Music therapist to Fortune 50 financial analyst in under 60 days. Here's exactly how Erin did it without a traditional background.

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⌚ TIMESTAMPS

01:20 – From music to Fortune 50

07:18 – What a good boss actually does

12:51 – 60 days from sign up to offer

20:18 – Applying while building skills

20:36 – One resume tweak, three interviews

23:03 – Stop only applying to remote jobs

28:39 – What the interview was like

34:40 – Do this if you're starting over

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You were working as a music therapist and

now you're able to work as a financial

2

analyst for a Fortune 50 company.

3

I am a financial analyst

at a healthcare company.

4

But you were able to land this,

this financial analyst role

5

pretty quickly signed up, clicked

submit on the accelerator package

6

like right before Christmas.

7

Started actually like doing the

program right after Christmas.

8

I.

9

Job was on March 1st, which

was a Wednesday, and then that

10

Friday I accepted my offer.

11

That's not even 60 days.

12

So one of the projects I think that

really helped me was the SQL Project

13

and the Accelerator, the, that was

something that I talked about in

14

all of the interviews that I had.

15

Today I'm really excited about my guest.

16

We have one of the, uh, members of

the data Analytics Accelerator who has

17

gone through a portion of the program

and landed a pretty sweet job that

18

we're gonna be talking about today.

19

Uh, my guest today is Aaron Sheena.

20

Aaron, welcome to the Data Career Podcast.

21

Thank you.

22

So happy to be here.

23

Yeah.

24

So excited that you, uh, agreed to come

on the show and talk a little bit, uh,

25

about your, your journey, which I think

is something that's really unique and

26

something that needs to be told because

you have a pretty interesting background.

27

Uh, you studied music in school,

but you no longer work in music.

28

So let's start off with what

you're currently doing now.

29

What do you do for work now?

30

Sure.

31

So, um, I am a financial analyst, um, at

a healthcare company, um, called Humana.

32

Uh.

33

Nationwide.

34

Um, and essentially I

work in risk adjustment.

35

Um, so basically looking at claims

data, the data that comes through

36

anytime you go to the doctor, um,

and make sure that we're analyzing

37

and filtering it correctly compared

to the government agency that runs.

38

Medicare, um, and making sure that

we are kind of aligning with them so

39

that we can predict how much we'll be

reimbursed for caring for those members.

40

Um, and so basically we then take that

analysis, um, and, uh, use it to help

41

us predict revenue and make projections

for, um, both what we'll get paid for.

42

During this year and then

in future years as well.

43

Um, so yeah, that's kind of

the, the really paired down, uh,

44

version of, of what I'm doing

in a kind of complicated space.

45

But, um, yeah.

46

Okay, sweet.

47

That's awesome.

48

So basically, you know, you have

two music degrees, I think you have

49

a bachelor's and a master's degree.

50

And now I think your official

title, is it a financial analyst?

51

Is that what it is?

52

Yes.

53

Yeah.

54

Um, so I, it's two

bachelor's degrees actually.

55

I, um, my first one is in just kind

of general music, and then my music

56

therapy degree is another bachelor's.

57

Um, but, uh, yeah.

58

So even less impressive, right?

59

Well, I mean, that's perfect.

60

So, so two different music degrees, a

music degree and a music therapy degree.

61

Mm-hmm.

62

You were working as a music therapist and

now you're able to work as a financial

63

analyst for a Fortune 50 company.

64

You know, solving problems when it comes

to healthcare billing, it sounds like.

65

Mm-hmm.

66

Yes.

67

Correct.

68

That's awesome.

69

That, and that's the journey that's

a little foreshadowing of what

70

we're gonna be talking about today.

71

So we're gonna get into what your

background is and, and how you

72

got to where you're at today.

73

Um, but also it does look like,

I mean, I'm no expert, you know,

74

I don't work for Humana, but I'm

guessing that your background back

75

there is not the Humana offices.

76

So can you tell us a

little bit, are you remote?

77

Are you hybrid?

78

Are you in the office right now?

79

Uh, I'm not in the office.

80

I'm in my office.

81

Um, at home I am, I'm a hybrid employee,

so I do have one office day per week.

82

Um, Humana is like headquartered

in Louisville where I'm from.

83

Um, and so my team meets in the

office on Wednesdays and, um, which

84

works for me really well since

I am a very extroverted person.

85

Um, but the rest of the

time I am at home remote.

86

Um, it's actually rare that I'm.

87

In my office area instead of on the couch.

88

So that, that's awesome.

89

Um, and I'm guessing that was not the

case as a music therapist, am I right?

90

Uh, it was not, no.

91

I spent, um, every day, even through the

pandemic, um, every day at the hospital,

92

spending most of my time in patient's

rooms, um, sitting with them and, and

93

providing music and, um, you know,

going through that therapeutic process.

94

Um, so a remote job was, uh.

95

A very big change for me.

