194: I Asked 3 Data Analysts How They ACTUALLY Got Hired

Over the past 1000 days, I've had the opportunity to interview some of the smartest and brightest minds in the data world. They've given really great advice on how to actually land a data job. In today's episode, you'll hear three real stories of people with no experience. Landing their first data job. They'll teach you what skills to learn, how to approach the job hunt, and the secret to getting hired sometimes in less than 60 days. So without further ado, let's go ahead and get into it. The first story is Thomas. And Thomas was a frustrated high school math teacher who did not really like his job and wanted to pivot into data, and 61 days later, he was able to do so. Here's exactly how he did it. You ultimately joined the accelerator. And you landed a job as this senior reimbursement analyst pre pretty quickly. Do you know how fast you ended that job?

Uh, so I started the program in April, we said end of April. Yep. And I got that job, I think I had the first interview in the middle of June, so about a month and a half. I guess I would say

I, I had from your start day of the accelerator to when you told us that you landed the job, I have it as 61 days. Yeah. So less, less than two months. And you had been doing, like for instance, like you said, this data science bootcamp through Rutgers, like all, yeah, not all of last year, but you had done it the year previous. Mm-hmm. So basically li like I said, you are so close landing a job, you just need the s SPN method. What is, do you feel like that's what made the difference for you to like to, to have land that job within two months?

Absolutely. I, I would, I would say definitely 'cause I felt like I had the skills, like we just talked about. I just wasn't networking correctly. Uh, I wasn't doing what I had to do on LinkedIn and you don't realize. Coming from the education world, LinkedIn doesn't really exist. You, you apply for jobs and you go on the interviews and you bring, you know, stuff that you had done in other classrooms or, or in my case, 'cause it was right outta college or in student teaching. And, and that's pretty much it. Whereas for this, this was all brand new to me. And the bootcamp that I took while all good and well, I learned these skills. I had no idea what to do after. There was no, you know, you should do this to network with X, Y, and Z, or this is how you should show off your projects. It was just, we did a lot of projects and a lot of, uh, little tasks or homework assignments they called. Uh, but that was all on GitHub. And like you and I had talked about in that first call, you're like, that's not really gonna do anything for you. 'cause no, um, employer or hiring manager is gonna sift through a bunch of code on your GitHub portfolio. Like it's just not gonna do anything. So I think SPN definitely made the difference for me. Where learned the skills, made these projects, and then was able to network and, and show off these projects in a really cool way.

I, I think so too. I think, I think you were so close. You had all the skills, you just needed the portfolio, uh, and Right. And the networking. When I went through your LinkedIn today to like kind of go through your whole journey. Uh, you had posted once about the, the data science bootcamp from Rutgers and it was at, at the very end. Um, I think it was maybe just like a certificate or something. And that's so opposed to how we do it inside of data analytics accelerator where like literally day one I'm like post on LinkedIn. Post On LinkedIn, you finish your first project post on LinkedIn. Uh, so I think that was one of the big things. And that's ultimately how you found this job. Correct. Was someone reposted it on LinkedIn?

Yeah. So. Like you said, I had really never posted on LinkedIn throughout that bootcamp, which is obviously wasn't doing me any good. Um, and then started posting on LinkedIn through the bootcamp or through, um, our program. And then I just kind of followed people who you interacted with on LinkedIn and found a lot of them to be posting jobs. And the one guy, I'm sorry, I can't give him credit, I don't really remember his name or who it was exactly. He posted, I think like 10 or so remote jobs, either weekly, every few days. And I would just apply to them if I thought I was a decent candidate for the job, even if I wasn't really like a super great fit in layman's terms. I, I just, I thought might as well apply. Can't hurt to apply. Um, so I applied, uh, to this specific job and, and I was able to, to get an interview. I was honestly kind of shocked that I got the interview with them, but that's, that's what I'm saying, like you just. You never know. And I think it's really important to apply and, and look at these posts. Uh, there's a lot of, you know, anecdotal stuff on LinkedIn and, and you have talked about posting some stuff like that too, um, in the, in the data career jumpstart. But there are also a lot of people who are trying to help us, like people that are looking for jobs where they're posting jobs. And I think that's really important to look for and, and not to get too bogged down in, oh, this isn't for me because. Really, it's for everybody. Everybody's doing it. You know?

