

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⌚ TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – Three real stories of breaking into data with no experience

00:38 – Thomas: From high school teacher to data role in 61 days

13:52 – Kadesha Bryant: From warehouse work to senior data roles through networking

24:35 – Rachel Finch: Escaping the night shift and landing a BI role in 95 days

39:45 – The shared pattern behind all three data career pivots

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Over the past 1000 days, I've had the opportunity to

2

interview some of the smartest and

brightest minds in the data world.

3

They've given really great advice

on how to actually land a data job.

4

In today's episode, you'll hear three

real stories of people with no experience.

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Landing their first data job.

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They'll teach you what skills to

learn, how to approach the job hunt,

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and the secret to getting hired

sometimes in less than 60 days.

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So without further ado, let's

go ahead and get into it.

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The first story is Thomas.

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And Thomas was a frustrated high school

math teacher who did not really like

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his job and wanted to pivot into data,

and 61 days later, he was able to do so.

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Here's exactly how he did it.

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You ultimately joined the accelerator.

14

And you landed a job as this senior

reimbursement analyst pre pretty quickly.

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Do you know how fast you ended that job?

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Speaker 5: Uh, so I started the

program in April, we said end of April.

17

Yep.

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And I got that job, I think I had

the first interview in the middle of

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June, so about a month and a half.

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I guess I would say

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Speaker 4: I, I had from your start day of

the accelerator to when you told us that

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you landed the job, I have it as 61 days.

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Yeah.

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So less, less than two months.

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And you had been doing, like for

instance, like you said, this data

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science bootcamp through Rutgers, like

all, yeah, not all of last year, but

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you had done it the year previous.

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Mm-hmm.

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So basically li like I said,

you are so close landing a job,

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you just need the s SPN method.

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What is, do you feel like that's what

made the difference for you to like to,

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to have land that job within two months?

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Speaker 5: Absolutely.

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I, I would, I would say definitely

'cause I felt like I had the

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skills, like we just talked about.

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I just wasn't networking correctly.

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Uh, I wasn't doing what I had to do

on LinkedIn and you don't realize.

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Coming from the education world,

LinkedIn doesn't really exist.

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You, you apply for jobs and you go on the

interviews and you bring, you know, stuff

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that you had done in other classrooms

or, or in my case, 'cause it was right

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outta college or in student teaching.

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And, and that's pretty much it.

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Whereas for this, this

was all brand new to me.

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And the bootcamp that I took while all

good and well, I learned these skills.

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I had no idea what to do after.

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There was no, you know, you should do this

to network with X, Y, and Z, or this is

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how you should show off your projects.

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It was just, we did a lot of projects

and a lot of, uh, little tasks or

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homework assignments they called.

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Uh, but that was all on GitHub.

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And like you and I had talked about in

that first call, you're like, that's

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not really gonna do anything for you.

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'cause no, um, employer or hiring

manager is gonna sift through a bunch

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of code on your GitHub portfolio.

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Like it's just not gonna do anything.

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So I think SPN definitely

made the difference for me.

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Where learned the skills, made

these projects, and then was able

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to network and, and show off these

projects in a really cool way.

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Speaker 4: I, I think so too.

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I think, I think you were so close.

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You had all the skills, you just

needed the portfolio, uh, and Right.

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And the networking.

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When I went through your

LinkedIn today to like kind of

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go through your whole journey.

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Uh, you had posted once about the,

the data science bootcamp from Rutgers

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and it was at, at the very end.

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Um, I think it was maybe just

like a certificate or something.

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And that's so opposed to how we

do it inside of data analytics

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accelerator where like literally

day one I'm like post on LinkedIn.

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Post On LinkedIn, you finish your

first project post on LinkedIn.

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Uh, so I think that was

one of the big things.

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And that's ultimately

how you found this job.

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Correct.

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Was someone reposted it on LinkedIn?

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Speaker 5: Yeah.

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So.

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Like you said, I had really never

posted on LinkedIn throughout

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that bootcamp, which is obviously

wasn't doing me any good.

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Um, and then started posting on

LinkedIn through the bootcamp

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or through, um, our program.

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And then I just kind of followed people

who you interacted with on LinkedIn and

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found a lot of them to be posting jobs.

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And the one guy, I'm sorry, I can't

give him credit, I don't really

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remember his name or who it was exactly.

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He posted, I think like 10 or so remote

jobs, either weekly, every few days.

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And I would just apply to them if I

thought I was a decent candidate for

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the job, even if I wasn't really like

a super great fit in layman's terms.

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I, I just, I thought might as well apply.

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Can't hurt to apply.

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Um, so I applied, uh, to this

specific job and, and I was

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able to, to get an interview.

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I was honestly kind of shocked that I

got the interview with them, but that's,

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that's what I'm saying, like you just.

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You never know.

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And I think it's really important to

apply and, and look at these posts.

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Uh, there's a lot of, you know, anecdotal

stuff on LinkedIn and, and you have talked

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about posting some stuff like that too,

um, in the, in the data career jumpstart.

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But there are also a lot of

people who are trying to help us,

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like people that are looking for

jobs where they're posting jobs.

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And I think that's really important to

look for and, and not to get too bogged

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down in, oh, this isn't for me because.