96

Okay.

97

And, and how has it been?

98

I, I know you mentioned that you're

extrovert is, are you lonely at home?

99

Is it is, do you get enough interface?

100

Do you get enough support from your team?

101

Yeah, I'm really, really lucky.

102

My team is super, super supportive.

103

Um, we use Microsoft Teams,

so I, I am my boss constantly.

104

Um, you know, whether she likes it

or not, but, um, I, I do feel like

105

I get enough kind of interaction

and, um, I really love my team.

106

And getting to see them on Wednesdays,

but it's also really nice to just kind

107

of be relaxed at home while I'm, you

know, working on, um, on my analysis and

108

on, you know, all of my, my daily tasks.

109

Um, and it, it feels.

110

It feels very like, right.

111

The pace is still good.

112

I'm still, you know, kind of challenged

every day, but it's much different

113

than, um, you know, having to like,

go into the hospital and, and kind

114

of be part of that crazy environment.

115

That's awesome.

116

I I love hearing that because I love

that you're like, yeah, I'm, I'm in

117

my o my own office today, but to be

honest, my real home office is my couch.

118

I think that's awesome.

119

Um, that you have the opportunity, you

know, the commute in the morning from the

120

bedroom to the couch must be very mm-hmm.

121

You know.

122

Full of traffic and stuff like that.

123

Uh, but, but you know, all jokes aside,

you had to deal with like a commute.

124

You had to deal with traffic

in your last, last job.

125

Right?

126

That was a, a decent amount of driving.

127

Yeah, I, I'm very lucky that I live close

to the hospital, um, where I was working.

128

But yeah, I mean, it's, I still had to

get on the interstate, um, and, you know.

129

Make my way.

130

Um, sometimes traffic was worse

than others, but it's, yeah.

131

I, uh, I much prefer when my dog is

the only one that's in my way trying

132

to, trying to get to the office now.

133

Yeah.

134

That, that is awesome.

135

Um, I also have a dog and I can

testify of the power of having

136

your, your dog as your coworker.

137

It is like so much fun.

138

Mm-hmm.

139

Um, and, and now, I mean, one of the

things that you probably couldn't do as

140

easily when you were doing the hospital

visits is like, for instance, oh.

141

Let's take, let's take the dog out

for a walk or you know, I got to

142

feed the dog or I gotta take the

dog outside, or something like that.

143

So I imagine that's gotten a lot easier

since you've been able to work remotely.

144

Yes.

145

Yeah, basil, my dog is, uh,

she is, her quality of life has

146

increased even more than mine.

147

So that's awesome.

148

And that's what matters most, right?

149

We don't, we don't really care about

our own lives, it's just about our Ps.

150

Exactly.

151

Yep.

152

Exactly.

153

Okay.

154

Awesome.

155

Um, and you mentioned that you're

able to, I am your boss, and

156

that communication's going well.

157

'cause one of the questions I get

is, you know, I want a remote job,

158

but I'm also new to this field.

159

And I'm kind of nervous that like, I'm

not gonna be able to get enough training

160

or get enough support from my team.

161

You felt like that's been

pretty good at Humana then?

162

Yes.

163

Yeah.

164

Um, my boss is a really,

really wonderful mentor.

165

Um, and.

166

The, the kind of professional and

personal development that, um, my

167

company invests in, um, has been

a really, really good support.

168

Um, there are lots of like modules

and things that are provided just

169

like by default from the company.

170

Um, but then also my boss has been

really wonderful and, you know, we'll

171

hop on a Zoom and I'll share my screen

and, you know, I'll say like this,

172

I think this is what's giving me a

problem, but, um, I can't, you know,

173

figure out what I need to change or.

174

What does, what does this actually mean?

175

Um, and she can tell me and she'll

kind of help me puzzle through it and,

176

and figure out, um, you know, where I

went wrong or how I should approach it

177

in the future or what, what to tweak.

178

Um, and so that's really, really helpful.

179

That's awesome.

180

So you not only have, like your boss,

you're able to, you know, message

181

anytime you get stuck, but you also

have some sort of provided learning

182

so that you're not like, stuck with

the skills that you're at right now.

183

You can kind of upskill as you

go, it sounds like as well, right?

184

Mm-hmm.

185

Exactly.

186

Yes.

187

Yeah, my, uh, my next thing to tackle

is, um, getting into some python for like

188

moving data from one place to another.

189

So, um, I'm excited to get started

on that in the next couple of weeks.

190

Sweet.

191

That's awesome.

192

Very cool.

193

Um, okay, awesome.

194

So actually, wh while, while

you've mentioned Python mm-hmm.

195

Let's talk about, as you know, an entry

level financial analyst new to the field.

196

What type of, what type of tools

are you using on a day-to-day basis?

197

Yeah, so biggest one is sql.

198

Um, we use SQL Server.

199

Um.

