122: I Landed an $80k Data Analyst Job After The Data Analytics Certificate

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: If you're watching this episode, you're probably wondering if the Google Data Analytics Certificate

[00:00:04] [SPEAKER_00]: will ever lead to an actual data job.

[00:00:06] [SPEAKER_00]: While I'm here to tell you that it can, but rarely on its own.

[00:00:09] [SPEAKER_00]: In this episode, I'll walk you through how my internet friend Goob Goob landed an $80,000

[00:00:14] [SPEAKER_00]: data analyst job that's completely remote just 52 days after taking this cert.

[00:00:20] [SPEAKER_00]: If you're new here, hello, my name is Avery Smith and I'm a Data Career Coach

[00:00:23] [SPEAKER_00]: and my job is to help you become a data analyst.

[00:00:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Let's talk about my friend Goob Goob though.

[00:00:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Goob Goob was a former accountant and he had started the Data Analytics Certificate on July 27th

[00:00:32] [SPEAKER_00]: and just a mere 52 days later, he had secured a completely remote data analyst offer

[00:00:37] [SPEAKER_00]: paying $80,000 plus benefits.

[00:00:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Basically, I got lucky.

[00:00:42] [SPEAKER_00]: I finished the course on August 27th.

[00:00:45] [SPEAKER_00]: I then applied for 10 jobs.

[00:00:47] [SPEAKER_00]: The next day I posted my resume on the subreddit Resume Person Feedback.

[00:00:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Turns out my resume was terrible.

[00:00:52] [SPEAKER_00]: After changing my resume, I applied to 40 more jobs and updated my LinkedIn.

[00:00:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Out of those 50 total applications I put in, I got two interviews.

[00:01:01] [SPEAKER_00]: I made it to the final interview for both jobs but didn't get an offer.

[00:01:04] [SPEAKER_00]: But since I updated my LinkedIn, a recruiter reached out to me.

[00:01:07] [SPEAKER_00]: For context, I was an accountant and I have a degree in accounting.

[00:01:10] [SPEAKER_00]: He was looking for someone with strong accounting knowledge and SQL slash Python skills.

[00:01:15] [SPEAKER_00]: I was the perfect fit.

[00:01:16] [SPEAKER_00]: I nailed the interview process and signed my offer letter yesterday.

[00:01:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Now if you listen carefully, you'll notice that it wasn't Goob Goob's

[00:01:24] [SPEAKER_00]: data skills that landed him the job.

[00:01:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Of course, he needed the skills to qualify for the opportunity.

[00:01:29] [SPEAKER_00]: But really it was his career skills and his networking skills that ended up landing him the job.

[00:01:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Networking is the third pillar of what I call the SPN method.

[00:01:38] [SPEAKER_00]: In order to land a day to job, you'll need to have the right skills, S,

[00:01:42] [SPEAKER_00]: but you'll also need a portfolio and networking.

[00:01:44] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's the P in the N.

[00:01:46] [SPEAKER_00]: And the P in the N are actually just as important as the S's.

[00:01:50] [SPEAKER_00]: And unfortunately, the Google data and electric certificate all but completely ignores both the P

[00:01:55] [SPEAKER_00]: and the N.

[00:01:56] [SPEAKER_00]: So let's look at what Goob Goob did well.

[00:01:58] [SPEAKER_00]: The first thing I noticed was he applied for 10 jobs and then he stopped.

[00:02:02] [SPEAKER_00]: He realized, crap, the only thing that a hiring manager knows about me is my resume.

[00:02:07] [SPEAKER_00]: So I better make sure I get some feedback and ensure that my resume is working for me.

[00:02:11] [SPEAKER_00]: So he turned to the subreddit resume.

[00:02:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Now Reddit is awesome and it sucks at the same time.

[00:02:17] [SPEAKER_00]: It's one of the only places on earth where you can get niche help and honest

[00:02:20] [SPEAKER_00]: information like this, but it's also full of anonymous pessimists who really like to troll.

[00:02:24] [SPEAKER_00]: So your mileage is going to vary on any sort of reddit post you ever do in your life,

[00:02:28] [SPEAKER_00]: especially about data analytics.

[00:02:29] [SPEAKER_00]: But in this case, the Redditors were able to tell Goob Goob that his resume flat out sucked.

[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_00]: And so we fixed it.

[00:02:35] [SPEAKER_00]: That's lesson number one.

[00:02:36] [SPEAKER_00]: You'll never be able to land a job if your resume sucks.