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Really, it's for everybody.

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Everybody's doing it.

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You know?

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Speaker 4: I think you had also

mentioned that that job that you

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ended up landing required, what, two

to three years of, of experience?

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Speaker 5: Yeah.

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It was two to three years of some

healthcare or medical experience,

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which obviously I'm a math teacher.

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I did, I just did not have.

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Um, and I, I can't, I think that's what

it said, but it, it said that in the

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actual job description, but in the.

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Original post on LinkedIn

by the hiring manager.

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It said zero to two

years experience needed.

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So I was like, oh, well the original

post says zero to two years.

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I don't really care what the job

description says right now, lemme

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just apply and see what happens.

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So I, I think, don't get discouraged

by a lot of what job descriptions say.

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You know, a lot of that

could come from the top down.

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It might not even come

from the hiring manager.

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It could just come from what

the, the company as a whole want

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that job description to say.

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Speaker 4: At the end of the day,

job descriptions are really more

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wishlist than they are requirements.

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So if you fit like 65 to 70%,

uh, maybe even 50% sometimes, you

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know, go ahead and apply, right?

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Because you never know what might happen.

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And that was true.

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For, for you in, in this case,

do you remember if you, was it

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like a LinkedIn, uh, easy apply?

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Was it that you, did you

apply on their website?

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Speaker 5: Um, I applied on

their website, so it was a link.

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I just clicked on the link and

I applied on the Rev website.

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It was really simple, and I think

you and I had actually talked about

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this in the original call that we had

in March, or even, I think I talked

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to you again in April or so, right

around when I joined the program.

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It, it was a

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Speaker 4: DM you sent me, I think.

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Speaker 5: Yeah.

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And it was, and you said just always apply

on, uh, the actual website if you can.

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They're just more likely to

look at that than the LinkedIn,

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um, like easy apply algorithm.

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Speaker 4: It's, it's super true.

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Um, having posted a job on LinkedIn

jobs, let me tell you, uh, LinkedIn,

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you need to hire a data scientist to

make your algorithm for candidates a lot

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better because I got over 550 applicants

and the top applicants were not on the

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first two pages, I'll tell you that.

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Like who they thought was relevant.

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I was like, this person's not

relevant, so that's great.

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Did you do anything special cover letter,

send a cold message, anything like that?

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Speaker 5: Definitely sent a cold message.

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And it was funny because, um, the person

who interviewed me first, uh, I sent

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a cold message to her boss and then

she said, you know, honestly, your,

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your resume was just passed to me.

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Like I, someone got a message from

me and that's how I got your resume.

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And I decided to, you know, interview.

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And I was like, well, that's awesome.

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I guess that worked out for me.

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Um, but I don't think

I did a cover letter.

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Uh, we might have even

talked about this, I think.

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The cover letter is,

well, they're important.

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I guess they're way more likely

to just read your cold message if

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that's what you're sending them

than they are your cover letter.

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Speaker 4: Cold messages are

the new, uh, cover letter.

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I think cover letters are kind of dead

and if you can send Yeah, a cold message

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where it's like, I don't have to read

one page of stuff that's just mostly

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fluff that you use chat GPT to write,

and instead you can tell me in like.

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Three to four lines, who you

are, why I should care about you.

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I think that's some directly to my inbox.

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I think that's way more impactful.

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That's awesome.

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I didn't realize you sent a cold message.

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I think.

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Yeah, that's, I'm trying to figure

out like, you know, when, when Thomas

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is applying, I know you're a great

candidate, you know, you're a great

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candidate, but how do you convince this

recruiter and this hiring manager when

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they have, you know, 500 other candidates

that you're the right candidate?

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And I think the cold message is one,

and then probably your portfolio

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helped stand out a little bit.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, I would think so.

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Uh, I think just going back to the

cold messages, like I was sending

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one to every job that I applied to,

uh, or at least trying to, trying

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to find someone that I could.

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And I, I believe there's a page or

a couple pages on our, on our, uh,

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like in our book of materials that

you give us, where it just kind

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gives you like an outline of what

you should say to these people.

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And that's what I was,

I had it bookmarked.

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I was going back to it every single time.

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Um, but yeah, they did talk about my, um.

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Uh, portfolio.

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Um, I think it was probably

a sticking out point.

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Uh, you know, the person that interviewed

me first said it was definitely super

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interesting and like I said to you, uh,

she thought that just based on that, that

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my analytical skills absolutely qualified

for the job that they were looking for.

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Speaker 4: That's actually

really cool because, um.

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You didn't have any healthcare experience

prior to this, but one of the things I

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tried to do when I designed the bootcamp

was each module has like a different

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industry theme, and so in module five we,

we cover some healthcare data using sql.

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So you know, you, you'd maybe never

actually, like in a workplace, looked

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at healthcare records, but in this

bootcamp with, we had looked over,

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I think there was like 2 million

rows in that, in that SQL data.

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Set that we, we analyze.

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So you had, you had at least some,

you created your own healthcare

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experience at the end of the day,

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Speaker 5: right?

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I think I actually said that.

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I was like, yeah.

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In my portfolio.

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Uh, I, you know, I had this

healthcare project that we worked on.