200

And kind of the whole, like

Microsoft Suite, all of that.

201

Um, lots of excel for the kind

of like financial part of it.

202

Um, but most of my analysis

and most of the testing that

203

we're doing is within sql.

204

Um, and yeah, that's been, it's

been really fun to kind of take,

205

uh, the skills that I know like.

206

Uh, just in my own little like, simple

projects into, you know, actual like

207

millions and millions of rows of data.

208

Um, and, you know, see,

see how it translates.

209

Yeah.

210

I'm sure some of it is very similar, like,

like you kind of have the base for it,

211

but it's probably like you're doing things

you might not have necessarily expected.

212

Um, and using things kind of in a new

way with his, with his new application.

213

Mm-hmm.

214

Yes.

215

Yeah.

216

There and there's a lot

of, um, kind of logical.

217

Like analytical thinking.

218

Um, and you know, that's part

of the learning curve of, of.

219

Going into, you know, this specific

industry, um, like healthcare.

220

I thought, you know, being in the

hospital every day, I thought I knew

221

all of the acronyms, um, that came

with like the medical, you know, field.

222

Um, but apparently I didn't.

223

Health insurance is

like totally different.

224

So, um, yeah, lots of acronyms.

225

Um, lots of kind of the, the

logical analytical thinking to get

226

from point A to point B and then

figure out how to get there in sql.

227

Okay.

228

I love that.

229

And that's something that we

didn't necessarily talk about.

230

We, we, I mean, we mentioned

your background, we

231

mentioned your music degrees.

232

We, we said the term music

therapy a couple times.

233

I wasn't familiar with

music therapy beforehand.

234

So, um, maybe, if you don't mind,

will you just give like a, a quick

235

introduction to what you were doing?

236

You kind of mentioned it

earlier, but if I was, if I was a

237

5-year-old, what is music therapy?

238

Sure.

239

So, um, you know, the go-to line, I

guess, is that music therapy is using

240

music to accomplish non-musical goals.

241

So, um, in the hospital, what I was

doing most of the time was using music

242

for decreasing pain, decreasing anxiety,

um, kind of providing that additional

243

emotional support, um, that people often

don't get, um, especially when they're

244

going through something that is, you know.

245

Potentially like traumatic and scary

for them, like being in the hospital.

246

Um, and you know, we worked

really closely with our like

247

hospice and palliative care team.

248

Um, so a lot of, uh, folks

who were going through kind of

249

the end of life process, um.

250

And Yeah, that's kind of what

my, my daily life was like.

251

Yeah.

252

And, and I think that's important to

realize because one of the tips that

253

we, that we talk about throughout

the data analytics accelerator is,

254

can we find you a stepping stone job?

255

Right?

256

Because you're new to this

world of, of data, right?

257

You're, you're new to this world of data.

258

You had no prior, you know, math

jobs or science jobs, right?

259

It was, it was the music stuff, right?

260

Um, but you were able to land this.

261

This financial analyst

role pretty quickly, like

262

within, within about 90 days.

263

I was looking, I was trying to look, find

our exact, when you told me you had the

264

interview and you had the offer, um, and

when you joined, you joined like right

265

before Christmas, and then I think you

started working like mid-March, right?

266

Mm-hmm.

267

Yes.

268

Yeah.

269

Um, so I, I like, you know, signed up,

um, clicked submit or whatever on the.

270

Accelerator package, like

right before Christmas.

271

Um, started actually like doing the

program right after Christmas, like the

272

week before Christmas and New Year's.

273

Um, and I, I think my job.

274

The interview was on March 1st, um,

which was a Wednesday or whatever

275

the Wednesday was that week.

276

And then that Friday I accepted my offer.

277

Um, so yeah, I was,

uh, not expecting that.

278

Um.

279

That's not even, that's not even 60 days.

280

'cause February is not even 30 days.

281

Right.

282

So that's basically Right.

283

Yeah.

284

So that's awesome.

285

Um, and absolutely incredible.

286

Congratulations.

287

Thank you.

288

I cut you off.

289

Thank you.

290

Keep, keep talk, talking us

through that, through that journey.

291

Yeah.

292

So, um, I should back up and say that part

of what I was doing, um, before kind of

293

getting into the, into the accelerator

bootcamp, um, you know, when I.

294

Was looking into data analytics as

a potential, you know, career move.

295

Um, I did kind of what anybody does and

just Googled it, um, and landed on the

296

Google, the Coursera, like Google mm-hmm.

297

Data analytics program.

298

Mm-hmm.

299

Um, and I was doing that for a while.

300

I think I started that

sometime in the summer.

301

Um, last year.

302

Felt, um, like I was understanding things.

303

Um, I didn't.

304

I didn't have any, you know,

foundational knowledge besides

305

like, using Excel for budgeting.

306

Um, and you know, I think it was a really

good introduction into like, what is data

307

analytics and all of that sort of thing.

