Becoming a Data Analyst - The Power of Projects and Talking to People
There are lots paths to getting hired as a Data Analyst. Projects and talking to people are two things you can do to accelerate your path to becoming a Data Analyst.
How do I become a Data Analyst is an important question for aspiring Data Analysts. If you want to be a doctor, go to med school. If you want to be lawyer, go to law school. If you want to be a Data Analyst, well…there are lots of ways to become a Data Analyst.
This unstructured career path is both exciting and frustrating. It is exciting because this career is accessible to lots of us. Have an unorthodox background? No problem - most of us do. Want to make a change change mid-career? Welcome to the club.
It is frustrating though because it means we have to create our own path.
“I’m a recent grad with a History major. I realized I want to pursue a career in Data Analytics. How do I do that?”
“I’m a Sales Manager and would like to shift careers into Data Analytics. I have a full-time job and family. Is it possible to change careers? How?”
Lots of us are starting from places like this. And while there are lots of ideas and advice out there, we need to come up with the path that works for us and our situations.
Here is a simple framework you can use to navigate your own career path to becoming a Data Analyst.
Begin With the End in Mind
The framework uses the famous habit from Steven Covey: Being With the End in Mind. There are three steps. We’ll start with Step 3. After we go through Step 1, there are Two Key Takeaways you can use to make this framework actionable for you.
Step 3: Get hired as a Data Analyst
That’s our goal. We want to get hired as a Data Analyst.
Step 2: Convince someone to hire us as a Data Analyst
Very insightful. I hope this gets better.
Why would someone hire us as a Data Analyst? Let’s look at what hiring managers really want.
The hiring manager will have a job description full of skills they are looking for. They want those things, but what they truly want is:
Someone who will do great work independently
Great work is obvious. Let's look at that last word: independently.
It is likely you will work in a team and your manager will support you in lots of ways. However, at some point, you will need to do work. And the more you can do that work independently, the more time your manager will have to spend on other things1.
So how can we convince people we will do great work independently? There’s a hierarchy, with the top being the most convincing.
1) Direct Experience
“I have done exactly what you are looking for in the past.”
Direct experience is the most powerful way of convincing someone. But we want to become a Data Analyst, so we probably don’t have direct experience. No problem.
2) Indirect Experience
“I haven’t done exactly what you are looking for, but I have done things that are really, really close.”
Indirect experience is the next most convincing. This signals to someone that we have done the work of a data analyst, so it is very likely we could do that type of work regularly for them.
We can get this type of experience by doing projects. This is why there is so much focus on projects in career advice discussions. It shows people that we not only have the skills to be a Data Analyst, we can do the work of a Data Analyst.
3) Skills Match
“I haven’t done the things you are looking for, but I have the skills needed to do the job.”
Skills match is the least convincing. This is why people pooh-pooh the certifications. Data Analysts often need to “figure things out”. Data and data sources aren’t perfect. Needs from users are fuzzy. Tools are fickle. Courses usually smooth all of this out for us, so we can learn the basics. That’s is important and necessary. However, at some point we need to go out into the wild and work through the messiness of the “real world”. Projects help us do that. And they demonstrate to others that we understand and can deal with the messiness of being a Data Analyst.
More on doing projects in Key Takeaway #1 below.
Step 1: Get the opportunity to convince someone to hire you as a Data Analyst.
Ok, really, Step 1 is: Get an interview. How do we do that? Again, there is a hierarchy:
1) Someone we know directly
We know someone hiring for a Data Analyst position. We talk to that person and submit an application. There is no guarantee we will get an interview, but it increases our chances. This is not very common, especially when we are trying to break into the field. No problem.
2) Someone we know indirectly
We know someone who knows someone (who knows someone, who knows someone, etc) who is hiring for the position of a Data Analyst. This sounds like “My dad’s golf buddy at the country club is hiring for a Data Analyst.” My dad doesn’t golf or belong to a country club. I guess I can’t be a Data Analyst.
These connections are usually way less formal than that. It’s connections like:
My girlfriend’s friend from college works at a company that has an opening. That friend works with someone who happens to be close friends with the hiring manager2.
Again, there are no guarantees that you will get an interview. Hiring managers aren’t doing people favors. They likely have hundreds or thousands of applicants for their open position, and they need to find a small number of great candidates to closely consider. These indirect connections are one way for them to do that.
3) A great resume and application
We have a great resume and application, and we get selected for interviews based on that. Lots of people have great resumes and applications. It can be difficult to stand out and be one of the few selected for an interview. It takes patience and persistence (and probably some amount of luck).
Takeaways
Thinking through the hiring process from the hiring manager’s perspective helps us understand how we can create our own path to becoming a Data Analyst. Here are two takeaways you can use today. Send me a message if you are interested in more guidance on these takeaways in future articles.
Key Takeaway #1 - Do Projects
First, what projects have you already done and how can you describe them in a way that shows you know how to do the work of a Data Analyst?
Second, where are you at the level of Skills Match and how could you advance to Indirect Experience?
Here are two important points regarding projects:
Don’t worry about the level of sophistication. The goal is to demonstrate you can start with a question and then figure out how to answer it with data.
Start with something you know and then look for data. As Data Analysts, we rarely start with a blank canvas. Our work is focused on specific questions. It’s more likely you will be able to come up with questions to answer if it is related to a subject matter you know.
Key Takeaway #2 - Talk to People
Who could you talk to find indirect connections? Here are some ideas:
Does your company or organization have Data Analysts? Who could you talk to in that area?
Do you know anyone who works at companies or organizations that have Data Analysts? Could they introduce you to someone in that area?
Does anyone from your university work as a Data Analyst? Could you contact them?
Does anyone from your university work at a company or organization that has Data Analysts? Could you contact them to learn more about their organization?
Who else could you talk to about your learning path and career goals?
These connections are often difficult to see and only become visible during a conversation. “Oh, I didn’t you know you worked at X. I’m looking at getting into data analytics, and that is the type of place I would be interested in. What do you do there?” The more people you talk to the better your chances of finding these connections and becoming a Data Analyst.
Are you interested in career coaching tailored to your career path and goals? Check out my career coaching offering at The Data Edge.
There is an optimistic view of this situation and a cynical one. The cynical one is that managers have lots to do, and they don’t have time to do your work too. The optimistic one is that manager care about your career development, and your success over time depends on your ability to get things done. Helping you work more independently is good for your career. I think the optimistic view is more common.
That is how I got a phone call with a hiring manager who had skipped over my application. It was not for a Data Analyst position. I ended up getting the job.