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Uh, you know, I tried to

pull from family members too.

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I was like, I have some family that

works in healthcare and, you know.

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You don't wanna necessarily lie because

they could ask you follow up questions,

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but you certainly wanna make your

knowledge look a little bit better.

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And I, I think that's what I tried to

do, especially using that project that

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we had worked on in the, in the class.

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Speaker 4: Hey, experience is experience.

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No one can take it away.

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You can just describe it as it is,

and they can decide whether they, they

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think it qualifies enough, but, uh,

it's always good to get that out there.

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Um, even with that, I,

I think this is true.

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I haven't, I haven't talked about the.

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I haven't talked to you about this before.

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Um, but, uh, I think after this

first interview, this, this

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timeline maps up a little bit.

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Um, you went into our community and

you said, just finished the capstone

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and I had my first interview, uh,

this week, however, it seems like

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I don't have enough healthcare

experience, so I'm not too confident.

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If anything else, it was a

good interview experience.

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I'm continuing to apply for

jobs and sending cold messages.

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Then you say this great line.

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Some days it's hard to not feel

defeated, but definitely trying

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to stay as positive as possible.

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Hoping to land something soon.

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That, was that the first

interview for this job?

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Speaker 5: Yeah, that was the

first interview for that job.

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And I'm laughing thinking

about, thinking back to that.

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'cause I'm really, I got off the call

and I was like, wow, I, I have no shot.

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I was like, I don't have

this healthcare experience.

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And uh, it just kind of all worked out.

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I think that's the important thing.

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Like we talked about this a

little bit, just go on these

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interviews and kind of be yourself.

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Um, I really talked about my

willingness to learn and want to learn.

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And, um, I guess they liked that.

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Um, and I, again, I was really

surprised and I was after that,

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got the second interview and I

was pretty nervous for that too.

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I was like, I wonder, I don't

even know why they're interviewing

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me a second time right now.

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Um, but that interview, and I said it,

when I got off it, I was like, I really

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think that I might have just gotten this.

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And it wasn't anything technical.

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Uh, they did ask a little

bit about my experience, but.

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You just kind of go into these interviews

and you kind of feel the vibe with the

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people that you're going to work for.

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And I just thought the vibe was great.

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You know, I, I thought they'd be

great people to work for, and it

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got me really excited about it.

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And you just say, here I am.

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Speaker 4: I, I think

that's so interesting.

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And, and I love that, that the interviews,

sometimes they're super scary, but a

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lot of the times they're just like,

okay, does this person seem like they.

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Have enough technical skills and

are they able to learn the rest?

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I know that's one of the

things you mentioned.

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It's like maybe, I don't know healthcare

yet, but I'm, I'm willing to learn that.

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Um, I wanna go back to that phrase.

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Sometimes it, it is hard

to not feel defeated.

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Uh, what were you feeling

when, when you posted that?

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Speaker 5: I think I

was a little bit upset.

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Um, probably defeated honestly,

because I, I felt like this.

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I'm sure there are a lot of people like

me out there where, you know, you're

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applying to so many jobs and you're

not hearing back that when you get that

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first interview with that company, no

matter what company it is, you feel

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like, all right, this is my shot.

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I gotta get this.

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Um, and that's how I

felt with this company.

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And I, like I said to you, I, I feel

like the first interview didn't go.

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As well as I, not that it didn't go

well, it just, I know what they were

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expecting and I didn't think that

was me, so that it kind of stunk.

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But at the same time, like I knew how

badly I wanted to change what I was doing

280

or change my career path, that it was

still driving me because, you know, I,

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I had talked to my family about it and

they're like, well, even if you don't

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get it, you're not just gonna stop.

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And I was like, yeah, you're right.

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There's really no point

in feeling defeated.

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'cause I'm not gonna just stop.

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I, you know, you wanna

keep going until you.

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Get that ultimate goal of getting a

new job, and I think that's where the

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staying positive portion is, is really.

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Important.

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Speaker 4: I hope you learned

a lot from Thomas's story about

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staying positive, sending cold

messages, and having a portfolio.

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Those things are super important

and he's living proof that it's

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still possible to pivot into a

data job even in today's economy.

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By the way, if you want more stories

like these and just solid data, career

295

advice overall, consider joining.

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Free newsletter.

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I send out tips every Wednesday to

27,000 other data analysts just like you,

298

and I think you might really enjoy it.

299

So go to data career

jumpstart.com/newsletter,

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or you can find the link in

the description down below.

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Our next real story is Kadesha

Bryant and Khas story starts with

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her working as a technician for

the military, and right after that

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she had become a warehouse worker.

304

But after some networking magic.

305

She was actually able to land

some pretty senior data jobs.

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So here's her strategy and exactly

how you can implement it for yourself.

307

Speaker 6: So in the Navy, I started

off as a calibration technician,

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so very hands-on technical.

309

Uh, then I moved up into production

supervisor, and then right before or after

310

I left in 2020, I went back into school.

311

And I was expecting to walk into

a hundred thousand dollars jobs,

312

and that just did not happen.

313

So I just went back into, I went

back into school and started

314

delivering pizzas for Domino's.

315

I was doing that for about a few months,

then started delivering packages for

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Amazon, and then did that for a few months

and started working at The Warehouse.

