How to Get a Data Analyst Job With No Experience

Being a data analyst and having gone through many interviews myself I want to share my thoughts on common and a few unconventional ways you can try to land your first job without experience.

If you're considering a career change to become a data analyst it's actually easier than graduating straight out of school. Why? Companies value people with domain experience even if they don't have direct experience as a data analyst. Research taking online classes versus paying for school to get an actual degree. Consider talking to the analytics team in your current company if they have one and ask what it would take for you to be able to transfer internally into their team as a data analyst. Many companies are open to employees trying different roles because of the domain knowledge you gained on the job. A project manager became a data analyst in my company so I know it's possible.

If you're a fresh graduate without work experience, build a portfolio of projects on Github and add the link to your resume. This will show prospective employers how you think and approach data analytic tasks. If you're still in school get an internship working in the data team. Often times people get a full-time job after graduation from the company they interned at during school. Networking with classmates because they may know open positions.

Indeed states the first step after you submit your resume is “A software system scans for keywords”. Make sure your resume is optimized for keywords because the computer will reject your application without it ever being seen by a human.

Customize your resume to the skills required by the position to increase your chance of passing the keyword scan and the recruiter reviewing your resume. Often the recruiter is following the hiring manager’s instructions to look for key experience and skills so if it’s not on your resume it will be put in the reject pile.

If you’ve tried to get interviews with no success try these less conventional methods:

1. Apply to consulting firms which are normally more willing to hire people with no experience. Working a couple of years in consulting will help you gain experience and you can leverage the skills from consulting to get your data analyst job.

2. Find people on LinkedIn that work for companies or positions you’re interested in and request an informational interview. Getting an interview for a job may be hard but you would be surprised how many seemingly busy people will say yes to informational interviews because people love to talk about themselves. If you make a good impression it may lead to a job in the future.

3. Find a data meetup near you. It’s a great way to meet people in analytics and you may run into a hiring manager or someone that can refer you for a job. I’ve known several people that landed a data analyst job this way.

4. Get an internship to gain real-world analytics experience first. Companies often don’t want to risk hiring someone with no experience. A company may not have the budget to hire a full-time employee but they normally have the budget to hire an intern. Don’t be discouraged if they can’t commit to offering you a full-time job. Real-world experience is a higher priority.

5. Select a non-profit organization you’re passionate about and offer to work for free. You can make a difference and help build your analytics experience.

6. Reach out to a small local business and offer to do some analytics work for free. Typically small businesses care about improving profitability so this would be a great use case to show your analytic abilities by finding ways to increase profit margins.

I hope this gives you ideas on how to approach getting your first data analyst job without experience.

If you found this article helpful, please consider leaving a tip. Thanks for reading and best of luck on your job search!