My advice if you're trying to break into data analytics
I’ve had some conversations recently with folks who want to break into data analytics. One person is trying to pivot from another career (project management) and another is a college student entering her junior year.
Here is some of my advice.
1. You have so much time to figure out your career
I know it might seem like you need to figure things out ASAP … but your career is probably going to be 40 years long. Maybe longer. That can sound depressing or freeing. You don’t have to do the same thing for your entire career. That would probably get pretty boring at some point.
Even if you’re making a career pivot in your 30s, you have so much time to land your dream job and then change your mind and learn new skills and land your second dream job. And maybe your third - I’m on my second career (first was marketing), and I’ve been doing analytics for 8 years (I did marketing for 12) and I’m starting to have thoughts like … is it time for something else? Maybe. Maybe not. I can try an adjacent job or make a slight pivot from my current work. That’s pretty much been my entire career succession - slight pivots from job to job. Where I started and where I am now are very different but each step along the way was small:
Age 22: Marketing at a non-profit
Age 24: Digital marketing at a different non-profit
Age 30: Digital marketing at a corporation
Age 34: Digital marketing analytics at a corporation
Age 37: Product analytics at a tech company
I broke into analytics when I was 34 and broke into tech when I was 37.
Going from “Marketing Communications Coordinator” to “Data Scientist, Product Analytics” might seem drastic but when you spread it out over 15 years and multiple job changes, it’s much more manageable.
2. Your technical skills alone won’t get you the job
Technical skills are table stakes. You need them to get noticed and to pass the first few rounds of interviews.
But technical skills alone aren’t enough to get a job.
You also need to demonstrate the “soft” or “business” skills. Good communication. Curiosity. Problem solving. Initiative. You can show this through experience in other jobs but also by leading student organizations or industry groups, and also doing projects.
Additionally, you need to demonstrate that you’d fit into a company’s culture. Every company has a page on their website or maybe a section within the job description or on their LinkedIn page that lists their values. It’s common that one of the many rounds of your interviews with a company will be solely on how you demonstrate those values. And even if there isn’t a dedicated interview for it, they are probably still evaluating you against those values.
3. You don’t have to be perfect to apply for jobs or start doing projects
“Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.” I get it. I am also a people pleaser. I also grew up with a mother who loved to say “anything worth doing is worth doing well.”
But most folks are surprised to learn that sometimes 80% is just as good as 100%. Actually, it’s better, because the amount of time it takes to get from 80% to 100% isn’t worth the payoff, so you aren’t spending your time efficiently if you’re always striving for 100%.
There is no penalty for applying for jobs. Don’t stress over if you’re “ready” or “perfect.” Apply anyway. See what happens. You’ll get so much feedback from the process that will help you improve.
You also don’t have to be perfect to do projects. Do messy projects. Do bad projects. Do projects where you feel like you have no clue what you’re doing. Just do something. You don’t have to add it to your portfolio or show it to anyone else. You can go back later and redo it. But doing is the best way to learn. It’s the best way to figure out what skills are useful and what you don’t know.
And when you’re on the job, often you are given tasks that you don’t yet know how to do. You’re expected to figure them out. I used to have a boss who loved to say “you have to get comfortable being uncomfortable.” So start practicing how to “figure it out” by doing projects that push you out of your comfort zone. You’ll probably surprise yourself.
Additionally, when you’re doing projects on the job, it’s always a good idea to check in halfway and present what you’ve accomplished so far. You’d be surprised how often you hear “That answers my questions, I don’t need anything else.” If you had waited until you were 100% done to check in, you might have wasted half your time. Or, even worse, you might have found out you were way off track and now have to go back and redo everything rather than just course-correcting halfway through.
What other questions do you have about a career in data analytics? Drop a comment!
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