I think you had also mentioned that that job that you ended up landing required, what, two to three years of, of experience?

Yeah. It was two to three years of some healthcare or medical experience, which obviously I'm a math teacher. I did, I just did not have. Um, and I, I can't, I think that's what it said, but it, it said that in the actual job description, but in the. Original post on LinkedIn by the hiring manager. It said zero to two years experience needed. So I was like, oh, well the original post says zero to two years. I don't really care what the job description says right now, lemme just apply and see what happens. So I, I think, don't get discouraged by a lot of what job descriptions say. You know, a lot of that could come from the top down. It might not even come from the hiring manager. It could just come from what the, the company as a whole want that job description to say.

At the end of the day, job descriptions are really more wishlist than they are requirements. So if you fit like 65 to 70%, uh, maybe even 50% sometimes, you know, go ahead and apply, right? Because you never know what might happen. And that was true. For, for you in, in this case, do you remember if you, was it like a LinkedIn, uh, easy apply? Was it that you, did you apply on their website?

Um, I applied on their website, so it was a link. I just clicked on the link and I applied on the Rev website. It was really simple, and I think you and I had actually talked about this in the original call that we had in March, or even, I think I talked to you again in April or so, right around when I joined the program. It, it was a

DM you sent me, I think.

Yeah. And it was, and you said just always apply on, uh, the actual website if you can. They're just more likely to look at that than the LinkedIn, um, like easy apply algorithm.

It's, it's super true. Um, having posted a job on LinkedIn jobs, let me tell you, uh, LinkedIn, you need to hire a data scientist to make your algorithm for candidates a lot better because I got over 550 applicants and the top applicants were not on the first two pages, I'll tell you that. Like who they thought was relevant. I was like, this person's not relevant, so that's great. Did you do anything special cover letter, send a cold message, anything like that?

Definitely sent a cold message. And it was funny because, um, the person who interviewed me first, uh, I sent a cold message to her boss and then she said, you know, honestly, your, your resume was just passed to me. Like I, someone got a message from me and that's how I got your resume. And I decided to, you know, interview. And I was like, well, that's awesome. I guess that worked out for me. Um, but I don't think I did a cover letter. Uh, we might have even talked about this, I think. The cover letter is, well, they're important. I guess they're way more likely to just read your cold message if that's what you're sending them than they are your cover letter.

Cold messages are the new, uh, cover letter. I think cover letters are kind of dead and if you can send Yeah, a cold message where it's like, I don't have to read one page of stuff that's just mostly fluff that you use chat GPT to write, and instead you can tell me in like. Three to four lines, who you are, why I should care about you. I think that's some directly to my inbox. I think that's way more impactful. That's awesome. I didn't realize you sent a cold message. I think. Yeah, that's, I'm trying to figure out like, you know, when, when Thomas is applying, I know you're a great candidate, you know, you're a great candidate, but how do you convince this recruiter and this hiring manager when they have, you know, 500 other candidates that you're the right candidate? And I think the cold message is one, and then probably your portfolio helped stand out a little bit.

Yeah, I would think so. Uh, I think just going back to the cold messages, like I was sending one to every job that I applied to, uh, or at least trying to, trying to find someone that I could. And I, I believe there's a page or a couple pages on our, on our, uh, like in our book of materials that you give us, where it just kind gives you like an outline of what you should say to these people. And that's what I was, I had it bookmarked. I was going back to it every single time. Um, but yeah, they did talk about my, um. Uh, portfolio. Um, I think it was probably a sticking out point. Uh, you know, the person that interviewed me first said it was definitely super interesting and like I said to you, uh, she thought that just based on that, that my analytical skills absolutely qualified for the job that they were looking for.