308

But I didn't, um, I made it like

three quarters of the way through,

309

but I didn't feel like I could like

actually apply my knowledge in a

310

way that was, um, helpful for me.

311

I was like understanding it as I was going

through, but there wasn't a lot of like.

312

There weren't any steps after that.

313

So, um, I was looking for something

that was just more hands-on

314

and more like active for me.

315

Um, that's how I tend to learn best.

316

And so I was, you know, just kind of

looking to see what was out there.

317

And, um, I think, I think you had

a sale going on, I saw on LinkedIn

318

and I was like, that sounds good.

319

Um, you know, most boot camps are

like five grand plus, and you know,

320

that's not something that in my.

321

Previous job that I could even consider

budgeting for, um, in any kind of,

322

you know, uh, reasonable timeline

for wanting to make a career move.

323

So, um, I was like, sounds great.

324

This guy's cool.

325

I'm gonna just do this

and see where it goes.

326

And so from there, that's kind of

when I, uh, started like doing.

327

Doing the Analytics Accelerator

Bootcamp, um, and the curriculum,

328

and I think it, that is what really.

329

Made a big difference for me.

330

Yeah.

331

I, I think, I think your story

is, you know, very similar.

332

In fact, someone emailed me today and

said, you know, how is your program

333

different than the Google data cert?

334

Um, which is, which is a

common question, um mm-hmm.

335

And I think, I think you kind of

nailed it, like actually applying

336

what we're, what you've learned.

337

Right.

338

Um, and then really focusing on creating

the projects and the networking.

339

Right.

340

Because mm-hmm.

341

At the end of the day, if you don't

have the projects, you don't have the

342

network, it's a lot harder to land

that job and then also just doing it.

343

Mm-hmm.

344

With someone, like someone that's

able to, you know, talk to you.

345

I know you were pretty active on our

community, so having all the peers

346

around you, uh, I think, I think that's

pretty helpful for, for most people.

347

Um, and the other thing you

did really well is, and I mean,

348

I, I think this was helpful.

349

You can tell me if I, if I'm wrong, um,

but you were trying to land a data job.

350

You don't have necessarily the,

what people would consider the

351

traditional or the ideal background.

352

I don't think there is a traditional

or ideal background for data analytics,

353

but that's, that's besides the point.

354

Um, but you found this job inside of

healthcare and you have been working

355

in healthcare as this music therapist.

356

You've been visiting hospitals, like you

said, you know, hospitals speak a little

357

bit like the acronyms and stuff like that.

358

Did that play a role in

helping you land this job?

359

Like, was that helpful to

know the hospital stuff?

360

Yeah, I think so.

361

Um, you know, especially during

my interview process, that was

362

something that I spoke to a lot.

363

Um, you know, and having kind of that

background knowledge of just how the

364

industry works, um, and understanding

like, yeah, I might not know like the

365

backend of health insurance, but I

know like what these things mean and

366

I know, you know, kind of why things

are set up the way that they are.

367

Um, even if, I dunno the details of like.

368

How, how it works on the backend.

369

Um, and one of the projects I think that

really helped me kind of be able to speak

370

to that was the SQL project, um, and the

accelerator, the, um, healthcare analysis.

371

That was something that I talked about

in all of the interviews that I had.

372

Um, and they were really, really

interested to know, you know, not

373

only to see that I had some SQL

skills, but also just to see like.

374

I had used my prior knowledge and

like, um, how I had applied that

375

understanding of the industry

to the analysis, like with sql.

376

Um, so that I think was

really, really helpful for me.

377

Um.

378

Yeah, in that whole interview process,

gosh, I actually, I mean, I should have

379

realized that, but I didn't even, I

didn't even realize that, and that's so

380

cool because they were like, Hey, we're

hiring for a financial data analyst role.

381

The the hope is that someone

will understand data analytics,

382

they'll understand sql.

383

They'll, they'll understand

hospital, or I guess healthcare data.

384

And you were like, oh, well here's a

project I've done that you can read

385

where I analyzed, I can't remember

how much data is in that one, like 1.6

386

million rows of hospital data.

387

Mm-hmm.

388

And like looked at outcomes and

like looked at like what procedures

389

led to these different things

and how race played in role in

390

the hospital and stuff like that.

391

And you're like, just, here you go.

392

This is, this is my evidence.

393

Right.

394

Are you interested, Uhhuh?

395

That must have been really

powerful for the recruiter.

396

They're like, oh.

397

Wow.

398

Uh, SQL project with healthcare data.

399

I'm, I'm sure they didn't have

very many other projects like that.

400

If I were to guess, I don't know.

401

But if I were to guess, I don't

know who else applied, but

402

apparently I did something right.

403

So, yeah.

404

'cause, 'cause you interviewed and then

like three days later had an offer.

405

Mm-hmm.

406

Yeah.

407

That's amazing con that's so amazing.