[00:02:39] [SPEAKER_00]: So make sure that your resume is good before applying to lots and lots and lots of jobs.

[00:02:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Now we don't know what Goob Goob's resume looks like before he got the advice,

[00:02:48] [SPEAKER_00]: but we do know what it looks like after he got the device.

[00:02:50] [SPEAKER_00]: So here is the updated resume on the screen.

[00:02:54] [SPEAKER_00]: The first thing I notice is he has quite a bit of skill keyword stuffing.

[00:02:58] [SPEAKER_00]: The automatic tracking system or the ATS is kind of dumb a lot of the time.

[00:03:02] [SPEAKER_00]: And it sort of just thinks that the more you use a word, the better that you are at that skill.

[00:03:07] [SPEAKER_00]: So for example, if you SQL a lot on your resume, the better you are at SQL.

[00:03:11] [SPEAKER_00]: So you'll notice that there is a lot of data skills both in the summary,

[00:03:14] [SPEAKER_00]: the skills and even the experience and certification section.

[00:03:18] [SPEAKER_00]: And this is great.

[00:03:19] [SPEAKER_00]: It's also important to point out as Goob Goob did, this isn't a fancy resume.

[00:03:24] [SPEAKER_00]: There's no images or multiple columns or anything crazy going on.

[00:03:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Most of the time, other than just plain black and white single column paragraphs and bullets,

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_00]: it's bad for the ATS.

[00:03:34] [SPEAKER_00]: A simple rule to remember is simplicity wins in the resume world.

[00:03:38] [SPEAKER_00]: So make sure you're keeping your resume simple.

[00:03:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Another thing Goob Goob does well in the resume is he quantifies his results.

[00:03:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Managers want to hire people who get stuff done.

[00:03:48] [SPEAKER_00]: And how do you get stuff done?

[00:03:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Numbers.

[00:03:51] [SPEAKER_00]: You should aim for at least two to four numbers in your experience section showcasing what you've

[00:03:56] [SPEAKER_00]: done in the past.

[00:03:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Goob Goob mentions the numbers of invoices increasing from 87% to 98%

[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_00]: as well as saving $1,700 per month for the company,

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER_00]: as well as presenting the dashboards to the clients four times per week.

[00:04:08] [SPEAKER_00]: These are all great examples of quantifying your results

[00:04:11] [SPEAKER_00]: and you definitely need to be doing this on your resume.

[00:04:13] [SPEAKER_00]: I also want to point out that this resume isn't perfect.

[00:04:17] [SPEAKER_00]: I personally don't really love the layout very much and the order that things are in,

[00:04:21] [SPEAKER_00]: and I also think it's missing a project section.

[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_00]: But you'll also notice that some of the bullets in the experience section are in the past tense

[00:04:27] [SPEAKER_00]: and the rest are in the present tense.

[00:04:30] [SPEAKER_00]: You definitely would want to keep those consistent and not having those consistent

[00:04:33] [SPEAKER_00]: shows a little bit of sloppiness and messiness.

[00:04:36] [SPEAKER_00]: Also phrases like number of invoiced entered into the system on time increase from 87%

[00:04:41] [SPEAKER_00]: to 98% in one month is a bit cumbersome.

[00:04:44] [SPEAKER_00]: But what's important is that done is better than perfect.

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER_00]: So Goob Goob took that advice and started applying with this new resume.

[00:04:51] [SPEAKER_00]: After 40 more applications, Goob Goob was lucky enough to land two data interviews.

[00:04:56] [SPEAKER_00]: That's an application to interview ratio of about 1 to 25 or about 4%.

[00:05:02] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's about average.

[00:05:03] [SPEAKER_00]: The industry standard for this ratio varies anywhere from 2% to 7%.

[00:05:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Basically two out of every 100 applications you apply for, you get an interview for.

[00:05:12] [SPEAKER_00]: So basically you'll get 2 to 7 interviews for every 100 jobs you apply for.

[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Now there's things that you can do to increase your odds of landing more interviews.

[00:05:20] [SPEAKER_00]: We'll talk about them down here below.

[00:05:22] [SPEAKER_00]: So if you've applied for a hundred jobs and haven't landed one interview,

[00:05:26] [SPEAKER_00]: something is probably wrong and it's likely to be your resume.

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_00]: And I highly suggest getting some feedback on your resume,

[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_00]: whether it's from the resume subreddit, a trusted friend or a career coach.