That's actually really cool because, um. You didn't have any healthcare experience prior to this, but one of the things I tried to do when I designed the bootcamp was each module has like a different industry theme, and so in module five we, we cover some healthcare data using sql. So you know, you, you'd maybe never actually, like in a workplace, looked at healthcare records, but in this bootcamp with, we had looked over, I think there was like 2 million rows in that, in that SQL data. Set that we, we analyze. So you had, you had at least some, you created your own healthcare experience at the end of the day,

right? I think I actually said that. I was like, yeah. In my portfolio. Uh, I, you know, I had this healthcare project that we worked on. Uh, you know, I tried to pull from family members too. I was like, I have some family that works in healthcare and, you know. You don't wanna necessarily lie because they could ask you follow up questions, but you certainly wanna make your knowledge look a little bit better. And I, I think that's what I tried to do, especially using that project that we had worked on in the, in the class.

Hey, experience is experience. No one can take it away. You can just describe it as it is, and they can decide whether they, they think it qualifies enough, but, uh, it's always good to get that out there. Um, even with that, I, I think this is true. I haven't, I haven't talked about the. I haven't talked to you about this before. Um, but, uh, I think after this first interview, this, this timeline maps up a little bit. Um, you went into our community and you said, just finished the capstone and I had my first interview, uh, this week, however, it seems like I don't have enough healthcare experience, so I'm not too confident. If anything else, it was a good interview experience. I'm continuing to apply for jobs and sending cold messages. Then you say this great line. Some days it's hard to not feel defeated, but definitely trying to stay as positive as possible. Hoping to land something soon. That, was that the first interview for this job?

Yeah, that was the first interview for that job. And I'm laughing thinking about, thinking back to that. 'cause I'm really, I got off the call and I was like, wow, I, I have no shot. I was like, I don't have this healthcare experience. And uh, it just kind of all worked out. I think that's the important thing. Like we talked about this a little bit, just go on these interviews and kind of be yourself. Um, I really talked about my willingness to learn and want to learn. And, um, I guess they liked that. Um, and I, again, I was really surprised and I was after that, got the second interview and I was pretty nervous for that too. I was like, I wonder, I don't even know why they're interviewing me a second time right now. Um, but that interview, and I said it, when I got off it, I was like, I really think that I might have just gotten this. And it wasn't anything technical. Uh, they did ask a little bit about my experience, but. You just kind of go into these interviews and you kind of feel the vibe with the people that you're going to work for. And I just thought the vibe was great. You know, I, I thought they'd be great people to work for, and it got me really excited about it. And you just say, here I am.

I, I think that's so interesting. And, and I love that, that the interviews, sometimes they're super scary, but a lot of the times they're just like, okay, does this person seem like they. Have enough technical skills and are they able to learn the rest? I know that's one of the things you mentioned. It's like maybe, I don't know healthcare yet, but I'm, I'm willing to learn that. Um, I wanna go back to that phrase. Sometimes it, it is hard to not feel defeated. Uh, what were you feeling when, when you posted that?

I think I was a little bit upset. Um, probably defeated honestly, because I, I felt like this. I'm sure there are a lot of people like me out there where, you know, you're applying to so many jobs and you're not hearing back that when you get that first interview with that company, no matter what company it is, you feel like, all right, this is my shot. I gotta get this. Um, and that's how I felt with this company. And I, like I said to you, I, I feel like the first interview didn't go. As well as I, not that it didn't go well, it just, I know what they were expecting and I didn't think that was me, so that it kind of stunk. But at the same time, like I knew how badly I wanted to change what I was doing or change my career path, that it was still driving me because, you know, I, I had talked to my family about it and they're like, well, even if you don't get it, you're not just gonna stop. And I was like, yeah, you're right. There's really no point in feeling defeated. 'cause I'm not gonna just stop. I, you know, you wanna keep going until you. Get that ultimate goal of getting a new job, and I think that's where the staying positive portion is, is really. Important.

I hope you learned a lot from Thomas's story about staying positive, sending cold messages, and having a portfolio. Those things are super important and he's living proof that it's still possible to pivot into a data job even in today's economy. By the way, if you want more stories like these and just solid data, career advice overall, consider joining. Free newsletter. I send out tips every Wednesday to 27,000 other data analysts just like you, and I think you might really enjoy it. So go to data career jumpstart.com/newsletter, or you can find the link in the description down below. Our next real story is Kadesha Bryant and Khas story starts with her working as a technician for the military, and right after that she had become a warehouse worker. But after some networking magic. She was actually able to land some pretty senior data jobs. So here's her strategy and exactly how you can implement it for yourself.