408

Congrats.

409

Thank you.

410

Um, one, one of the things I just wanna,

I wanna highlight, um, that makes me

411

so happy to hear, because when I was

designing the, the analytics accelerator,

412

I was like, okay, we have to do projects.

413

And to be perfectly honest, uh,

when I first got into helping people

414

land data jobs, I, I had the same

philosophy that projects were the way.

415

But I had a little bit of a

different twist where I was

416

like, projects should be fun.

417

It's always fun.

418

To do your own personal data.

419

So when I originally launched my

bootcamp, all of the projects were

420

actually from your own life, like

your own screen time on your phone,

421

the data, the, the music you listen

to, you know, and stuff like that.

422

And that those projects were really fun

and I think they were very impressive

423

to recruiters and hiring managers.

424

They were a little bit harder because it's

just hard, keep getting your own data.

425

But now that we've transitioned to.

426

Using data from all the

different industries.

427

I'm so happy to hear that we, when

I was choosing the nine industries

428

for the nine projects, I was like,

man, there's so many industries.

429

Which ones did we choose?

430

And I'm so glad to hear that the

healthcare and the SQL combo was

431

at least useful for one person.

432

That's so good to hear.

433

Yes, yes, for sure.

434

Um, and actually I think just

having the projects in general

435

and having the specific, um.

436

Like specific tools for a

specific project, um, I think

437

was really, really helpful.

438

Um, and, you know, maybe

just also to highlight, uh,

439

another aspect of the bootcamp.

440

Um, I think the difference for me, I

was applying to things, um, kind of,

441

you know, throughout the whole, uh.

442

The time that I was, you

know, doing all the modules.

443

Um, and I wasn't really getting

a lot of bites and, you know,

444

kind of trying to network and,

and get referrals for, for jobs.

445

But, um, I think the thing that made

the difference was having, I went

446

to one of your, um, I don't remember

if it was a live session or just a

447

module, but, um, all about resumes

and like optimizing your resume.

448

Um, and so I added like.

449

Literally, as I was watching, I

was like, okay, I'm gonna add these

450

links to my portfolio projects.

451

I'm gonna add, you know, a blurb about

what I learned, what I analyzed, what

452

I, and why, um, and what I found.

453

Um, and I like sent off a round of,

of applications kind of with that new

454

resume, with my projects added like

an actual section, not just a link

455

to my, um, to my portfolio site and.

456

I like literally had three interviews

lined up for like that same week.

457

Wow.

458

From just that difference.

459

Um, and that was, you know, one of the,

one of those interviews that I had is

460

the role that I ended up accepting.

461

So, and yeah.

462

Did you, did you apply to that

job or did, did they find you?

463

So I applied for it.

464

Um, I have, uh, I know several people that

also work for Humana and I had someone

465

who was willing to let me be a, um.

466

Or be, you know, my referral.

467

Um, so definitely worked kind of with my

network and, and connecting with people,

468

um, to get my in, um, Humana as a company

that I have, you know, uh, considered

469

working for, for, for a long time.

470

Um, and you know, I know just

from having those personal, uh,

471

relationships with people here, um.

472

They're, they treat their

employees really well.

473

And so I was like, oh yeah, that's

like a company I really wanna work for.

474

So, um, that's kind of how I was

focusing my, my networking attention.

475

Um, but yeah, I had very, very quick

turnaround from submitting those

476

applications to hearing from recruiters

for the, the specific positions.

477

Okay.

478

There's a lot there I wanna unpack.

479

Um, number one, did you apply on like

LinkedIn jobs Indeed, or on their website?

480

On their website.

481

Um, so I found them on LinkedIn,

but I went to the website to apply.

482

Okay.

483

Um, yeah.

484

Okay.

485

Two.

486

Um, one of the things I wanna, I wanna

highlight here is, um, I don't know if

487

you remember this, but the job, the job

description, it probably said hybrid

488

on the job description, do you think?

489

Mm-hmm.

490

Or do you say in mm-hmm.

491

Okay.

492

And I wanna highlight that because I've,

no, this is like a super underrated play

493

that everyone is sleeping on right now.

494

And that's the idea of hybrid jobs.

495

Mm-hmm.

496

Everyone is like, oh, I

don't wanna be in person.

497

Right.

498

So they, they go and they go

to LinkedIn jobs, they use

499

the Boolean search for remote.

500

Mm-hmm.

501

And they're competing with literally

thousands of other people for these

502

remote jobs, because literally you

can be all over the US or the world.

503

Right.

504

And be an applicant for this job.

505

Mm-hmm.

506

But like your role, you're in the office.

507

Like what?

508

Eight hours a week on Wednesday.

509

Mm-hmm.

510

Like, if you want to like, you know, work

from home, from, you know, the rest of the

511

days, you can, if you wanna, I don't know

Humana's exact policy, but let's just say

512

you wanna go visit your, your parents,

or I don't know, your brother, right.

