How to Get Experience in Data Analytics
You know the adage — you need experience to get a job, but you need a job to get experience.
If you’re trying to break into data analytics, what are the alternatives to get experience if you can’t land a job?
I’ll dive into more below (with links!), but these are the general suggestions, listed from most to least impressive on a resume:
- Find ways to analyze data in your current job
- Seek out academic opportunities if you’re a student
- Look for opportunities to volunteer
- Join an organized project (solo or with a group)
- Participate in contests
- Do your own projects
Find ways to analyze data in your current job
If you’re currently employed, can you get your hands on data?
It doesn’t matter what your job title is, if you can analyze data in your current role, you are starting to build experience. There are lots of opportunities to make an impact with data even if your job title has nothing to do with “data” “analytics”, etc.
This is how I gained experience for years before moving into my first official analytics role. I was working in marketing, with that came access to web analytics and social media data. No one asked me to dig in, but I was curious, so I started to try to answer as many questions as I could from the data available. Doing so helped me to learn how to use Excel and create visuals. I shared my insights — and recommendations — with others on the marketing team.
I proved that I could not only use data to create business impact, but that I was curious, capable of teaching myself new skills, and willing to dive in without a lot of handholding when I identified a business opportunity.
Similarly, I was interviewing candidates for a data analytics internship a few years ago. One story that stood out to me was from a candidate who was working at a salon, in a receptionist/customer service kind of role. She observed that their process for scheduling appointments wasn’t efficient. So she pitched a new idea, implemented it, and as a result, the salon could see more clients in a day and make more money. Her title had nothing to do with data, and it wasn’t necessarily a straight data analytics problem, but she demonstrated that she could identify a problem, use information to solve it, and create real business impact.
So what kind of data or information can you get your hands on in your current role? And what problems does your business face?
Seek out academic opportunities if you’re a student
Getting an internship is the best option if you’re a student but unfortunately, even those can be competitive to get. There are other options for students, such as …
Does your department or university partner with local businesses or organizations on projects? This is a great way to get experience.
If not, do your professors or PhD candidates from your department need help with their research? That’s another great way to get experience.
Start asking your academic advisor or professors or department chair if they are aware of any opportunities.
Look for opportunities to volunteer
Are you personally involved with or support any local organizations? Do you have any friends or family members with a small business? See if they need help making sense of their data.
There are also organizations you can volunteer with for data projects, such as:
Join an organized project (solo or with a group)
Is there a hack night or other group in your city that uses municipal data? Something like ChiHackNight. People can form groups around a problem they want to solve and then use free public data to solve it.
I’ve also seen local meetup groups create their own project nights where attendees can work on their own projects (and ask for help if they get stuck or need feedback) or work in groups on projects.
Participate in contests and challenges
Check out Tableau Community Projects for over 20 different weekly or monthly challenges to clean, prepare, explore, and visualize data.
Check out the Women in Data Science’s annual datathon, the Data Connect Conference’s data visualization contest, and Driven Data for competitions, some of which have cash prizes.
Finally, Kaggle is a popular website for data competitions.
Do your own projects
Of course, you can always do your own projects. While this will have the most flexibility, unless you seek it out, you won’t have anyone else to collaborate with or anyone to validate how you did.
However, it’s still a valid way to develop your skills and create experience.
Not sure where to start? Check out my recommendations for how to approach projects as well as my tips for what makes a good data analytics project.
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