So in the Navy, I started off as a calibration technician, so very hands-on technical. Uh, then I moved up into production supervisor, and then right before or after I left in 2020, I went back into school. And I was expecting to walk into a hundred thousand dollars jobs, and that just did not happen. So I just went back into, I went back into school and started delivering pizzas for Domino's. I was doing that for about a few months, then started delivering packages for Amazon, and then did that for a few months and started working at The Warehouse. Yeah. The Amazon warehouse or just what? What type of warehouse? Oh, it was a alcohol distributor, so very heavy. Just imagine big wine cases, alcohol cases, so doing that for 10, 12 hours a day. That sounds exhausting. It was exhausting. I was in great shape. I appreciated that. But otherwise was terrible.

Yeah. Okay. Now walk us through that journey a little bit. How did you get from, you know, delivering pizza dominoes to landing a senior data engineering position?

Okay, so I first learned about the data engineering space. I would say maybe like Spring 21 when I was discussing it with a professor. 'cause I was like trying to figure out what are some good job opportunities for me. And she mentioned data analytics, so I researched it. Went on Google, I think my first month was trying to decipher the difference between a data scientist and data analyst. Then I settled on analyst, I self-study for summer of 21. Uh, pretty much sql, Tableau with some power BI created a decent portfolio. And then in the midst of while I was doing that, I was also working at the warehouse 10 to 12 hours a day. And the thing about that warehouse gig, it was like a bait and switch, and I eventually just quit. With no backup plan, and I started studying data for about six hours a day, six days a week. Just 'cause I loved it so much. It was just really cool to finally find something where I can learn and get better at something. On my own without having to like, you know, in school or pay tuition or things like that. So it was just a really cool field to get into and I knew internships were starting to, were gonna pop up late or early August. So I was preparing for that. I applied, I got my resume beefed up pretty much, and I got my first gig at Cox Communications. I did that and while doing that, also found DCJ and started doing a lot more upskilling in my free time and started doing a lot of networking also in 2022, so last year. And so during that time, you actually hit me up at some point and said if I saw some like job that Mark Freeman posted in the. DCJ Discord. And then you actually ended up getting both of us to talk. And basically I submitted my information and I applied to it. I got the job and I was able to start in, I'd say the fall of last year. And so while I was doing that, I was also networking like ridiculously the entire time. So I was having coffee chats at least twice a week, sometimes way more than that. I, my thing was I wanted to learn from people who were way more advanced than me. I wanna learn from people who were steps ahead than me and know exactly how they got there and what I need to do to get there. And so with that type of approach, I never really approached them with the idea of, I'm hoping to get a job from them, but you know, eventually they would think about me for, you know, roles or opportunities and. It was just insane to me. So it was really like crazy networking. Crazy upskilling. Sometime last year someone posted about something about Booz Allen and my veterans data science group and veterans data science and machine learning work group, and I applied for it and I got the gig. So I was it. It's crazy like my past two jobs. It spurned out of a discord, burned out a discourse, burned out of networking. It's insane. So that's how I got this job. So that's like a kind of a, in a nutshell how I got here.

I love it. Thank you. Thank you for that summary. That was really great. There's a lot of stuff that I want, I wanna dive a little bit deeper into, and I'm gonna start, sometimes I build up when I do these podcasts, like we build up to kind of the advice at the end. But I kind of wanna reverse that with you. So you did two coffee chats a week. Tell us like, do you think that was worth it? Oh, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely worth it.

Honestly, I think a lot of people, like they'll focus on, you know, followers or things like that when posting on LinkedIn. But no, it's like the, it's the networking or the folks that you're talking to behind the scenes. That's really where your real network is built. So it was exhausting at times. There were times where I kind of overbook myself, but. I've advanced way faster and much more quicker than had I just tried to be to myself and not network 'em.

