As a professional analytics author, trainer and consultant it’s only natural that I’d get frequent questions on starting or switching to a career path in analytics.
Due to time constraints, I cannot offer specific advice but have a few suggestions and guidelines:
Subscribe to the How to Get an Analytics Job podcast
The name speaks for itself. Start listening and get the answers you’re looking for. The collective wisdom from dozens of speakers across hundreds of hours of content is going to be better than my two cents’ worth, anyway. You may even catch a livestream. You can start with my appearances if you wish:
- “How to build analytics technical skills”
- “How to find good analytics courses”
- “How to answer the question: ‘Tell me about yourself'”
Connect the dots by collecting the data
It’s never been easier to post job descriptions. Take advantage of this! Set up alerts on LinkedIn Jobs. Search through them manually. Click around and find the jobs that get you excited. Then, deduce away. What patterns do you see in terms of job title, location, industry? What about required hard or soft skills? You have just created an avatar of your ideal job to which you can now judge all others.
Share, share, share
You may think that just because you are not a “professional” data analyst that you have nothing to contribute. Guess what, no one in this field has all the answers and it really is a collective effort. You never know what you might share online that someone will find helpful.
So get back on LinkedIn and post your projects, book reviews, tutorials, and whatever you’ve got or built. Take it from someone who’s been doing this for the better part of a decade — it gets easier.
Consider a coach
And last but not least, consider getting a coach who can offer you individualized help on your analytics journey. After all, you are unique, so one-size-fits-all coaching and support from a large course or progra might not be ideal. I am happy to share that I offer career coaching for various stages of data analytics careers. If you would like to learn more, check out this page:
I hope these tips can serve you well. All the best on your job search.
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