Today, I’m sharing 3 ways that your online data analytics portfolio is the ultimate cheat code for career changers.
Most beginner data analysts don’t feel “ready” to start interviewing for jobs. But imagine having your best work online 24 hours a day 7 days a week for recruiters and hiring managers to see. It’s a game-changer.
It’s a question I get from career changers starting with data analytics all the time.
Unfortunately, most folks just don’t put the time into their portfolio.
Your online data analytics portfolio is the ultimate interview cheat code.
Here’s what most career-changers do:
- Cram for data interviews
- Hope they know enough to get the job
- Watch a million tutorials with nothing to show for it
- Create a basic resume that doesn’t show their best work
- Take precious time during the interview to prove their worth
Fortunately, you can skip all of the stress by creating an online portfolio that checks off everything you need for the data analytics interview process.
Way 1: The Interview Readiness Checklist
Your data analytics portfolio sends a signal:
- You know how to work with data
- You can work through data problems
- You can uncover insights and deliver results
This is why having your online data analytics portfolio is so important. It puts all that information up front and into the hands of the interviewer, rather than cramming it into a 30-minute interview.
Check off your list before your data analytics interview:
Everything on the right-hand side of that checklist can be included in your online data analytics portfolio. Once you have it created, it’s online 24/7 and ready for employers and recruiters to review. Better yet, you’ll have physical proof that you know how to solve problems with data.
Your online data analytics portfolio takes all of the guesswork out of what you actually need to get hired.
Way 2: Avoid Tutorial Hell
Your ultimate goal during the job-hunting phase of your career is to get hired as fast as possible.
You want to spend as little time in “learning mode” and as much time in “doing mode” (and “getting paid mode”) as possible. But it’s tough figuring out when you’ve learned enough. Without knowing, it’s easy to get stuck on a giant hamster wheel of death. Welcome to tutorial hell.
You can bypass tutorial hell altogether by starting with the end in mind.
Your end goal is to create 3-5 data analytics projects completed and published to your online data analytics portfolio. You don’t need to complete endless tutorials and case studies and challenges. Just focus on finishing your portfolio.
The exact steps you need to stay out of tutorial hell:
- Find 1 portfolio-ready dataset
- Explore the data set in Tableau
- Start asking questions the data might be able to answer
- Create a portfolio-worthy project
- Add it to your portfolio
- Create the write-up
By following these steps, you’ll have a very focused portfolio that sends the right signal. Recruiters and employers will see that you have a specific set of skills to help solve their problems.
Way 3: Become Known For A Specific Skill
The world of data analytics is huge. No one person knows everything. And no employer expects you to have everything mastered either.
Your best bet is to specialize in one particular skill or industry in data analytics.
The reason for this is that most companies within an industry have similar problems. So, if you get really good at skills while you’re working in one company, you can move to another company within the same industry.
It doesn’t matter what industry you pick. Just pick one that suits your interest if you are just getting started.
Some skills are required no matter what industry you work in:
- Tech skills: SQL, Tableau, Excel, or Python
- Soft skills: critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration
Data analytics is a huge field, and every industry has a need for data analytics.
- Sales
- Finance
- Marketing
- Operations
- Human Resources
You get the picture. Every industry has a need for data analytics. You can stand out from the crowd by creating industry-specific portfolio projects that get attention.
Personally, I love working in sales and marketing, specifically eCommerce. I’ve also worked in the healthcare, retail, finance, and home improvement industries. But I’m known for sales and marketing data analytics.
For example, here’s a list of sales and marketing data sets that would work well in a portfolio
That’s it!
Creating your data analytics portfolio is a HUGE milestone in your data journey.
It’s the cheat code that will unlock massive benefits in the job-hunting phase of your career:
- Be prepared for interviews
- Avoid tutorial hell
- Become known for a specific skill
See you again next week!
Whenever you’re ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:
- How To Create An Awesome Online Data Analytics Portfolio
- Need specific advice? Book a 1:1 session with me.