Yeah, I think network is really key. I mean, that's one of the things I really believe in. And one of the things why I think Data Career Jumpstart is a little bit different, you know, and the SPN method skills portfolio network, you have to have all three because the networking is what ends up landing you both your jobs kind of at the end of the day, right? And it's like you can spend all this time applying to jobs. You could spend. This time filling out all these applications, perfecting your resume, all that stuff. But if you don't have that, that could lead you nowhere. But a lot of the times, the network is actually what leads you to the promised land. At the end of the day, I'm reading a message. I sent you on March 29th, 2022, with I guess your kind of former boss, and I basically introduced you to Mark because you were doing awesome things for me and you're doing awesome things for your fellow students in my program and my community. And so I introduced you to Mark, and then you ended up landing that job at Humu. And anyways, it's just crazy to me like. You. You could have had the world's best resume, but if you weren't networking, people don't really know or don't really care. Right. Yeah, it's a good point. 'cause even if you have the network, you have to have some substance behind it because especially with that job opening, that was my friend Mark. Right? And I wanna have a good relationship with Mark. I don't want him, I don't wanna waste his time. I don't wanna send him someone that's gonna be causing trouble or just be a waste of an interview. Right. So you're definitely right that like. I had a bunch of people in my program and, and you were the person I chose for that one. 'cause I was like, I trust Kadesha is ready for this. I think she would do a good job. I think she'd, she'd make me look good. She'd make the program look good. So you're definitely right. It's about networking and you have to have substance behind it as well. Now going back to the coffee chats, one thing that I think a lot of my students inside of the Data Analytics Accelerator program. Are nervous about is, it kind of seems like coffee chats can sometimes be one sided, like you're just asking them to help you. So can you tell us a little bit about your mindset that you went into these coffee chats and like what type of like thing, like how would you even ask to do a coffee chat?

Yeah, that's a good one. So one thing that I've learned is that people are more than willing to help you. But you do have to present it in a good way. So I would try to find some sort of like common ground that you have between that person. So like for example, when I was at Cox Communications, it was, I would first reach out to people at the company and say, Hey, I work here and I'd like to speak to you. You know, a general thing like that. If I would also go to like my alma mater, so folks that went to Kennesaw State, I can. You know, you can, uh, filter it down and find people who work, maybe like a data scientist or things like that and say, Hey, I went to your alma mater, or I went to Kennesaw State just like you. I'd like to talk to you. This is a field that I'm trying to get into. Try to find those common grounds. And you realize people do wanna help you, but if you approach it in a sort of way that. You're not really interested in that person. You're just interested in them trying to get to a job. I feel like it's not gonna work, but if you come across in a way where you're really interested in who they are, what they did to get to where they're at, and try to find a common ground between that person, you're gonna get a lot of yeses, in my opinion. It's hard. It's hard for people to not say, to say no to that.

Yeah. I feel like most of the time the answer's yes. Or an ignore or like a, just like a no reply. So really that's all you have to lose is you, if you ask for a coffee chat, you're either gonna get a yes or you're gonna get an ignore. And the ignores don't really matter. And the yes. Can be, you know, almost life changing at the end of the day. And I think you're right that people are more willing to help than you think, especially if you have that, no, if you went to the same school. If you are from the same hometown, there's, I don't know, like our tribal instincts kick back in and we're like, yes, this person belongs to the same group that I belong to. I want to help them the most. I can es, especially if you put it in a way that it's like you're not even asking for anything. You just wanna hang out. But then what happens is, like you said earlier, you're on their mind. When a job opening pops up, oh my gosh. I talked to Kadeisha a couple weeks ago. She'd be a great candidate, uh, for this role. And you really, the name of the game of that is just being top of mind for when opportunities pop up. Oh yeah, I remember this person. They'd be a good fit.

Absolutely. And I don't think people really think about it that way or if they're scared about networking, but honestly that's way better than trying to. Apply to 5,500 plus job applications because the thing is you wanna put the ownership in your court, you wanna put the power in your court, and if you just rely on, you know, applying to random jobs or just LinkedIn or Indeed or whatever job platform site, honestly, like the odds are not really in your favor. You know the power is not on your side and you're really leaving your success up to just complete chance. So why not put the ball into your court and put the power on your side and actually just really get over your anxieties and meet people. It's really not that bad, honestly.

