As a senior datascience professional and analytics manager, I get countless requests for job search advice, resume feedback and heart-breaking stories from brilliant students who are unable to snag a job in this exciting field. There are tons of books on how to learn the skills to become a data scientist/ data analyst, but none to prepare folks for the frustrating job search.
I’ve repeated this advice to dozens of people, most of whom found their dream datascience job with companies like LinkedIn, Walmart, Comcast and many more. This strategies are now available on Kindle in the form of an ebook “Data Science Jobs“. Amazon book link here.
Who Should Read this Book?
- Students with computer science or math majors, looking to find a job in the data science field.
- International student on F-1/OPT visa looking for employment after a graduate degree in analytics.
- Employed professionals looking to pivot their career, or seeking better pay/manager/location.
- Students from coding bootcamps or online nanodegree, who are embarking on job search journey.
The book lists techniques that allow you to put your resume directly in the hands of hiring managers and decision makers, instead of relegating it to the Black Hole of online application systems. The book is deliberately kept short so that you can read through quicky and apply these principles to succeed in your job search.
These book chapters can be broadly classified into the themes below:
- Personal Branding – Create an online profile that helps you bubble up when hiring managers look for candidates. Make the jobs come to you! Tips to tweak your resume to achieve the same.
- LinkedIn – grandfather site for job search. The chapter shows your some creative ways to leverage LinkedIn, not simply accept connections or make merry with the “Apply button”.
- Strategic Networking – don’t passively hope to make connections, seek them out.
- Niche sites – including my favorite online community, DataScienceCentral.
- Upwork – despite popular opinion (about the site’s ineffectiveness), this site is a quick way to earn money and position yourself for your dream role.
- Interview Prep – A list of 100+ questions commonly asked in datascientist and data analyst roles.
- And many more…
Chapters on LinkedIn and personal branding teach you:
- How to fill out your profile, so that recruiters and hiring managers come chasing you, instead of the other way around.
- Using endorsements to improve SEO for your profile. Websites use SEO to be placed on the first page of search ranking.These tips will help you will stand front and center when managers look for candidates.
- Use the “content” tab to find jobs and hiring managers!
Strategic Networking
- Network strategically, with a purpose.Unless you know what position you want, you will never be able to get well-wishers to find one for you.
- Where to look for local “hiring” events, instead of attending random meetups.
- Don’t scoff at recruiters, they can be the allies who halve your “job-hunting” time.
Niche Sites
- Hiring managers have finally figured out that data science communities are the best venues to seek talent. So scour through the job pages on specialized communities like our very own DataScienceCentral.com (DSC), Kaggle and KDnuggets. If you need interview prep help, then DSC has some amazing content to help out in that arena also.
- If you are looking for work in a big city, then try Twitter as well.
Upwork.
- Most folks who write disparagingly about this site are the ones who never made a penny from it. Personally, I’ve found success with the site earning within a week of joining the site. My experience helped me pad my portfolio with unique “live” projects and helped me learn other soft skills that have been invaluable at later roles at NASDAQ and TD bank.
- Upwork does take time and being selective about bidding is key.
- The beauty is that no matter what your skill level, you can start quickly with no caps to your earning potential! The book chapter on Upwork reveals the strategies to help you replicate my success.
In conclusion, this book is a condensed guide with practical strategies to make the job search process less stressful, and help readers quickly get hired. So get the ebook on Amazon, and get started on a lucrative career! I read every review, so do leave your feedback in the comments below.