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Yeah.

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The Amazon warehouse or just what?

319

What type of warehouse?

320

Oh, it was a alcohol

distributor, so very heavy.

321

Just imagine big wine cases,

alcohol cases, so doing

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that for 10, 12 hours a day.

323

That sounds exhausting.

324

It was exhausting.

325

I was in great shape.

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I appreciated that.

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But otherwise was terrible.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Okay.

330

Now walk us through that

journey a little bit.

331

How did you get from, you know,

delivering pizza dominoes to landing

332

a senior data engineering position?

333

Speaker 6: Okay, so I first learned

about the data engineering space.

334

I would say maybe like Spring 21 when

I was discussing it with a professor.

335

'cause I was like trying to

figure out what are some good

336

job opportunities for me.

337

And she mentioned data

analytics, so I researched it.

338

Went on Google, I think my first month

was trying to decipher the difference

339

between a data scientist and data analyst.

340

Then I settled on analyst, I

self-study for summer of 21.

341

Uh, pretty much sql, Tableau with some

power BI created a decent portfolio.

342

And then in the midst of while I was

doing that, I was also working at

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the warehouse 10 to 12 hours a day.

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And the thing about that warehouse

gig, it was like a bait and

345

switch, and I eventually just quit.

346

With no backup plan, and I

started studying data for about

347

six hours a day, six days a week.

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Just 'cause I loved it so much.

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It was just really cool to finally

find something where I can learn

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and get better at something.

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On my own without having to

like, you know, in school or

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pay tuition or things like that.

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So it was just a really cool

field to get into and I knew

354

internships were starting to, were

gonna pop up late or early August.

355

So I was preparing for that.

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I applied, I got my resume beefed

up pretty much, and I got my

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first gig at Cox Communications.

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I did that and while doing that,

also found DCJ and started doing

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a lot more upskilling in my free

time and started doing a lot of

360

networking also in 2022, so last year.

361

And so during that time, you actually hit

me up at some point and said if I saw some

362

like job that Mark Freeman posted in the.

363

DCJ Discord.

364

And then you actually ended

up getting both of us to talk.

365

And basically I submitted my

information and I applied to it.

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I got the job and I was able to start

in, I'd say the fall of last year.

367

And so while I was doing that,

I was also networking like

368

ridiculously the entire time.

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So I was having coffee

chats at least twice a week,

370

sometimes way more than that.

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I, my thing was I wanted to learn from

people who were way more advanced than me.

372

I wanna learn from people who

were steps ahead than me and know

373

exactly how they got there and

what I need to do to get there.

374

And so with that type of approach, I never

really approached them with the idea of,

375

I'm hoping to get a job from them, but you

know, eventually they would think about me

376

for, you know, roles or opportunities and.

377

It was just insane to me.

378

So it was really like crazy networking.

379

Crazy upskilling.

380

Sometime last year someone posted about

something about Booz Allen and my veterans

381

data science group and veterans data

science and machine learning work group,

382

and I applied for it and I got the gig.

383

So I was it.

384

It's crazy like my past two jobs.

385

It spurned out of a discord, burned out

a discourse, burned out of networking.

386

It's insane.

387

So that's how I got this job.

388

So that's like a kind of a,

in a nutshell how I got here.

389

Speaker 4: I love it.

390

Thank you.

391

Thank you for that summary.

392

That was really great.

393

There's a lot of stuff that I want, I

wanna dive a little bit deeper into, and

394

I'm gonna start, sometimes I build up

when I do these podcasts, like we build

395

up to kind of the advice at the end.

396

But I kind of wanna reverse that with you.

397

So you did two coffee chats a week.

398

Tell us like, do you

think that was worth it?

399

Oh, absolutely.

400

Yeah, absolutely worth it.

401

Speaker 6: Honestly, I think a lot

of people, like they'll focus on,

402

you know, followers or things like

that when posting on LinkedIn.

403

But no, it's like the, it's the

networking or the folks that you're

404

talking to behind the scenes.

405

That's really where your

real network is built.

406

So it was exhausting at times.

407

There were times where I

kind of overbook myself, but.

408

I've advanced way faster and much

more quicker than had I just tried

409

to be to myself and not network 'em.

410

Speaker 4: Yeah, I think

network is really key.

411

I mean, that's one of the

things I really believe in.

412

And one of the things why I think

Data Career Jumpstart is a little bit

413

different, you know, and the SPN method

skills portfolio network, you have to

414

have all three because the networking is

what ends up landing you both your jobs

415

kind of at the end of the day, right?

416

And it's like you can spend

all this time applying to jobs.

417

You could spend.

418

This time filling out all

these applications, perfecting

419

your resume, all that stuff.

420

But if you don't have that,

that could lead you nowhere.

421

But a lot of the times, the

network is actually what leads

422

you to the promised land.

423

At the end of the day,

I'm reading a message.

424

I sent you on March 29th, 2022, with

I guess your kind of former boss,

425

and I basically introduced you to

Mark because you were doing awesome

426

things for me and you're doing awesome

things for your fellow students

427

in my program and my community.

428

And so I introduced you to Mark, and then

you ended up landing that job at Humu.

