This post is the first of a four part series which discussed what it takes to land your first data analyst job. We assume that you already have a working understanding of the various disciplines of data & analytics along with the roles that support those disciplines. We also assume you understand what the typical skillset of a data analyst looks like. If you don’t we suggest checking out our posts to get yourself up to speed before reading this article.
Rather than list off all of the things you need to do to get yourself ready, we will talk about the interview process in general and the key things that employers will be looking for in a data analyst. If you have these things then you’ll be in a great position, if not we’ll provide some advice for how to compensate so that you don’t disqualified before an offer is made.
We are going to break the process of getting a data analyst job (and really any job) into four phases. Things work differently in each org and in some cases these steps may be combined, but for the most part each of these things is happening to some extent. Below are each of the four steps as well as links to the other three posts.
Screening Phase – See Below
What it is:
Perhaps the most difficult part of getting your first data analyst role is getting through the screening process. This phase consists of sorting through all of the resumes and determining which candidate to move forward and which to disqualify based on resume and application alone. At most large organizations the process to apply is very impersonal and you are throwing your resume on a pile with many others. On top of that a lot of time HR actually takes the first pass through the resumes and sends what they believe are the good ones to the hiring manager. The problem here is that most of the HR recruiters don’t have a great sense of what to really look for. That means that there is a little bit of luck involved. Don’t fear though, we have some advice for how you can maximize your chances to pass through the screen and get to some actual interaction.
Key Considerations:
Education: Degrees and majors that focus on data & analytics are becoming much more prevalent than even 5-10 years ago. Having said that most employers cast a much wider net than these highly specialized degrees. Degrees like math, engineering, statistics, economics, and many others will generally suffice to break into your first role. Also degrees like business, though they may have less math and programming than desired, can also work if properly supplemented. However not having a 4 year degree or having a major that has very little math built into the program will present a substantial barrier to landing a role. Having said that degrees are a huge time and money commitment so going back and getting a new degree isn’t a realistic option for 99% of people. Some people opt for things like Coursera certificates but these rarely, if ever, actually catch the eye of employers. If you don’t have a degree with one of the preferred majors don’t give up. While it might make you more likely to get screened out early in some places this is a surmountable problem if you can make up for it in other areas.
Work Experience: For recent college grads this is obviously not a factor assuming they’ve worked at least some sort of job before. If someone applies without ever having held a job then I would probably pass on them and I suspect I’m not alone there. For those who do have work experience this is one of the best chances to make a connection for a potential employer. One of the biggest and most common mistakes is failing to recognize potential applicable experience you can use to sell yourself for your analytics role. It isn’t just technical skills (although that’s where most people focus) it’s the small things that you think might not be noteworthy because they don’t feel specific to the role. It could be managing some recurring work or processes, it could be keeping track of things in an Excel spreadsheet, it could even be something like figuring out how to get your boss’ laptop to connect to the printer. The point is to show that you can solve problems, especially ones that have a technical flavor. Hiring managers want to see resourcefulness, growth in responsibilities, and an ability to learn on the job.
Internships: I’ve always seen internships as great but certainly not necessary. If you can get one and do a decent job then you’ll almost certainly get an offer from that company once you graduate. If you don’t happen to get an offer (or learn through the internship you don’t want to work there) they are still a great chance to learn some skills potential employers are looking for. Show those new skills during the interview process and you’ll be quite a bit ahead of other recent graduate applicants. If you didn’t learn much during the internship (and unfortunately that is quite common) then that’ll probably come out in the interview process. While it won’t be a mark against you having the internship on your resume probably won’t be any real advantage.
Cover Letters: Full disclosure I have a bias here that cover letters are a waste of time. In today’s world there is not enough precision in applying by candidates and selection by employers. So many employers don’t respect when people take the time to apply. In many cases a rejection simply means they didn’t even bother to look at your resume. For that reason candidates had to start applying to many roles in the hopes that some would respond. What does that mean? For each role employers get dozens if not hundreds of applicants. They are not scrutinizing resumes wishing they could learn just a bit more about applicants. They say yes to the ones they like and toss the rest. I doubt most would even read a cover letter. Also I question how effective a letter would be unless you truly tailor it to that company. If you send me a generic one where you just put chunks of your resume into paragraph format then I’m putting it straight into the trash. If you actually write a unique one for each role then you are probably writing a lot of them and that’s a huge time investment. Long story short I don’t think the juice is worth the squeeze on these.
