Hi everyone, happy Tuesday

DataAnalyst.com has now been live for just over 11 months, and we've brought over 1,550 hand curated data analyst jobs onto the site - all of them including a salary range.

There's now over 2,600 of you currently subscribed to the newsletter, and I can't thank you enough for your support and for joining us on the journey.

Now, there are 3 things I'd like to share with you today.

1. You can improve DataAnalyst.com in less than 30 seconds
2. All good things come in threes - Day in the Life of a Data Analyst with SJ, Ani and Muthalib
3. November 2023, Data Analyst job market summary

Hope you enjoy the read, and as always - please do share your ideas, thoughts and/or if you run across more bugs on the site.

Thank you,

Alex

P.S: I'm currently looking for data analysts open to share their career journey, so if you're up for an email based interview, please just hit reply, write couple of words about yourself and we'll organise something - would love to get you featured and share your experience with over 2,600 of our readers!

1.You can help improve DataAnalyst.com

With almost a year behind us, I'm running a short survey (will take you less than 30 seconds) hoping to understand how can I help improve the site, your experience, help you grow your career, and for those looking, land a new data analyst job.

I'd be extremely grateful if you could please spend 30 seconds answering a few questions👇

30 second survey

2. Day in a life of a Data Analyst with SJ, Ani and Muthalib

Hopefully end of year also means some quiet time for all of you.

To scratch your productive itch over this period, we brought you 3 interviews to read. All sharing extremely interesting journeys, with truly unique perspectives being offered in each case. I highly recommend reading all three interviews in full.

The real life evidence of achieving goals through determination, resilience and going one step further than most are willing to do.

Huge thank you to SJ, Ani and Muthalib for taking the time, and sharing their experience!

From business owner, to absolutely loving his data analyst role, with SJ

Originally, SJ ran a successful small business for almost two decades, then COVID hit and things shifted. He feels like what he did is completely opposite of what you see people on social media doing. Most people work an 8-5 and dream of working on their own. He had the business, loved it… but it was time for a change.

There was a particular point that I wanted to highlight from SJ's experience.

"Towards the end of my initial interview, my (current) boss asked me if I had ever just read code to see what it was doing. He explained that they have a bunch of code, so I wouldn’t always be writing new SQL, but changing, adapting old code. I hadn’t done that, and I said that… but, while I had no experience up to that point actively interpreted SQL code, I fell back on my experience with my small business; I was always looking at the metrics I had available to see what worked, whether that be a social media ad or a picture… why one was successful while others were not. I explained this in the interview and we continued on. At the conclusion of the interview, I was given no indication that I would move to another round….

I wanted this job and made the conscience decision to actively go after it.

That night I went home, and found several examples of SQL code- I then deciphered what it meant and wrote up summaries of what each code did. I sent this to him along with other examples of my portfolio. It was this action that landed me a second interview. The fact that I was proactive, did a little bit more work based on our conversations and sent it to him without being asked. See, they weren’t looking for someone who was just a data order taker, they wanted someone who would go out find the data pain points for people and get them the data they needed."

What really stood out, was what he did after the first interview for the role - taking the time after the interview, finding some example of code, and with a summary shared it back with the interviewer.

98 out of 100 people will NOT do that.

Starting career as frontline agent, and growing into the director for analytics role, with Ani

In our second interview, we spoke with Ani, who's career spans 18 years, beginning with a hands-on tech support role as a frontline agent. From being a self-taught analyst to advancing to Director of Product Analytics, he's now the founder of Framework Garage Consulting, where his passion lies in elevating analytical maturity for his clients and coaching analysts.

Something that's not just specific to data analysts, but it's universal across different career paths, is career progression toward leadership roles.

Just because one is a brilliant individual contributor, it doesn’t necessarily mean they will be a great team/leader. As Ani says, leadership requires a very different skillset and many forget to hone it on their way.

"However, remember that being an exceptional analyst does not automatically qualify you for leadership. The transition to a leadership role involves acquiring a different skill set—strategic thinking, people management, and a broader business understanding.

Demonstrating these skills, such as your business acumen, your proposals for solving problems, and the tangible impact of your work, is crucial. These experiences illustrate your leadership potential, not just your analytical expertise.

If your pitch is about how excellent you are as an analyst, then you are walking into a conversation about growing as an analyst. Showcase your readiness for the next role.

Leadership is about influence, impact, and decision-making. It’s about being in charge of your team, their careers, personal growth, and development as much as professional achievements.

Crafting a narrative that convincingly showcases your readiness for leadership is key to setting yourself up for success."

From being a dentist, to a data analyst role at a healthcare company, with Muthalib

In our last interview, we spoke with Muthalib - he studied at a dental school in 2019 and worked as a dentist until 2020 before moving to states, where he did Masters in Medical Informatics.

In another great story of persistence, he did volunteer work for over 12 months to showcase his interest and loyalty as a health data management intern. This followed by landing a data analyst job as well as having the company sponsor his visa.

As evident from our last three conversations, he's shared something that all 3 people had in common - none started their careers in the data analyst role:

"Don't try to only focus on data analyst positions. Focus on any title that uses these technologies. That way you may have an upper hand. Your primary goal is to land a job. From there you can switch to your career if interested."

3. November 2023 - Data Analyst job Market Summary

As you're all used it it by now, we're utilising the data available to bringing you the 11th (November) edition of Market Summary - a deep dive into the data analyst job market, where we can have a look at the job openings and provide you all with insights on the latest hiring trends for the past month in the United States.

Which industries are hiring the most? Are we seeing any salary increases? And what about the remote working trend?

As a reminder, we also recently released the data analyst salary guide which provides the overview of salaries in various industries - showing a more detailed view on each industry page, with a deep dive into how much entry level, senior and lead data analysts can earn depending on their experience.

Insights for the United States market