429

And anyways, it's just crazy to me like.

430

You.

431

You could have had the world's

best resume, but if you weren't

432

networking, people don't really

know or don't really care.

433

Right.

434

Yeah, it's a good point.

435

'cause even if you have the network,

you have to have some substance behind

436

it because especially with that job

opening, that was my friend Mark.

437

Right?

438

And I wanna have a good

relationship with Mark.

439

I don't want him, I don't

wanna waste his time.

440

I don't wanna send him someone

that's gonna be causing trouble or

441

just be a waste of an interview.

442

Right.

443

So you're definitely right that like.

444

I had a bunch of people in my

program and, and you were the

445

person I chose for that one.

446

'cause I was like, I trust

Kadesha is ready for this.

447

I think she would do a good job.

448

I think she'd, she'd make me look good.

449

She'd make the program look good.

450

So you're definitely right.

451

It's about networking and you have

to have substance behind it as well.

452

Now going back to the coffee chats,

one thing that I think a lot of

453

my students inside of the Data

Analytics Accelerator program.

454

Are nervous about is, it kind

of seems like coffee chats can

455

sometimes be one sided, like you're

just asking them to help you.

456

So can you tell us a little bit

about your mindset that you went

457

into these coffee chats and like what

type of like thing, like how would

458

you even ask to do a coffee chat?

459

Speaker 6: Yeah, that's a good one.

460

So one thing that I've learned is that

people are more than willing to help you.

461

But you do have to

present it in a good way.

462

So I would try to find some

sort of like common ground that

463

you have between that person.

464

So like for example, when I was

at Cox Communications, it was, I

465

would first reach out to people at

the company and say, Hey, I work

466

here and I'd like to speak to you.

467

You know, a general thing like that.

468

If I would also go to like

my alma mater, so folks that

469

went to Kennesaw State, I can.

470

You know, you can, uh, filter it down

and find people who work, maybe like a

471

data scientist or things like that and

say, Hey, I went to your alma mater, or

472

I went to Kennesaw State just like you.

473

I'd like to talk to you.

474

This is a field that

I'm trying to get into.

475

Try to find those common grounds.

476

And you realize people do wanna

help you, but if you approach

477

it in a sort of way that.

478

You're not really

interested in that person.

479

You're just interested in

them trying to get to a job.

480

I feel like it's not gonna work, but if

you come across in a way where you're

481

really interested in who they are,

what they did to get to where they're

482

at, and try to find a common ground

between that person, you're gonna

483

get a lot of yeses, in my opinion.

484

It's hard.

485

It's hard for people to

not say, to say no to that.

486

Speaker 4: Yeah.

487

I feel like most of the

time the answer's yes.

488

Or an ignore or like a,

just like a no reply.

489

So really that's all you have to

lose is you, if you ask for a coffee

490

chat, you're either gonna get a

yes or you're gonna get an ignore.

491

And the ignores don't really matter.

492

And the yes.

493

Can be, you know, almost life

changing at the end of the day.

494

And I think you're right that people

are more willing to help than you

495

think, especially if you have that,

no, if you went to the same school.

496

If you are from the same hometown,

there's, I don't know, like our

497

tribal instincts kick back in and

we're like, yes, this person belongs

498

to the same group that I belong to.

499

I want to help them the most.

500

I can es, especially if you put

it in a way that it's like you're

501

not even asking for anything.

502

You just wanna hang out.

503

But then what happens is, like you

said earlier, you're on their mind.

504

When a job opening pops up, oh my gosh.

505

I talked to Kadeisha a couple weeks ago.

506

She'd be a great candidate,

uh, for this role.

507

And you really, the name of the

game of that is just being top of

508

mind for when opportunities pop up.

509

Oh yeah, I remember this person.

510

They'd be a good fit.

511

Speaker 6: Absolutely.

512

And I don't think people really

think about it that way or if they're

513

scared about networking, but honestly

that's way better than trying to.

514

Apply to 5,500 plus job applications

because the thing is you wanna put the

515

ownership in your court, you wanna put

the power in your court, and if you just

516

rely on, you know, applying to random

jobs or just LinkedIn or Indeed or

517

whatever job platform site, honestly, like

the odds are not really in your favor.

518

You know the power is not on your

side and you're really leaving your

519

success up to just complete chance.

520

So why not put the ball into your

court and put the power on your

521

side and actually just really get

over your anxieties and meet people.

522

It's really not that bad, honestly.

523

Speaker 4: And I'm an introvert, so yeah,

524

Speaker 6: e,

525

Speaker 4: exactly.

526

It's almost easier than applying for

all those jobs in the black hole.

527

There you have it, folks.

528

Coffee chats, joining

groups, sending messages.

529

Hopefully you can see once again,

the important of networking

530

in khas own data story.

531

And not to sound like a broken record

here, but I try to include networking

532

tips in my newsletter every single week.

533

So once again, make

sure you're subscribed.

534

The next story we have is Rachel.

535

And Rachel was working

the dreaded night shift.

536

She was not really loving having to work

all night and sleep all day, and she

537

was listening to this podcast, the Data

Career Podcast, while she was working

538

and just three months later, she was

able to successfully pivot into data

539

analytics and you will not believe where

she was able to find her first day job.