How to Get Through:
Highlight Your Accomplishments and Sell Yourself: The two biggest mistakes that I see people make with resumes is 1) they describe the work but not their accomplishments and 2) they don’t do enough to sell themselves for the roles they desire. If for example you work as a waiter or waitress you don’t just want to put things on your resume like “took orders from customers” and “ensured customers had what they needed during their meal”. At that point you are just putting the job description on your resume. Instead try to add some things that would show you were a standout such as “Consistently earned tip amounts above my peers” or “Had lowest rates of complaints among entire waiting staff”. The other mistake I see too much is that people tend to describe what the company or team did but they don’t explicity call out their role within that. They’ll write things like “Was key member of team with highest user score” or “Led the group effort to stand up our new sales system”. These don’t talk about your specific contributions nor do they sell you for your next data role. They need to show that you significantly contributed to the success. “Created and piloted new approaches for how team worked with users which contributed to the team’s user engagement scores increasing 25% and becoming the highest in the area”. This shows that you think about ways to improve, are brave enough to suggest the whole team tries them, and have tangible data to back up the results.
There are also some tactical things hiring managers for data analyst roles will be looking for as they search for candidates. You should highlight the things below as much as possible, even if they weren’t always a core part of your job.
Anything with Data – There are few jobs today that don’t use or collect data in some manner. Do you have any experience helping to collect, reconcile, or use it? If so call that out as much as possible. Even just keeping a few spreadsheets is a step in the right direction. If you don’t have this experience try looking for a volunteer chance to do so.
Tech Skills – Do you have an IT job today that involves a lot of technical work or maybe had to develop some for a special project? If so this can help you get through the screening process as well. Pretty much all tech work involves using data in some capacity. Highlight that work and in particular what data you handled and how you did it.
Adjacent Experience – A lot of organizations struggle to find analysts who can be strong in both the business aspect and data analytics aspect of the job. The vast majority of data analysts prefer to geek out on the technical and modeling parts of the job and only learn enough “business” to get by. If you come from a discipline that touches analytics but is more business facing then you may have a way in. Do you have experience in things like audit, finance, or marketing? If so these may help open the door if the hiring manager knows they need to do work for those departments.
Progression of Responsibilities – Whether this is career progression, boy/girl scouts, or just your high school chess club showing a progression in responsibility is a great selling point for any job you apply to. It shows initiative and a desire to take on more. Since so many analytics jobs will require constant learning and will be constantly evolving it is critical that those entering the field are ready to progress with the role.
User Engagement – Analytics are next to worthless if they aren’t actionable and they can’t be actionable unless someone from a business area is ready to do something with the analytics. All that to say that user engagement is a critical part of being a data analyst. If you have experience working with users, either internal or external, highlight that and any wins you have with them.
Address Red Flags: Because HR and hiring mangers are often so underwater from a workload capacity they can sometimes start to weed people out based on red flags, especially if they think their prospect pipeline is strong overall. If any of these apply to you then you need to be ready to address them, both in an interview AND on your resume. This doesn’t mean you can be dishonest and hide them, they will come out eventually. Instead you should subtly address them without calling too much attention. As much as you can fit the explanation into the flow of the resume but don’t be constrained by it. It is much more important to address the red flag than to format the resume a certain way.
Job Hopping too Frequently – If you are guilty of this my piece of advice is to stop. While you might benefit short term in the long run you’ll turn off potential employers and make it impossible to have any sort of professional network.
Gaps in Employment – If you are a recent graduate then this isn’t a worry. If you are a job changer and have a gap then you should be prepared to explain it. Things like taking care of kids or family members, taking time for personal reasons, or taking time to travel are all fine reason to have a gap so call them out in your timeline. If not people will tend to assume you were forced out and unable to find work.
Move from Manger to Non-Manager Role – This does happen to a lot of people throughout their careers. Either they don’t like being a manger or in many cases they can make more money moving into a new individual contributor role. Regardless of the case the key is it show it was your choice to step into the new role and that it wasn’t forced upon you.
Too Many Technologies Listed – This was always a personal pet peeve of mine. If you have a section specifically to list all of your technologies you should be at least somewhat competent in that technology if it makes the list. I find it hard to believe that when someone lists 20+ technologies they are actually competent in them all. If you’ve done little more than open a program and look around then don’t put it. If you used something a long time ago but don’t remember much about it then talk about using it in your experience section, don’t call it out under your technology section.
Not currently employed – Similar to the gap in employment be ready to explain this if it has been anything more than 3 months.
What I have discussed above is just a start to what you should consider as you build your resume. The key, as with any job, is to put your best foot forward and think about what employers want to see, not what you do. If you have found this content helpful I would suggest reading at least the next section as well, if not all four. Also if you haven’t already done so please consider taking advantage of our free tools and services. They don’t cost you a thing and could give you a nugget or two that could help you in your search.