513

You could, you could go, mm-hmm.

514

You could leave Wednesday night and

come back home, you know, Tuesday night.

515

Like that's like a week that you could

be working somewhere else, like you're.

516

Not quite remote, but

you're 90% there, right?

517

I guess.

518

I guess literally 75%, right?

519

Or what, what, what?

520

80% there.

521

Um, yeah.

522

80.

523

Yes.

524

But, but it's, but it's

pretty good, right?

525

Mm-hmm.

526

Yeah.

527

And, and like I said, I am a really

extroverted person, so I really

528

like, you know, I, I think we get

less done on Wednesdays than we

529

do, like when we're all remote.

530

Um, you know, 'cause we're.

531

Catching up with each other and, uh,

you know, socializing a little bit.

532

Um, but yeah, we have, my team

has a lot of freedom outside of

533

those, those, uh, in-person days.

534

And, you know, if you do need to take

a, a remote day, that's also fine.

535

Um, you know, I had a coworker

yesterday who was like, yeah, I just.

536

I'm not feeling super well,

not well enough to not work,

537

but can I just stay home today?

538

And my team was like, yeah, of course.

539

Just call into the meeting

that we have and we'll be fine.

540

Um, so there's a lot of flexibility there.

541

That's, and that's awesome.

542

And I think people are like,

no, I only want a remote job.

543

But the hard thing is like when

you're doing a remote job, you're

544

competing with people you know,

not only in Louisville, right?

545

You're competing with people all over

the country, but if you're hybrid mm-hmm.

546

That job pool that they're selecting from

the candidate pool is so much smaller.

547

And so you can stand out so

much more as a candidate.

548

Um, the third thing I wanna mention is,

you know, you mentioned the referral.

549

Mm-hmm.

550

And people are gonna be like,

well, okay, I don't know anyone.

551

You know, I, no one's gonna refer me, but

the people that referred you, what, what

552

part of the company do they work for?

553

Uh, not mine.

554

Um, yeah, it's, uh, there are several

organizations kind of within Humana.

555

Um, and they are in one that

is parallel with mine, but

556

they are not in finance at all.

557

Um, and so, you know.

558

They, I even asked her, she, she like,

looked into some of the jobs when I was

559

talking with her and she was like, yeah,

I don't know these hiring managers.

560

Um, but I know this person who, um, you

know, worked with this other person and,

561

you know, she kind of connected some

dots, but she, I didn't know, she didn't

562

know anyone personally who was like, in

charge of hiring or, you know, the next

563

like three steps up, um, from my manager.

564

So, um.

565

Yeah, I think it's a powerful thing

to, even if you aren't, if you can get

566

a referral from someone, um, even if

they aren't directly involved with.

567

The position that you're applying

for, I think it's really, really

568

worth it to try to, you know, still

build those relationships and, um,

569

and see if they can help you out.

570

Yeah, a hundred percent.

571

Like when I'm working with a lot

of people, they're like, Avery, I

572

don't know anyone to get referrals.

573

And the answer to that is bull crap.

574

Unless you're like your brand new

to the country and you've never,

575

like, you don't speak English, or

like you haven't really met people.

576

Like, you at least know

someone who works somewhere.

577

Mm-hmm.

578

And sometimes, mm-hmm.

579

Sometimes, sometimes that person's

gonna work at like, as a grocer at

580

like, at like Smith's family grocer

and like, that's not gonna be useful.

581

But like you've probably have at least,

you know, 20 contacts in your phone.

582

Like open up your phone and go through

one by one and just be like, okay,

583

Paul Adams, where does he work?

584

Alejandra und, where does he work?

585

Paul Alstrom, where does he work?

586

You know, and think through.

587

Do these people work for a company that

have an opening for a data analyst?

588

Yes or no?

589

Mm-hmm.

590

And if they do, it doesn't matter if

they're in marketing or if they're

591

in sales, or if they're, you know,

really doesn't really matter because

592

the company just wants to kind of.

593

To hire good people.

594

And if that person's at that

company, that's probably because they

595

think that person's a good person.

596

Mm-hmm.

597

And so if that person has a friend,

that's probably also another good person.

598

And so just having any sort of

referral from any company employee,

599

I think is worth exploring.

600

And I think it gives you a

leg up in the application.

601

So I think a job well done from you,

because you went for the hybrid, you

602

went for the referral, and I mean,

that's what allows you to, you know,

603

do an interview and then bam, you

have an offer like two days later.

604

Yeah, it was, uh, it, it wasn't a

short process, you know, from, uh,

605

starting getting into data at all to,

um, you know, accepting a job offer.

606

But I think, um, the, the, the steps

that I took in the last, you know,

607

couple of months of that journey, um,

really, really made the difference.

608

And, um.

609

Yeah, a lot of it was kind of

prompted by the accelerator

610

program, so thank you for that.