540

It's actually in a

place you'd never guess.

541

Let's take a listen.

542

You listen to this podcast Data Crew

podcast for a year, and then January

543

21st you join the Accelerator program.

544

And then on April 25th, I think just

95 days later, you have an offer

545

for a business intelligence analyst

role at Optum Healthcare that is not

546

the night shift and is fully remote.

547

So let's, let's go through that journey.

548

In those 95 days, what was, what

was the biggest difference for you?

549

Like what, what changes did you

make in your life in those 95 days?

550

Speaker 7: Well, even like leading up

to that, in the year where I listened to

551

your podcast, I had a lot of free time.

552

I knew I wanted to go back

to school something data.

553

We used Power Bi Anheuser for

reports, showing some data

554

every on a day-to-day basis.

555

So I kind of looked for a podcast I could

listen to at night, and I found yours

556

not even knowing that you ran a bootcamp.

557

So in January I actually ran off Marathon.

558

I on the same weekend decided

to sign up for your bootcamp.

559

I think it was a very

big momentum step for me.

560

I was just ready to get out of

where I was, and I actually had the

561

opportunity to change from night shift

to afternoon shift for a quarter.

562

So I had about three and a half months,

which I dedicated my spare time to working

563

throughout the bootcamp, applying to

jobs, and I think just knowing I had

564

that almost like extra sleep, gave me the

power to work through the bootcamp and

565

really gave me the motivation to get a

566

Speaker 4: new job.

567

Um, and you are able to land

this job at Optum Healthcare as

568

a business intelligence analyst.

569

Um, first off, do you have

any business experience?

570

Speaker 7: I mean, I worked

at a restaurant when I was

571

in college selling pizza.

572

That's probably about as much as

I have for customer experience,

573

um, business background.

574

So, no, not

575

Speaker 4: really.

576

So well that's impressive that

you're able to land this job.

577

Did they like your biology background

at Optum or were they kinda

578

like, ah, we don't really care?

579

Speaker 7: I think it was more so like

other experience I experiences I had

580

that tied into my biology background.

581

I, at one point I wanted to be a nurse, so

I had some like care aide job experience.

582

I worked in some different labs.

583

I even worked in a

research department of a.

584

Rehabilitation hospital.

585

So I had some data experience with

that as well as like working in

586

that type of patient population.

587

So they liked that part as well

as the more like QA and technical

588

skills that I learned at Anheuser.

589

Speaker 4: I just think that's

really important to highlight that

590

even though you maybe didn't have

business experience and you know,

591

maybe you had a biology background.

592

Your, your quality assurance analyst role.

593

You know, you had some exposure to

bi, you had some exposure to KPIs

594

and, and metrics stuff mm-hmm.

595

And stuff like that.

596

But with your background, even with the

bootcamp, you were applying for jobs and

597

you were kind of struggling to, to land

interviews at first because you couldn't

598

quite figure out the whole a TS, right?

599

Like it was, it was tricky.

600

Speaker 7: Right.

601

So when I first started like

uploading my resumes to the a TS

602

softwares, I had pretty good scores.

603

And then when I started

nitpicking my resume.

604

My scores actually went down,

which I thought was shocking,

605

you know, using keywords.

606

Some of them didn't even

pick up on the words.

607

So that was kind of, you know, difficult

experience and I think that's where

608

I really dug deep into the SPN method

that you talked so highly about

609

the networking part, because that's

when I started reaching out to other

610

people I knew in, you know, insurance

companies or other healthcare positions.

611

And if they knew anyone.

612

That had openings that they thought

I would be, you know, an asset to the

613

Speaker 4: team.

614

That's so cool.

615

And I think it's so.

616

It seems so simple.

617

Like I talk about the SPN method all,

all the time, uh, right, that you

618

need more than just skills on the day.

619

Job skills are a part of

it, but it's just a third.

620

You need the portfolio and

then you need the network.

621

And it's so easy to be like,

yeah, I agree with that.

622

I wanna follow that.

623

But very few people ever actually

get very far on the p and even

624

fewer get anywhere on, on the end.

625

And so the, let's talk about

the end just a little bit here.

626

So you're like, crap, I

can't get past these ATSs.

627

I'm never gonna end a daily

job unless I can figure out

628

how to get my foot in the door.

629

And the easiest way to get my foot

in the door is if I know someone,

630

if I the end part of the SPN method.

631

And so where did you start looking?

632

Just like friends and and family.

633

Were you like going through your

phone, where you're going through

634

LinkedIn or Facebook or something?

635

Speaker 7: I actually did take a step

outta my comfort zone, like he pushed

636

us to do, I, you know, looked in.

637

I'm in Florida in the Jacksonville area.

638

So I was looking in this area

just randomly cold messaging

639

people that were in data roles,

asking them how they got there.

640

Oh, do you have any like, you know,

advice for someone like me that wants

641

to break into this field that might not

have the exact background but has the

642

skills and is working towards the skills?

643

And I actually ended up, a friend

from my last job had a friend who

644

worked for United Healthcare and.

645

Just to break it down.

646

United Healthcare and them

are kind of like sisters.

647

They're together in the

United Health Group.

648

So he would, he let me know if there

was anything I saw job wise to let

649

him know and he would recommend me.