And I'm an introvert, so yeah,

e,

exactly. It's almost easier than applying for all those jobs in the black hole. There you have it, folks. Coffee chats, joining groups, sending messages. Hopefully you can see once again, the important of networking in khas own data story. And not to sound like a broken record here, but I try to include networking tips in my newsletter every single week. So once again, make sure you're subscribed. The next story we have is Rachel. And Rachel was working the dreaded night shift. She was not really loving having to work all night and sleep all day, and she was listening to this podcast, the Data Career Podcast, while she was working and just three months later, she was able to successfully pivot into data analytics and you will not believe where she was able to find her first day job. It's actually in a place you'd never guess. Let's take a listen. You listen to this podcast Data Crew podcast for a year, and then January 21st you join the Accelerator program. And then on April 25th, I think just 95 days later, you have an offer for a business intelligence analyst role at Optum Healthcare that is not the night shift and is fully remote. So let's, let's go through that journey. In those 95 days, what was, what was the biggest difference for you? Like what, what changes did you make in your life in those 95 days?

Well, even like leading up to that, in the year where I listened to your podcast, I had a lot of free time. I knew I wanted to go back to school something data. We used Power Bi Anheuser for reports, showing some data every on a day-to-day basis. So I kind of looked for a podcast I could listen to at night, and I found yours not even knowing that you ran a bootcamp. So in January I actually ran off Marathon. I on the same weekend decided to sign up for your bootcamp. I think it was a very big momentum step for me. I was just ready to get out of where I was, and I actually had the opportunity to change from night shift to afternoon shift for a quarter. So I had about three and a half months, which I dedicated my spare time to working throughout the bootcamp, applying to jobs, and I think just knowing I had that almost like extra sleep, gave me the power to work through the bootcamp and really gave me the motivation to get a

new job. Um, and you are able to land this job at Optum Healthcare as a business intelligence analyst. Um, first off, do you have any business experience?

I mean, I worked at a restaurant when I was in college selling pizza. That's probably about as much as I have for customer experience, um, business background. So, no, not

really. So well that's impressive that you're able to land this job. Did they like your biology background at Optum or were they kinda like, ah, we don't really care?

I think it was more so like other experience I experiences I had that tied into my biology background. I, at one point I wanted to be a nurse, so I had some like care aide job experience. I worked in some different labs. I even worked in a research department of a. Rehabilitation hospital. So I had some data experience with that as well as like working in that type of patient population. So they liked that part as well as the more like QA and technical skills that I learned at Anheuser.

I just think that's really important to highlight that even though you maybe didn't have business experience and you know, maybe you had a biology background. Your, your quality assurance analyst role. You know, you had some exposure to bi, you had some exposure to KPIs and, and metrics stuff mm-hmm. And stuff like that. But with your background, even with the bootcamp, you were applying for jobs and you were kind of struggling to, to land interviews at first because you couldn't quite figure out the whole a TS, right? Like it was, it was tricky.

Right. So when I first started like uploading my resumes to the a TS softwares, I had pretty good scores. And then when I started nitpicking my resume. My scores actually went down, which I thought was shocking, you know, using keywords. Some of them didn't even pick up on the words. So that was kind of, you know, difficult experience and I think that's where I really dug deep into the SPN method that you talked so highly about the networking part, because that's when I started reaching out to other people I knew in, you know, insurance companies or other healthcare positions. And if they knew anyone. That had openings that they thought I would be, you know, an asset to the

team. That's so cool. And I think it's so. It seems so simple. Like I talk about the SPN method all, all the time, uh, right, that you need more than just skills on the day. Job skills are a part of it, but it's just a third. You need the portfolio and then you need the network. And it's so easy to be like, yeah, I agree with that. I wanna follow that. But very few people ever actually get very far on the p and even fewer get anywhere on, on the end. And so the, let's talk about the end just a little bit here. So you're like, crap, I can't get past these ATSs. I'm never gonna end a daily job unless I can figure out how to get my foot in the door. And the easiest way to get my foot in the door is if I know someone, if I the end part of the SPN method. And so where did you start looking? Just like friends and and family. Were you like going through your phone, where you're going through LinkedIn or Facebook or something?