611

Yeah, of course.

612

We're, I'm so glad it

it worked out for you.

613

Mm-hmm.

614

Um, okay.

615

Before we let you go, I gotta ask you a

few more questions about the interview.

616

Sure.

617

Was it, was it technical?

618

No.

619

Um.

620

Uh, and maybe part of it was because I

had projects to kind of show what I knew.

621

Um, but we didn't, there wasn't like an

assessment for me, um, for any of the

622

jobs that I interviewed for, you know,

kind of in that round of interviewing.

623

Um, I talked about my projects a lot.

624

They ask questions about the projects

themselves and kind of specifically what

625

learned like the projects you had done.

626

Learned.

627

Yes.

628

Yeah.

629

So, um, the, the healthcare

one, um, I talked about.

630

Um, oh, I forget which is which now.

631

But, um, I talked about the, I

think Massachusetts education one.

632

Yeah.

633

Uhhuh.

634

Um, I talked about that one.

635

I talked a little bit about

the data visualization one

636

that I had on my portfolio.

637

But, um, yeah, I like, they would ask me

specific questions about, you know, like.

638

What was your process with this?

639

What did you know?

640

How did you come to this conclusion

based on this data and, um, things

641

like that rather than like, you

know, here is a, a data set.

642

Can you query this?

643

Like, I didn't have to do any of that.

644

Like really, really technical stuff.

645

I think because they could see that I

knew, you know, how to at least do it.

646

Select from where statement, and then they

could ask me those deeper level questions.

647

Um, yeah.

648

Based on my portfolio, I think that's so

powerful because one of the things we talk

649

about in DAA is that a lot of times the

people interviewing you are busy people

650

and they don't wanna be interviewing you.

651

And so they're coming in with

questions five minutes before

652

they're actually doing the interview.

653

That's not true of everyone, but a lot

of the times I've, I've hired people

654

and I know that I've done that before.

655

Mm-hmm.

656

And so sometimes if

you give them projects.

657

All of a sudden you just gave them

material for them to ask you questions

658

about, and you kind of flipped the

interview where you're, you've almost made

659

the interview about stuff that you know

and stuff that you've done versus them

660

just like randomly asking you questions.

661

Um, which I think is really, it

makes it way less nerve wracking and

662

it makes you look more impressive.

663

So I think, I think that's mm-hmm.

664

A, a win-win.

665

So overall, you felt prepared and

it was just the, the one interview.

666

Uh, yes.

667

So for the role that I had, um, it, it

was in person, um, which was helpful

668

for me, um, because I, I tend to do

really well when I'm talking to people

669

and, um, feel less nervous than, you

know, if I'm, um, if it's like a phone

670

interview or something like that.

671

Um, but we did, it was one.

672

Day.

673

Um, but interviews with

several people on the team.

674

Um, but we had really similar

conversations kind of between that,

675

um, as pertains to kind of their

role and, and the difference between

676

the role that they're hiring for.

677

Um, but yeah, I felt really prepared.

678

I felt, um, like I knew what I was

talking about, kind of going in.

679

I obviously had done these whole

projects and could speak on them.

680

Um, and so that made me

feel really confident in.

681

My skills and also in my like,

you know, presence and, and being

682

able to really engage with them.

683

Um, instead of being worried about,

you know, am I gonna remember how

684

to, like what the syntax is for

this, you know, specific thing

685

that they're gonna ask me about.

686

Yeah.

687

That's, that's awesome.

688

Um, I love that the

projects brings confidence.

689

That's an important takeaway.

690

Mm-hmm.

691

Um, yeah.

692

Okay.

693

And then, uh, we did have a question here.

694

Um, you can answer this to your heart's

content, um, as much as, as you do or not.

695

Um, but the question is, did you feel

the need to negotiate or were you

696

pretty happy, uh, with your offer?

697

So, um.

698

As I mentioned, I had interviews

for three different roles, um, kind

699

of, you know, all at the same time.

700

Um, it was that like last round

of applications that I sent

701

in after changing my resume.

702

Um, had all those interviews within, you

know, that same week, the, um, the ones

703

on that Wednesday where the last ones.

704

Um, and a, the recruiter contacted

me, um, and actually said that I had.

705

Um, gotten offers from all three and

that they wanted to, that they wanted

706

to, um, you know, see what was my

preference and that sort of thing.

707

And I didn't negotiate with numbers

necessarily, but I said that a, um,

708

salary would put play a, a part in

my decision of which role to take.

709

Um, and so I asked if they could give

me, you know, a range for each one.

710

Um, so they came back with that and, um.

711

You know, told me the ranges of what,

what they could offer for each role.

712

Um, and then I was really happy that

the, the one that I had wanted the

713

most did actually have, you know, the

highest offer as well, the highest range.

714

Um, and so I, you know,

happily took that one.

715

Um, so I didn't have to

necessarily negotiate.