[00:05:37] [SPEAKER_00]: I do resume reviews if you need one and you can check the link down below to check it out.

[00:05:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Another thing that Goob Goob did that he failed to mention the original post,

[00:05:45] [SPEAKER_00]: but put it in the comments down below is not use the spray and pray method,

[00:05:49] [SPEAKER_00]: where they're just basically applying to as many jobs as you possibly can

[00:05:53] [SPEAKER_00]: and just submitting your resume and letting it end there.

[00:05:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Every time you submit your resume or you submit your application,

[00:05:59] [SPEAKER_00]: think of it not as the end of the application, but actually the start.

[00:06:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Because you can actually network with the job posters and other people at the company

[00:06:07] [SPEAKER_00]: who are likely to help you.

[00:06:10] [SPEAKER_00]: I talked about this in a previous episode with Trevor Maxwell,

[00:06:13] [SPEAKER_00]: and there's so many of my bootcamp students who are able to cold message their way into interviews.

[00:06:18] [SPEAKER_00]: So Goob Goob says,

[00:06:19] [SPEAKER_00]: another thing I did was reach out to job posters after applying to the position.

[00:06:24] [SPEAKER_00]: I'd introduce myself, provide them with my cover letter and resume.

[00:06:27] [SPEAKER_00]: The success rate was low, but it did result in me getting one of the interviews I mentioned

[00:06:32] [SPEAKER_00]: So this is that end part of the SBN method.

[00:06:35] [SPEAKER_00]: If you can send a cold message at least one for every job you apply for,

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_00]: you are stacking the odds in your favor.

[00:06:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Goob Goob unfortunately didn't get offers from either of these interviews,

[00:06:45] [SPEAKER_00]: so Goob Goob was kind of back to square one,

[00:06:48] [SPEAKER_00]: but he decided to update his LinkedIn since that was one of the only other things that

[00:06:52] [SPEAKER_00]: managers use to evaluate candidates and after updating his LinkedIn,

[00:06:56] [SPEAKER_00]: something amazing happened.

[00:06:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Instead of Goob Goob applying to a job, a job applied to Goob Goob.

[00:07:03] [SPEAKER_00]: That's right, a recruiter actually reached out to him.

[00:07:06] [SPEAKER_00]: And this is amazing when this happens because instead of trying to prove your worth to a

[00:07:10] [SPEAKER_00]: recruiter and showing them that you're qualified, the recruiter is seeking you out already

[00:07:15] [SPEAKER_00]: and almost trying to show you how awesome the role and the company is instead.

[00:07:19] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's something to really point out here that this recruiter was looking for someone

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_00]: with an accounting background.

[00:07:24] [SPEAKER_00]: And we know that Goob Goob has that accounting degree and later Goob Goob actually reveals

[00:07:29] [SPEAKER_00]: that he currently works for a payroll company.

[00:07:32] [SPEAKER_00]: A lot of aspiring analysts are always worried because they don't have data experience.

[00:07:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, don't worry because you're likely to have some sort of other experience

[00:07:40] [SPEAKER_00]: that will actually set you apart from other candidates.

[00:07:44] [SPEAKER_00]: When I was breaking into data from a chemical lab technician,

[00:07:47] [SPEAKER_00]: I landed interview after interview in the chemistry and energy space.

[00:07:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Why?

[00:07:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Because I knew what kinetics was.

[00:07:53] [SPEAKER_00]: I understood the anatomy of an atom and I could understand the business's jargon.

[00:07:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Your past experience is actually what sets you apart, not what weakens your application.

[00:08:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Your easiest data job is the one that lies within your domain experience.

[00:08:07] [SPEAKER_00]: So then one behavioral and one technical interview later, Goob Goob had the job.

[00:08:11] [SPEAKER_00]: You too can land a data analyst job if you follow the SBN method like Goob Goob did.

[00:08:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Learn the right skills, build projects that show proof of those skills

[00:08:20] [SPEAKER_00]: and then expand your network and your career skills so you can have jobs applying to you

[00:08:25] [SPEAKER_00]: instead of you applying to jobs.

[00:08:28] [SPEAKER_00]: And if you want to learn more about the SBN method,

[00:08:30] [SPEAKER_00]: I have a full 40 minute presentation on what you should be doing skills wise,

[00:08:34] [SPEAKER_00]: project wise and networking wise.

[00:08:37] [SPEAKER_00]: And you can find the link for that down below.

[00:08:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Go check it out.