How to start your career in Analytics

“Today’s world is drowning in data and starving for insights”

Harvard Business Review says the job of a data scientist is the sexiest job of the 21st century

McKinsey says “By 2018, the United States alone could face a shortage of 140,000 to 190,000 people with deep analytical skills as well as 1.5 million managers and analysts with the know-how to use the analysis of big data to make effective decisions.” Let’s now scale it up and imagine what would be the number across different countries, especially in India where all the prominent analytics companies are American.

One of the most repeated queries HireTale receives is “How do I get in?” or “I have 10 years experience in so-and-so industry, how do I make a switch to Analytics?”.  If only we could charge Rs 10  everytime this question was asked, we could have retired by now! . Kidding, engineers never retire 😉

Well, there is no singular answer or approach to entering the industry, off-campus freshers face a tougher task in breaking in (imagine traveling in a general compartment in Indian Railways, although you have an AC Tier -I ticket but that is waitlisted). One way is, you get into it still when you are a fresher through HireTale or similar others.

Another way is, to get hired you need to have an experience in Analytics and to get experience in Analytics, you need to be already hired somewhere. It’s an age-old deadlock.

A few clarifications for people trying to break in

• First off, there is no formal qualification or degree required to be an Analytics professional. (You don’t need fancy Maths/Stats/Engg degrees).
• Secondly, there is no age limit, 40-year-olds have made the jump and done extremely well.
• Its a job seekers market, provided you have reached the magic figure of 12 months experience.

Experience in analytics is King today, people who have experience can literally dictate hiring terms.

But how to get that initial experience? Therein lies the heartbreak, though there is a way, we call them internships.

So, we suggest following below steps if you are serious about getting into analytics

Step1: Research

Learn about what is going on in the analytics world. Google ‘top analytics blogs’ and follow them religiously

Step2: Get certified

Getting certified in analytics can increase your chances of getting hired in some of the top companies

• Experienced: Leading academic institutes like IIM, ISB run analytics certification courses. Some of them even provide job assistance.
• Fresher:
  • Free of cost: MOOCs like Coursera offers various courses for free
  • Paid: SAS training institute, Jigsaw Academy (Online), ADSA, Analytics Training Institute are some of the top training institutes. Some of them like provides job assistance as well.

Step3: Do an internship

Internships are a great way to start your career. They provide you a flavor of the work before you take a plunge and the employer gets to assess you without significant investments. If you are making a switch or looking for that elusive experience, an internship is your way.

Step4: Build connections (meanwhile all the steps)

• Social networks: LinkedIn continues to be one of the best ways to build your network. Get HR and consultants, who are eagerly looking out for fresh talents, on your network (use search option wisely).
• Offline: Attend seminars, workshops and make new connections. Most of the industry leaders are very friendly and they would be more than happy to guide you.

Step5: Get Hired!

Now start talking to those HRs or industry folks you connected with. Keep checking HireTale and others. There are two categories of analytics companies

• Service-based- This would include companies which do analytics for other firms. E.g. Fractal, Mu-Sigma, Dunnhumby, Absolutdata, ZS Associates, IBM, Deloitte. These are the companies which have Analytics in their DNA and use it for their day to day decisions. They are good in long term perspective as you get a chance to work across different types of projects from different sectors
• Captives- These are industry leaders from different sectors who have an internal analytics division. You will get paid very well, but you might be limited to just a few types of projects.
  • Technology leaders: Google, Facebook, Linkedin, Dell
  • Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI): Capital One, American Express, Citi, ICICI, HSBC
  • Telecom companies: Vodafone, AT&T, Airtel
  • Retail companies: Flipkart, Snapdeal