716

Um, and then when I like

accepted that offer, they.

717

Um, said it was gonna be the, the highest

end of the, of the range they'd given me.

718

They just gave me that top number.

719

Um, so you got what?

720

You got what you wanted?

721

Exactly.

722

Yeah.

723

I didn't have to like,

you know, negotiate like.

724

Face-to-face with somebody, but, um,

you know, letting them know that that

725

was an important part of my decision.

726

I, I think that's good.

727

Um, we, you know, a lot of people will

talk about negotiating, um, and I think

728

I'm probably not the, the best teacher

of negotiation, if I'm being honest.

729

I've never really negotiated that

much, but so many students in

730

our program have just been so.

731

Happy with the offer that they get,

that, that, I mean, negotiating

732

is always probably a good idea.

733

Uh, but anyways, a lot of people

have just been super happy that

734

they're like, I'll take it.

735

I'm so, so stoked with this.

736

Right?

737

If someone offered me $10

million right now to go work

738

for them, I'm not negotiating.

739

I'm taking the 10 million

million dollars right.

740

And, and I mean, uh, kind

of the same idea there.

741

Um, mm-hmm.

742

Okay.

743

So one with this, uh, any advice that

you'd like to give to people with

744

non-traditional backgrounds, people

with, um, maybe music backgrounds?

745

What, what would you say and, and

that helped you in your journey?

746

Or what, what advice would you give them?

747

Yeah.

748

Um, so number one piece of like

actionable advice is to do projects.

749

Um, do projects that are based on

skills that you have or, you know,

750

the industry that you have, and then

also ones that, um, show that you

751

have knowledge for where you wanna go.

752

Um, so if it's healthcare, if

it's, um, you know, marketing, like

753

whatever you're trying to kind of.

754

Break into, do projects with that

show that you know how to use the

755

technical skills, um, in that industry.

756

Um, and then just in general, I think,

um, something that I realized through

757

my journey was that even if you are

like just starting and you don't really

758

have a whole lot of like foundational

knowledge, um, to go off of, you are.

759

Um, more capable and you know, a

lot more than you think that you do.

760

Um, you know, everything

transfers to everything else.

761

Um, I guarantee that there's

something that you, like do in your

762

daily job that relates to, you know,

your, your data analytics learning.

763

Um, and I think that if you have started

on this journey and you know, are, um.

764

Even if you are at the beginning,

you've done the hard part of like

765

making the decision and starting.

766

Um, and so now it's just about consistency

and you know, keeping that going.

767

I, I love that.

768

I hope you guys listening

take that to heart.

769

Keep in mind that was a music

therapist telling you that you have

770

something in your current job that

is relatable to data analytics.

771

If you asked me like the most opposite

of a data analytics job ever, I might

772

say a music therapist, but you're

absolutely right Aaron, that no matter

773

what you're doing, you can relate

something to what you're currently doing.

774

It is experience for a data analyst job.

775

So, you know, don't be discouraged

when you see, you know, one

776

to two years of experience.

777

Two to five years of experience.

778

You have some sort of experience

that you can draw and I loved the

779

advice, uh, on doing projects.

780

So, uh, Aaron, thanks so

much for being on the show.

781

Uh, we'll have your LinkedIn down

below in the show notes that people

782

can connect with you and, uh, just

so excited for you and your journey.

783

Aaron, thanks for sharing

it with all of us here.

784

Thanks so much for having me.

785

Yeah, no problem.

786

Um, okay, great.

787

Thanks everyone for listening.

788

If you guys are listening live

on YouTube or LinkedIn, uh, we

789

just wanna say hello to you guys.

790

Um, also, if you guys did not know,

I'm doing a live version of the data

791

analytics accelerator, um, starting

on Monday, and I want you guys to be

792

part of that, um, awesome program.

793

We're going to be, if you guys are

like, I want some more guidance, I

794

want some more community, we're doing.

795

Two hour live sessions every Monday.

796

And then where I'm going to

be building the projects that

797

Aaron talked about, we're gonna

build the SQL Hospital project.

798

We're gonna build, uh, the

DoorDash marketing project.

799

We're gonna build the education

Tableau project altogether

800

on those Monday sessions.

801

And then we're doing a live

office hour on Thursday.

802

So if you're interested, you can go

to data career jumpstart.com/daa.

803

Or you can just send me a DM on LinkedIn

and I'll get you the stuff you need.

804

So I just wanna make sure y'all,

you guys know, 'cause that is an

805

opportunity that, um, I haven't done

before where I'm actually building

806

the projects and I'm going live for

three hours every week with you guys.

807

So, uh, hopefully that's,

that's pretty exciting.

808

That Great.

809

Aaron, anything else?

810

No, I don't think so.

811

Thanks so much for having me and,

uh, good luck everybody listening.

812

Yeah, sounds good.

813

All right.

814

Bye everyone.

815

Let's see.