650

Speaker 4: Okay.

651

So you basically messaged a

friend and you're like, Hey, do

652

you know of any opportunities?

653

How did you know this friend?

654

Was this just like someone

from like high school or

655

Speaker 7: something?

656

Actually, a friend I go to church

with, one of her friends works at

657

United Healthcare, so he kind of.

658

Gave me the opportunity if I had, if

I saw any jobs that I liked to let

659

him know and he could recommend me or

let me know a little more about that

660

Speaker 4: position.

661

That's so cool because actually the

way I, I landed my first day job

662

was also through a friend at church.

663

So if you're, if you're trying to

lend a date, a job, I guess you

664

guys just gotta get to church.

665

'cause that's, that's where

all the data jobs are.

666

So you, you reach out to this

friend, you're like, hey.

667

Just keep an eye open for me.

668

And how long did it take for,

for them to send something back?

669

Speaker 7: Well, I had seen a

job that looked interesting.

670

It was kind of had a vague description,

so I sent it along his way and just

671

let him know I was interested in it.

672

And I applied and he actually had

emailed the manager directly and I got

673

a call back from the recruiter maybe two

days later saying that, you know, they

674

kind of got a raving review about me.

675

They'd like to.

676

Setting up an interview.

677

It was kind of just a brief phone screen

at first, but I guess she liked what I

678

had to say and it progressed from there.

679

I

680

Speaker 4: wanna just pause because you

basically went from, you're getting like.

681

Like Fs on the a TS tracker, it

682

Speaker 7: was, no, I'm not even kidding.

683

It really must be a, a church thing.

684

Speaker 4: You're getting FS and then all

of a sudden you're talking to a recruiter.

685

You got, you got a direct line to

this hiring manager right away.

686

And I think that just really goes to

show how valuable the, the end was.

687

Because if, if you didn't do

that, if you didn't reach out

688

to this person and from church.

689

You know, you who knows if you'd have

a job right now in the data world.

690

Right?

691

Right.

692

You might still be working the night

shift, but it's all because that end, I

693

was it nerve wracking like sending that

first message to that friend and being

694

like, Hey, can you help me out here?

695

Speaker 7: It was, 'cause I knew he had

like a pretty high up role I, but I didn't

696

wanna like, seem like I was using our

connection kind of per personal gain.

697

But I've realized like since

kind of stepping out of.

698

Comfortability that people really

wanna promote you and really

699

wanna help you when you're driven.

700

So that's what I've seen

gaining this connection.

701

Now we have one-on-one meetings.

702

He let me know if there's anyone I ever

want to talk to, just to network with.

703

Like he'd set that up.

704

So if anything, it was a great

choice on my end to kind of like put

705

the ball in his court and send it

down, down court to other people.

706

Speaker 4: I love that to send it.

707

I freaking think that's the way to say it

right there is because like it is super

708

nerve wracking to send these types of

messages, but as long as you're, like you

709

said, like you're ambitious and you're,

you're a good person and you're not.

710

Just trying to use them like you actually

value their friendship and you're just

711

like, Hey friend, can you help me?

712

I mean, think about it.

713

If, if you, if your friend came to

you and said, Hey, can you help me?

714

And you actually could help them.

715

You'd want to help them, right?

716

So I think we get in our head and be

like, wow, no one wants to help us.

717

But it's like if someone came to

us and we have the opportunity to.

718

We, we definitely would.

719

And if we don't, we just say, you

know what, sorry, I can't help.

720

And for, for us or whoever's

asking, they're in the same

721

boat that they were earlier.

722

So really there's not

much of a, of a lose.

723

It's, it's a low risk,

high reward situation.

724

So I'm proud of you for, thank you

for taking the initiative and doing

725

it because there's a lot of people who

don't because they're, they have fear

726

and you, you pushed it past the fear.

727

I wanna talk about when you

did talk to that recruiter,

728

what, what did the recruiter.

729

Say, what were they like

interested in you for?

730

Like what?

731

What was that conversation like?

732

Speaker 7: I will say like, she

asked me specific questions and I

733

had mentioned I was in this bootcamp

and she was really intrigued by that.

734

I don't know if it an up and coming

conversation in a lot of these type

735

of recruitment calls, but she wanted

me to go into more detail and I

736

was able to provide these projects.

737

At this point, I don't think that I'd

gotten to the NBA Tableau project, but I

738

did the education project at this point.

739

So I got to talk on that a lot, and she

was from Massachusetts, so it kind of

740

like made a further connection for her.

741

So she got to see the project.

742

And originally in my resume, she

didn't know that my projects were

743

hyperlinked, so she was able to go

back to the manager and the director

744

and let them know they could actually

see my work, not just read the little

745

Speaker 4: description about the project.

746

So that's super cool.

747

I think that that one,

you had the projects.

748

And, and that two, they didn't realize

it at first, and then they're like, Hey,

749

do you have any experience with Tableau?

750

And you're like, yeah, just click that,

that title right there, and then boom,

751

your, your beautiful dashboard pops up.

752

And I didn't know that the recruiter

from Massachusetts and that particular

753

project that you did was on Massachusetts

data, but like the fact that like

754

this recruiter could go through and

be like, oh, look at this county.

