Analytics is more in demand than ever. So with that being the case why is it that some hiring mangers don’t want hire entry level analysts? We will discuss some of the reasons and how you can overcome these hurdles during your job search.
Time Before Production: There is a reason more people are being hired into analytics roles than ever before, it’s because there is more work than ever before. Translation, I need something and I need it now. People in today’s world want instant gratification, they aren’t accustomed to waiting. An entry level person likely isn’t going to come in and be productive enough to solve the problem today, they solve it in the future. If a hiring manager is under a lot of pressure to produce now they’ll likely want someone who can hit the ground running.
How to Overcome This: If you get the sense that the hiring manager is under a lot of pressure to produce now then you’ll need to sell your past experiences to prove you can contribute sooner than later. Talk about times you had to learn brand new processes, how you went about learning, and how fast you were able to do it. Also emphasize your desire to learn from other team members and help them however you can. Often times the quickest path to expanding capacity for a team is to take lower value work away from the more senior analysts. You are going to need to do a bit of selling here so don’t be afraid to advocate for yourself.
Time Investment Required: Getting a new person up to speed takes time, getting a new person who has never done this type of work before professionally up to speed takes a lot of time. Chances are the manager is already strapped for time so the prospect of adding another huge time commitment might not be enticing.
How to Overcome This: Before you go to any interview give some thought on how you’d answer two questions: 1) How do you best learn 2) What would your onboarding plan be? Once you have a baseline level answer to those you can use what you learn during the interview process to tailor your response for the role. Beyond that you should emphasize a desire to learn from teammates, a track record of just figuring things out through Google and other means, and a willingness to embrace ambiguity. The theme should be that you don’t need everything formally documented (since it probably won’t be anyways) and that you’ll be able to onboard without needing a huge time commitment from the manager.
Consequences of a Bad Hire: You may have heard about how much it costs a company to replace an employee after they leave. The same is true about making a bad hire. A bad hire can mean a year+ worth of production lost for that position. Beyond that there can be reputational damage for the hiring manager. They likely only get to hire a person or two each year. If they make a bad hire it could hurt their own career goals and growth. For that reason they may want to go with more of a known commodity rather than take a chance on someone untested.
How to Overcome This: Emphasize the experiences in your life or career where you’ve done well and been given additional responsibilities over time. Even a job at McDonalds can be a great example if you can show a pattern of recognition and reward. I know there is that stereotypical example where people do good work but their boss is too thick headed to recognize it, but overall I don’t find that to be true. If you do good work and make people’s lives easier they’ll usually acknowledge and reward it. Show that you can be that person. If you have a track record of succeeding in other endeavors then it’ll raise the hiring manager’s confidence that you can do it in the role they are hiring for.
Job Hopping: This is just a way of life today, people change jobs a lot. While only the worst managers will begrudge you for taking on bigger and better roles, it is human nature to think about all of the time investment that is walking out the door. If it takes a year to get you up to speed only to get a year or two more before you leave then that manager just made a huge investment for marginal returns. This again may make them reluctant to want to hire an entry level analyst.
How to Overcome This: First don’t make any promises about how long you intend to stay or how loyal you are. Things change quickly and you can’t predict what will happen a year from now let alone 3-5. Instead be honest about what you expect for your career from an employer. I would expect a chance to learn new things, grow in my responsibilities over time, and be compensated fairly as my contributions grow. If a company can provide those things then I have no reason to leave. If they are a reasonable company then they’ll agree and let you know if that is feasible there or not. I would also suggest asking some questions such as “where did the person who had this role before go”, or “how do promotions work here”. Make them demonstrate that people in the organization have moved up and there is a path. If they can’t or don’t wan to share that then they probably aren’t worth working for.
Overall you won’t be able to convince every hiring manager to give you a chance, but if you sell yourself and the high ceiling that you bring your odds are much better. If you want to discuss further I recommend setting up time for us to connect to discuss your career possibilities.