MY EXPERIENCE LANDING INTERNSHIPS AND JOBS AS A DATA ANALYST

In today’s blog, you will be reading about my personal experience in the data analytics journey so far. The aim of this blog is to inspire aspiring data analysts in putting the effort to see the result. Kindly read to the end.

I started out my data analysis journey in August 2021 by taking a Python course named “100 Days of Code’” on Udemy. This course shaped me as I saw the many prospects that the Python programming language can be used for. This led me to specialize in Data Analysis because of my Engineering background and my love for arithmetic and numbers.

I later took a data analysis course on Udemy named “Data Analysis Masterclass” in December 2021. After finishing the course, I had a bit of confidence in myself and then decided to take the popular Google Data Analytics course on Coursera which I got through financial aid. Meanwhile, in the first month of 2022, I got introduced to Upwork by a friend and I decided to give it a try. Note that at this point, I had little or no experience at all but I refused to be defeated by imposter syndrome. So, I started writing proposals upon proposals but all to no avail. I almost gave up after a month which was already February 2022. A day in February 2022, I decided to write a proposal for a job on Upwork and fortunately, I was scheduled for an interview by the client and eventually got the job. This was how I had my first real-life experience handling datasets and generating insights. This pushed me to want to know more.

After I completed the Google Data Analytics course, I started to search for internships. Now, in searching for these internships, I didn’t apply to organizations officially. I did my search by going online to list various organizations that I know will have data analysts or require a data analyst intern. I wrote down over 50 organizations as at the time and started calling the numbers I found on their websites one after the other. I got a lot of “No, we don’t need a data analyst or intern” but I kept on pushing. Note that for each of these organizations, I always mentioned that I don’t mind doing a pro-bono job (without pay) when I called the organizations. Fortunately for me, I got an internship offer while doing this. My offer letter was drafted for a six-month internship contract with no pay but it was fully remote. Eventually, I was added to the organization’s pay roll when my impact was noticed.

I started the internship and I gained a lot of experience both industry and self-taught experience. Before all these, I started my building my LinkedIn profile almost immediately after I took my first course. My LinkedIn was a very important tool in landing subsequent jobs and is still helping me presently.

After completing the first internship, I used LinkedIn to write to organizations to search for another internship. I got another internship through this which I did for 2 months.

Now, it was time to search for an entry-role and I started applying to various organizations even before I finished my internships but I was getting a lot of rejection mails. I remembered doing an interview, getting the job and turning down the offer because of the compensation. I checked the total rejections I have gotten so far by using the keyword “Unfortunately” in my Gmail and I have a total of 114 rejection mails so far.

LinkedIn got me my first job because as at the time, I already had this blog where I share my experience solving data related problems. On this faithful day, the outgoing data analyst for that organization posted the job on LinkedIn. I applied for the job and reached out to the job poster who happened to have been inspired by my write-ups and hence, recommended me to the organization. I did the various interviews and was offered the role. This role without doubt was key to developing my skills, knowledge and my career as a whole.

Check out my LinkedIn profile

Ever since then, LinkedIn has gotten me other jobs that I didn’t apply for through InMail by recruiters.

Ten Key things to note from my experience that might help you:

1. Put in the work now: Take those courses, attend those seminars or conferences and have confidence in yourself. Do not be a victim of imposter syndrome.
2. Learn how to apply for jobs on freelancing websites: Pending the time you get a full time job, freelancing is a good platform to gain real-life experience and sharpen your skills. Upwork is a good example.
3. Do not look for money: As a beginner who is just starting out, let gaining experience be your priority and not money. Money will come when you have the experience. If you see an opportunity to gain experience without being paid, take it.
4. Build a LinkedIn presence: LinkedIn is one of the best or if not the best social app for networking and getting job opportunities. Build a reputable profile that is catchy to recruiters and even the data analysis community as a whole.
5. Have mentors: A mentor doesn’t have to be physical. You can find people to emulate professionally on LinkedIn. This will spur you to want to do more to achieve greater results. I have profiles I looked up to and profiles I still look up to which has helped and is still helping me.
6. Have a CV and portfolio website: Design a website to host the projects you have done, show your skills and expertise. This is very handy when applying for jobs. Also, have a concise CV that captures your skills and knowledge as a Data Analyst.
7. Reach out to recruiters: When applying for jobs, you can reach out to recruiters on LinkedIn using the search word “Data Analyst recruiter”. Pitch yourself to them and explain how valuable you will be to the organization. If they have an open role, they might let you know what to do to apply and you might just get the job if you pass the interviews.
8. Know your worth: There are some things that shouldn’t be thrown at you because you are a beginner. If you have reached the level of getting a job with your skills and expertise, make sure you negotiate your compensation based on the current market value for the role.
9. Don’t see yourself as a failure: Note that you will get a lot of rejections but it doesn’t mean you are a failure. Everyone’s ladder to success is different, which is the reason you should not judge yourself by the standard of others. You are your own standard.
10. Do not relent: The truth is that, you will never get to a stage where you can confidently say that you have reached there. It doesn’t exist because as we learn everyday, technology is also evolving daily and you need to continue learning to stay abreast of emerging trends.

Thank you for taking your time to read through. I hope you get that internship or job offer.

P.S: If you are interested in starting out your career as a data analyst, kindly register for our data analyst course at Bajismalytics . We are on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. You sure won’t regret it.