I actually did take a step outta my comfort zone, like he pushed us to do, I, you know, looked in. I'm in Florida in the Jacksonville area. So I was looking in this area just randomly cold messaging people that were in data roles, asking them how they got there. Oh, do you have any like, you know, advice for someone like me that wants to break into this field that might not have the exact background but has the skills and is working towards the skills? And I actually ended up, a friend from my last job had a friend who worked for United Healthcare and. Just to break it down. United Healthcare and them are kind of like sisters. They're together in the United Health Group. So he would, he let me know if there was anything I saw job wise to let him know and he would recommend me.

Okay. So you basically messaged a friend and you're like, Hey, do you know of any opportunities? How did you know this friend? Was this just like someone from like high school or

something? Actually, a friend I go to church with, one of her friends works at United Healthcare, so he kind of. Gave me the opportunity if I had, if I saw any jobs that I liked to let him know and he could recommend me or let me know a little more about that

position. That's so cool because actually the way I, I landed my first day job was also through a friend at church. So if you're, if you're trying to lend a date, a job, I guess you guys just gotta get to church. 'cause that's, that's where all the data jobs are. So you, you reach out to this friend, you're like, hey. Just keep an eye open for me. And how long did it take for, for them to send something back?

Well, I had seen a job that looked interesting. It was kind of had a vague description, so I sent it along his way and just let him know I was interested in it. And I applied and he actually had emailed the manager directly and I got a call back from the recruiter maybe two days later saying that, you know, they kind of got a raving review about me. They'd like to. Setting up an interview. It was kind of just a brief phone screen at first, but I guess she liked what I had to say and it progressed from there. I

wanna just pause because you basically went from, you're getting like. Like Fs on the a TS tracker, it

was, no, I'm not even kidding. It really must be a, a church thing.

You're getting FS and then all of a sudden you're talking to a recruiter. You got, you got a direct line to this hiring manager right away. And I think that just really goes to show how valuable the, the end was. Because if, if you didn't do that, if you didn't reach out to this person and from church. You know, you who knows if you'd have a job right now in the data world. Right? Right. You might still be working the night shift, but it's all because that end, I was it nerve wracking like sending that first message to that friend and being like, Hey, can you help me out here?

It was, 'cause I knew he had like a pretty high up role I, but I didn't wanna like, seem like I was using our connection kind of per personal gain. But I've realized like since kind of stepping out of. Comfortability that people really wanna promote you and really wanna help you when you're driven. So that's what I've seen gaining this connection. Now we have one-on-one meetings. He let me know if there's anyone I ever want to talk to, just to network with. Like he'd set that up. So if anything, it was a great choice on my end to kind of like put the ball in his court and send it down, down court to other people.

I love that to send it. I freaking think that's the way to say it right there is because like it is super nerve wracking to send these types of messages, but as long as you're, like you said, like you're ambitious and you're, you're a good person and you're not. Just trying to use them like you actually value their friendship and you're just like, Hey friend, can you help me? I mean, think about it. If, if you, if your friend came to you and said, Hey, can you help me? And you actually could help them. You'd want to help them, right? So I think we get in our head and be like, wow, no one wants to help us. But it's like if someone came to us and we have the opportunity to. We, we definitely would. And if we don't, we just say, you know what, sorry, I can't help. And for, for us or whoever's asking, they're in the same boat that they were earlier. So really there's not much of a, of a lose. It's, it's a low risk, high reward situation. So I'm proud of you for, thank you for taking the initiative and doing it because there's a lot of people who don't because they're, they have fear and you, you pushed it past the fear. I wanna talk about when you did talk to that recruiter, what, what did the recruiter. Say, what were they like interested in you for? Like what? What was that conversation like?

I will say like, she asked me specific questions and I had mentioned I was in this bootcamp and she was really intrigued by that. I don't know if it an up and coming conversation in a lot of these type of recruitment calls, but she wanted me to go into more detail and I was able to provide these projects. At this point, I don't think that I'd gotten to the NBA Tableau project, but I did the education project at this point. So I got to talk on that a lot, and she was from Massachusetts, so it kind of like made a further connection for her. So she got to see the project. And originally in my resume, she didn't know that my projects were hyperlinked, so she was able to go back to the manager and the director and let them know they could actually see my work, not just read the little

