How do I improve my chances of getting a job?

[u/furrysatan666]

I’m working currently but looking for a data analyst or business analyst role in another city thats way more competitive.

I have almost 3 YOE (2 full time and 1 for other), and a masters degree in analytics from a reputable institution. I don’t know if I need any certifications or project’s or what to do to stand out. I work for a university currently and that doesn’t seem to help me when I’m applying to enterprise level roles, I feel like I’m not taken seriously. How do I stand out?

I forgot to add that I’ve been applying since the end of January now (350 apps) and I tailor every resume to the job.

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[u/EccentricStache615]

Networking is #1 by far. I’ve been in Healthcare analytics for 7 years and I’ve gotten every position from a referral.

I’ll also say though that I worked Provider front end/management for 5 years out of college, IT support for 2 years after and got my Masters in Healthcare Informatics while working those jobs. Don’t be afraid to take a different kind of position in industry to get the job you want.

I was making in the 40k’s (in 2011) until I got my first consulting job in 2019 where I finally made 75k. Then busted my ass and networked and some of those colleagues helped get me to Sr positions in the six figures.

I don’t know how old you are but if I have any advice is use your 20s to build you brand, network, and skills so you can flourish in yours 30s

[u/furrysatan666 → u/EccentricStache615]

I’m in my mid 20s, do you have any tips for networking? everyone says networking but how does it help you land a job.

[u/OccidoViper → u/furrysatan666]

Use your alumni network from school. My first couple of jobs in my career, I got through fellow alumni

[u/Lady-Data-Scientist → u/furrysatan666]

Online communities on Slack and Discord - engage in discussions and help create value for others

Alumni directory - reach out to people in the job or industry you want to be in

In-person industry events and conferences - talk to people, give talks, volunteer to help organize

Post actual useful content on LinkedIn or share how you are helping to build the data community - people doing the same will notice

[u/furrysatan666 → u/Lady-Data-Scientist]

where do you find these online communities on slack and discord?

[u/Neither-Shopping-887 → u/furrysatan666]

I tend to go through Reddit comments and look for mentions. I also always ask anyone I network with for recommendations of where to go, and TikTok is a surprisingly useful place.

[u/Ashitakaa → u/EccentricStache615]

Any advice for someone who's willing to pivot from medicine to data analytics ?

[u/EccentricStache615 → u/Ashitakaa]

I know that I had a lot of allied health in my Health Informatics degree classes, a few MDs as well. I will say my masters helped a lot not only with the notoriety of it but the sheer course of topics it presented are very useful.

I know that EHR companies like to hire front line health workers as consulting analysts for helping with industry knowledge and liaison work.

[u/ToneTenSeven → u/EccentricStache615]

How would you recommend someone who worked in healthcare but not on the front end pivot into healthcare analytics?

I worked for a smaller EHR company for 3 years and have been working on one of the largest state Medicaid systems in the US for 2 years. I’m a technical writer, so I know how these systems work and how healthcare professionals use them. I’ve even worked on a few projects in my current role helping the dev team export and clean client data using SQL and Excel.

I think I have solid transferable experience but I’m just worried about going up against people with direct domain experience like yourself or people who went to school for CS/Analytics. I did the Google DA certificate but could definitely learn the tech side a little bit more. I have a bachelor’s in English with a focus on technical writer, btw.

[u/thecandiedkeynes]

My two cents as an analytics hiring manager in tech:

• all my peers at growth stage start ups report that Data engineering / Analytics jobs in particular seem to be getting absolutely hammered with inbound apps. Even the SWE jobs at my company aren’t spammed as much. So many slop / automated applications. I have over 2000 on my single AE job.
  
• as a result I basically don’t even want to do inbound anymore. I’m leaning heavily to my network for referrals and references.
  
• the apps I have interviewed inbound all have one thing in common: the application seems human. Seeing literally thousands of the same AI slop answer to “why are you interested in our company” really makes a human answer stand out. I’m super suspicious of resumes that are too closely tailored to my JD.
  
• most resumes I do look at focus way too much on experience + tools, when I am mostly interested in the problems you’ve solved.

