Navigating Your Path: Your 7 Step Guide to a Data Career
Create your personalized roadmap.
Making your way into a data-related role is difficult and confusing.
I was lost and overwhelmed by how much there was to learn. There was no way I could understand machine learning and data science concepts. I had a degree in Spanish.
At least, that’s how I felt.
This week for our Career Insights segment, I am covering 7 steps that will help you create a personalized plan so that you can make your way into a data-related career.
Step 1: Identify Data Roles That Interest You
What interests you the most?
Is it natural language processing, data science, data engineering, or something else?
It's crucial to get a lay of the land by gathering as much information as possible. Watch videos, read books, analyze job descriptions, and identify what interests you. Curiosity is key in this step!
Understanding these roles will help you align your career path with your interests and help you weed out options that aren’t a great fit for you.
Step 2: Speak To People In Those Roles
People love to share their stories!
Informational interviews help you learn more about the fields you've identified and create connections. I set up as many interviews as I could to help me collect as much data as I could about the day-to-day of the roles that interested me. This helped me expand my network, learn from others' experiences, and avoid common beginner mistakes.
Here are some questions you can ask during this step:
What does a typical workday look like for you?
What tools and technologies do you use most frequently in your work?
Can you share some examples of recent projects you've worked on?
What do you enjoy the most/least about your job responsibilities?
Being proactive pays dividends!
Step 3: Identify Your Transferable Skills
You aren’t starting from zero.
You’ve likely already developed valuable skills in your current field. Sit down, get a pen and paper, and write your skills on one side and your target job responsibilities on the other side. Connect each skill to a responsibility and describe how your skill might be leveraged.
You might be surprised at how close you are to achieving your goals.
Step 4: Identify Knowledge Gaps To Fill
Look at how much you get to learn.
Your new role will require you to grow; the question is, how? Gather your notes from your informational interviews and your job description analysis and make a list of the technical, practical, or theoretical knowledge needed to succeed in your new role on the other side.
Identifying and addressing these knowledge gaps will be crucial to your success in transitioning to your new role.
Step 5: Identify Resources To Help You Fill Those Knowledge Gaps
What can help you bridge those gaps?
For each essential competency, choose a blend of theoretical and practical resources that fit how you learn best. There are plenty of free resources online that can help, such as books, workshops, online tutorials, hands-on practical exercises, and podcasts. Create a list of portfolio projects that accompany these key concepts to serve as the culmination of each topic.
By identifying a mix of free online resources and hands-on projects, you can become well-equipped to develop a robust skill set for your new role.
Step 6: Create A Growth Plan
Set yourself up for future success.
Funnel your outline of core concepts, portfolio projects, and learning resources into a weekly study schedule.
Fill in the blanks: For the next __ weeks, I am going to study _____ by dedicating __ hours per week to ____ resources (e.g., books, online courses, projects) and completing ____.
Tackle one topic at a time, and make sure you give yourself time to rest and review so you don’t get burnt out.
Sustainability is key.
Step 7: Your Job Search Strategy
Capitalize on your preparation.
Remember those job descriptions you analyzed? It’s time to create a target job search strategy that leverages your hard work from the previous steps. Revisit your portfolio projects, identify how they might apply to various industries, and tailor your resume and cover letters to showcase your new knowledge and experience in the field.
Fill in the blanks: For the next __ weeks, I am going to apply to __ jobs per week, reach out to __ professionals in the field, and prepare for interviews by ____.
Hard work pays off!
Thanks for Reading!
If you found this month’s Career Insights valuable, please feel free to share it with a friend.
Remember, this roadmap is not a one-way street.
It’s not permanent.
You can switch directions at any time.
It’s about exploring, honing in on a field, and making daily progress towards that field.
You got this!
-Jeremy