755

Like I totally understand the data of

this county versus that county and, and

756

kind of enjoy and have those aha moments.

757

I think that's really what

the portfolio is all about.

758

So you kind of nailed that.

759

Being able to, to show them, Hey,

look, I, you know, I have a biology

760

degree I've kind of worked in, in

the medical field and now I'm kind

761

of working as quality assurance.

762

I might not have the ideal data

background, but look, here's some,

763

some evidence that I can actually do

what your job description says I can.

764

That must have been kind of a

fun feeling to watch them look

765

at your portfolio in real time.

766

Speaker 7: It was.

767

'cause like I know throughout

the bootcamp I was like.

768

Like we said, a marathon note,

it was a straight sprint.

769

Like I wanted to learn as much as

I could to build that portfolio

770

to show it off to my network.

771

So it was really rewarding.

772

Speaker 4: Worth it in the end.

773

Okay.

774

Let's talk about the interview.

775

So recruiter interview was was the

first phone call, is that right?

776

Yes.

777

And then what happened from there?

778

Speaker 7: And then she set up an

interview with the director of the BI

779

team and then the manager of the BI team.

780

Speaker 4: And how did

those interviews go?

781

Speaker 7: That one was great.

782

The first interview was great.

783

She said at the beginning like,

this is just a conversation.

784

Don't be nervous.

785

And that's all it felt.

786

I didn't have any nerves.

787

Usually I'm like kicking, playing

with my seat under the table,

788

kind of like moving in my chair.

789

But I didn't have any nerves at all.

790

It felt so easy.

791

And I could talk on the projects we did.

792

I could talk on Tableau, I could

talk on some of the, you know.

793

Metrics and KPIs I learned while I was at,

in my role at Anheuser and using Power bi.

794

So they didn't get stuck on the fact that

I didn't have data analyst experience.

795

They were more intrigued by how passionate

I was to learn more and grow in a role.

796

So I think that's what

797

Speaker 4: made me stick out to them.

798

I really like that because in a lot

of interview situations it can feel

799

like, oh wow, you haven't done any

data analyst work in the past, huh?

800

Okay.

801

But if you give them like so

much stuff where you're like,

802

I'm super excited about this.

803

I paid my own money and on my

own time I'm learning to do this.

804

Here's, you know, seven of my

projects on different themes.

805

Go look at it.

806

I think you're giving them so much

stuff that they could think about

807

and talk about and relate to.

808

It kind of makes the interview

process a lot easier for

809

them and you in, in that way.

810

So I'm glad.

811

I'm glad it went well.

812

So that was, that was like the

first, the first interview, right?

813

What about the final interview?

814

Did that go well?

815

Speaker 7: So the final interview was

about two weeks later and it was everyone

816

on the team, so I believe six, five or

six people, and I was straight nerves.

817

I was so nervous that whole time.

818

I was like, I wonder if

they can see me fidgeting.

819

It was that bad and I felt like I answered

a few questions really well, but then

820

it was like I got caught on some word

and I just down downward spiral in my

821

head the whole rest of the interview.

822

But I remember like a few questions

that were just like probably to

823

calm me down and kind of like joking

with them and I think that might've,

824

you know, sparked some connection.

825

But they had mentioned that I was

like one of the first people in the

826

second round, so not to be like afraid

if I don't hear back for a while.

827

Speaker 4: And so that was two weeks after

the initial interview, is that right?

828

Right.

829

Speaker 7: It might've

been a little longer.

830

So I left that interview

thinking I did terrible.

831

But even, even they reassured me a few

things, like, oh, none of them ever knew

832

Tableau before they started in this role.

833

So I felt like, okay, I

kind of have a leg up.

834

When they said like, don't be

afraid, it might take a while.

835

I was like, okay, I need to start looking.

836

'cause I did terrible.

837

But two days later, waking up at five

30, you know, night shift, waking up.

838

I was actually going to a concert

that night, so I was gonna go into

839

work after going to a concert and

I had an email saying the interview

840

wanted to schedule a final offer call.

841

Which was just crazy 'cause

I thought I bombed that.

842

Speaker 4: That's a good feeling to have.

843

So that was right before the, the concert.

844

Speaker 7: Mm-hmm.

845

And I called outta work that night.

846

Speaker 4: That is, that is awesome.

847

Okay.

848

And then you scheduled

the, the final offer.

849

Um, wow.

850

Before we get into kind of,

first off, congratulations.

851

That's amazing.

852

And hopefully everyone listening's

clapping for you right now and

853

jumping out of their, their

chairs because that's amazing.

854

Those, those are my two tangents.

855

Back to your offer letter.

856

So you're excited you

get the offer letter.

857

Are you, who are you calling?

858

Who are you telling first?

859

My fiance,

860

Speaker 7: my parents, one

of my close friends at work.

861

That's awesome.

862

And then I reached out to you when I

needed some, some advice for negotiation

863

Speaker 4: and that my friends,

is the power of networking and I

864

guess the power of going to church.

865

I challenge each of you guys to get

out today and to start networking.

866

I promise it will change your life.

867

I also challenge you to hit the subscribe

button and then watch this video next

868

to get even more help on your data.