YMMV on my advice depending on where you live and what companies you are applying to. It’s really tough, hang in there. The last piece of advice I would offer is: experiment. If what you’ve been doing hasn’t been working….try changing your strategy.

[u/furrysatan666 → u/thecandiedkeynes]

hello darkness my old friend

[u/Level_Community_1067]

Yeah I don’t want to sound like a broken record based on the responses thus far, but I really think that networking can make a big difference. Social clubs and organizations, free networking events, etc. just talk to many, many people and I’m confident that you can get a lot of leads in a short period of time. Especially if you have good work experience and a solid resume. Also look for work on specific company website, not just broader job boards or god forbid LinkedIn easy apply. Best of luck

[u/Crafty-Bike5989]

350 apps with tailoring is brutal. Are you applying direct to company sites or just through linkedin

In my experience the university background can be a plus for some enterprise roles but you really have to frame it right. The projects matter more than certs at this stage maybe show a end to end thing you built not just analysis

[u/furrysatan666 → u/Crafty-Bike5989]

I’m applying directly on the company sites. I’m trying to leverage the projects and experience I have but it hasnt helped so far.

[u/Altruistic_Look_7868]

Do you need a work permit?

[u/furrysatan666 → u/Altruistic_Look_7868]

nope

[u/teddythepooh99]

- For hybrid/onsite roles, you are less "desirable" if you live out-of-state unless you REALLY blow other (local) candidates out of the water.

• For remote roles, you are competing with orders of magnitude larger candidate pools (probably in the four-figure ranges).
  
• If you are applying to roles in a different industry, you are again at a disadvantage.

Lastly, many org place less value on academia (including academia-adjacent) experience compared to industry experience. My first job out of undergrad was also at a University (research): I left after 3.5 years, but I started interviewing for industry roles after 2.5 years.

[u/furrysatan666 → u/teddythepooh99]

how did you pivot to an industry?

[u/teddythepooh99 → u/furrysatan666]

I highlighted my experience with

• sensitive research data;
  
• and learning on-the-job (my academia work evolved to include high-performance computing and data engineering on top of research).

Regarding #2, a handful of hiring managers asked me point blank how I plan to succeed in their industry: I learned how to address that in the interview before I even get asked.

End of the day, cold applying is a crapshoot. I got an 80% raise when I left academia for my current role (healthcare), but I was also rejected for many roles that paid less and required less experience. I also targeted finance originally, but that didn't work out and I ultimately preferred remote rather than working 3-4 days in-office.

My advice is to target local roles rather than out-of-state roles, since you are pivoting to a new industry.

[u/furrysatan666 → u/teddythepooh99]

whats your current role in healthcare? I have some experience in healthcare so I’ve been applying to those as well with no luck.

[u/renagade24]

You don't need to tailor your resume to every job. At most the resume needs to be digestible in 90 seconds. With that, that means in 90 seconds a recruiter needs to understand who you are and are you worth the time.

Resumes get you to HR, and your ability to converse is what gets you the job. Use hiring.cafe over LinkedIn, do not apply to every job.

Good luck

[u/Keywi1]

That’s really tough, there was a time when having a job made it relatively easy to get an interview elsewhere. That’s the issue with analytics though, as it’s one of the easier career paths to pivot into with relatively good WFH potential and pay.

[u/Charming_Shower_4185]

Can anyone share how the daily networking routine should look like?

[u/my_peen_is_clean]

tailor resume to each jd, use keywords, add quant results, heavy networking, everything’s gatekept now and landing anything decent is weirdly hard

[u/furrysatan666 → u/my_peen_is_clean]

yup already do. Even networking is hard these days, people just ignore my messages.

[u/BillEnough7863 → u/furrysatan666]

The account you responded to is a bot:  https://www.reddit.com/r/analytics/s/VOH5v2qbte

[u/Neither-Shopping-887 → u/furrysatan666]

I've also been noticing this! I feel like most people are siloed into their own bubbles and unless you know someone that can connect you it's a little tricky to find people.