3 Skills To Land A Job In Analytics That Are Not Coding Related

Hello, I am Amanda Fetch and currently based in NYC. I have a little over 20 years of experience working within the areas of Analytics, Data Science, Machine Learning, and AI in the biotech, retail, and entertainment industries. I am starting my PhD in Technology combination MS in Research Methods program in the Fall of 2022. I currently serve on a cyber security advisory board for an executive education certificate program at Ithaca College. I am in the process of working on a course as a Subject Matter Expert in the areas of Big Data and AI through Emeritus and Bocconi School of Management in Milan. I hope that you enjoy my content.?

3 Skills To Land A Job In Analytics That Are Not Coding Related

As someone who has become a professional interviewer as a side gig through the number of interviews I have been on, and upon completing had many offers within the Analytics space, there are a few skills in the Analytics world that are giving individuals, myself included, a leg up. Yes, the ability to code and the ability to pull reports faster than the speed of light are all great skills to possess, however there are also skills today that will set you apart from others in this techie, coder dominated world. Some of us would rather code all day and hide away in our cubicles albeit virtual. I know this because that is me, I am that coder. However, after finally realizing I needed a way to differentiate myself in technical interviews of what seemed that everyone seemed to have a leg up on me by having that one system, language, or Python package under their belt that I just didn’t learn yet, I figured out there are non-coding skills that I can showcase. Once I got into the habit of dropping those skills continuously, I started getting call backs for up to final rounds and then, job offers! ?Three skills that have helped me land roles in this space, that do not typically roll off the tongue in a typical technical interview are spelled out below for your use to land that next role and stand out from the crowd during an Analytics interview.

And here they are!?

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1. ??The ability to tell a story. No, I’m not talking about the ability you had in college to explain to your professor why the dog eating your homework is true and not the fact that you had too much fun dancing the night away last night, so you just didn’t get to it. I’m talking about the ability to take a report or a piece of data and instead of reading the figures off the page, or drafting an email chock full of statistics, you can pull out that piece of information that doesn’t stand out to the human eye and roll with it. Telling a compelling story that the decision maker can use to make recommendations to their organization or even better yet, act on those findings immediately. ?The ability to pull out that insight that is a game changer for an organization is a skill that has become not necessarily been lost on AI yet in our world of continuous automation. Being curious helps here as well. Being curious will push you to dig a little deeper into that report for that juicy finding.?

2. The love of puzzles and numbers. Having a passion to solve challenges and complex programs is what the interviewer is hearing here, and their ears will perk up. This will set you apart in the fact that someone coming into the Analytics world who has a love outside of coding and tech is a game changer. Some of us are OK with becoming a robot coding behind their desk, cranking out work of which it has become a science, and never deviate from the norm. This is safe, this is our coding, quiet comfort zone. This is also a way for many of us to never move up in an organization or never get a call back. Saying to the interviewer that you thrive being comfortable sitting in your cube all day was OK before automation took over our world. Today we can be replaced by an automated process. ?Others thrive in environments where they get bored easily and every day, they prefer a brand-new challenge. If you truly love puzzles, numbers, challenges, and that complex problem an organization could be trying to solve, you just may be the one to solve it for that organization. Remember that AI has not taken over the world yet, and we still need humans, to think, breathe, and solve puzzles and problems, even if your next challenge happens to be using machine learning to replace you in that hidden cube in the corner of the office.

3.??????Being a lifelong learner. In the world of Analytics, coding languages, packages, and best practices are constantly evolving and changing. ?That new technology to solve the issue of Send Time Optimization, although Salesforce may be onto something, may just not be developed and launched yet. ?The ability to constantly learn, and the love of education; constantly being up on the latest in tech and the Analytics is a skill that is absolutely vital. This by the way, is also the way to land that Analytics role even if you only have 99 of the 100 systems that was listed in the job description. ?I personally have landed roles not for the skill set I had surrounding BI systems that were already in play, but rather my ability to learn on the fly and sharing examples of how I had done so in the past. An affinity for systems is crucial in this world. Mentioning this in your interview will set you apart.

Conclusion

As you can see, in today’s evolving world of Analytics and Data Science the ability to code is crucial, however there is much more to this world than meets the eye. Mention these skills in your next interview and land that offer!?