description about the project. So that's super cool. I think that that one, you had the projects. And, and that two, they didn't realize it at first, and then they're like, Hey, do you have any experience with Tableau? And you're like, yeah, just click that, that title right there, and then boom, your, your beautiful dashboard pops up. And I didn't know that the recruiter from Massachusetts and that particular project that you did was on Massachusetts data, but like the fact that like this recruiter could go through and be like, oh, look at this county. Like I totally understand the data of this county versus that county and, and kind of enjoy and have those aha moments. I think that's really what the portfolio is all about. So you kind of nailed that. Being able to, to show them, Hey, look, I, you know, I have a biology degree I've kind of worked in, in the medical field and now I'm kind of working as quality assurance. I might not have the ideal data background, but look, here's some, some evidence that I can actually do what your job description says I can. That must have been kind of a fun feeling to watch them look at your portfolio in real time.

It was. 'cause like I know throughout the bootcamp I was like. Like we said, a marathon note, it was a straight sprint. Like I wanted to learn as much as I could to build that portfolio to show it off to my network. So it was really rewarding.

Worth it in the end. Okay. Let's talk about the interview. So recruiter interview was was the first phone call, is that right? Yes. And then what happened from there?

And then she set up an interview with the director of the BI team and then the manager of the BI team.

And how did those interviews go?

That one was great. The first interview was great. She said at the beginning like, this is just a conversation. Don't be nervous. And that's all it felt. I didn't have any nerves. Usually I'm like kicking, playing with my seat under the table, kind of like moving in my chair. But I didn't have any nerves at all. It felt so easy. And I could talk on the projects we did. I could talk on Tableau, I could talk on some of the, you know. Metrics and KPIs I learned while I was at, in my role at Anheuser and using Power bi. So they didn't get stuck on the fact that I didn't have data analyst experience. They were more intrigued by how passionate I was to learn more and grow in a role. So I think that's what

made me stick out to them. I really like that because in a lot of interview situations it can feel like, oh wow, you haven't done any data analyst work in the past, huh? Okay. But if you give them like so much stuff where you're like, I'm super excited about this. I paid my own money and on my own time I'm learning to do this. Here's, you know, seven of my projects on different themes. Go look at it. I think you're giving them so much stuff that they could think about and talk about and relate to. It kind of makes the interview process a lot easier for them and you in, in that way. So I'm glad. I'm glad it went well. So that was, that was like the first, the first interview, right? What about the final interview? Did that go well?

So the final interview was about two weeks later and it was everyone on the team, so I believe six, five or six people, and I was straight nerves. I was so nervous that whole time. I was like, I wonder if they can see me fidgeting. It was that bad and I felt like I answered a few questions really well, but then it was like I got caught on some word and I just down downward spiral in my head the whole rest of the interview. But I remember like a few questions that were just like probably to calm me down and kind of like joking with them and I think that might've, you know, sparked some connection. But they had mentioned that I was like one of the first people in the second round, so not to be like afraid if I don't hear back for a while.

And so that was two weeks after the initial interview, is that right? Right.

It might've been a little longer. So I left that interview thinking I did terrible. But even, even they reassured me a few things, like, oh, none of them ever knew Tableau before they started in this role. So I felt like, okay, I kind of have a leg up. When they said like, don't be afraid, it might take a while. I was like, okay, I need to start looking. 'cause I did terrible. But two days later, waking up at five 30, you know, night shift, waking up. I was actually going to a concert that night, so I was gonna go into work after going to a concert and I had an email saying the interview wanted to schedule a final offer call. Which was just crazy 'cause I thought I bombed that.

That's a good feeling to have. So that was right before the, the concert.

Mm-hmm. And I called outta work that night.

That is, that is awesome. Okay. And then you scheduled the, the final offer. Um, wow. Before we get into kind of, first off, congratulations. That's amazing. And hopefully everyone listening's clapping for you right now and jumping out of their, their chairs because that's amazing. Those, those are my two tangents. Back to your offer letter. So you're excited you get the offer letter. Are you, who are you calling? Who are you telling first? My fiance,

my parents, one of my close friends at work. That's awesome. And then I reached out to you when I needed some, some advice for negotiation

and that my friends, is the power of networking and I guess the power of going to church. I challenge each of you guys to get out today and to start networking. I promise it will change your life. I also challenge you to hit the subscribe button and then watch this video next to get even more help on your data.