Here are the six things you need to be doing to get ahead of 99% of aspiring data analysts in the next three to six months 👇

1. Become Laser Focused 👁

Ask yourself if you actually want to break into data. And are you willing to do what it takes? It is not easy and it won’t magically happen with your sweat on your side.

It’s possible, for sure. But only if you’re willing to put the work in. Are you willing to put in the work?

If you are, do you have a plan?

2. Follow a Freakin’ Plan 📝

If you think that you're going to luck into a data job in today's economy, it’s a no.

It is so much harder to land a data job today than it was a decade ago. You need to be intentional about it. You need to develop a plan, a personal roadmap of actual steps that you can take one by one to land your data job.

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. So what’s YOUR plan? Could you tell me what it is right now? Step by step? If the answer is no, may I suggest, you don’t actually have one.

3. Focus on What ACTUALLY Gets Results 💸

If you have a plan…is it something like, “I’m going to learn SQL more next.”? Or is it what’s going to get you one step closer to landing a job. Those are NOT the same.

ANOTHER Excel course is not going to be the difference of whether you get a job offer or not.

It’s easy to fall into the “tutorial hell” trap. Just one more course and I’ll feel ready.

News flash: you’ll never feel ready. Double news flash: there is NO correlation between how skilled you are and how fast you land a data job.

4. Quit Being Silent and Share Your Work 🤐

If you're not talking about what you're doing, you might as well not exist. Start posting about your data journey on LinkedIn. Share what you're learning, the projects you're working on, and your thoughts on the industry. It might feel a bit cringe, but if your "why" is strong enough, you'll push through.

A recruiter or hiring manager can only know how good you are by what you tell them. The only person who will vouch for you is yourself. So speak up: on LinkedIn, in your resume, in your cold messages, and in your networking. Speaking of networking…

5. Network Like Your Life Depends on It 🤝

About 70% of job offers come through referrals or being recruited. So, why aren't you spending 70% of your time building your network? Honestly, what percentage are you spending your time networking? For most people, it’s less than 5% with the remaining 95% being spent on learning data skills. Data skills don’t hire analysts. People do.

Networking can feel awkward at first, but it pays off big time. Start with LinkedIn, attend events, and don't be afraid to send a cold message or two (or two hundred).

Networking feels pointless until it doesn't. Keep at it, and you'll find opportunities you never knew existed.

6. Mind the Gap 🕳

We all have the same 24 hours. It's how you use them that counts. Instead of scrolling through social media, fill those gaps with valuable content. Listen to podcasts, watch educational videos, and soak up as much data knowledge as you can.

5 minutes doesn’t seem like a lot, but it compounds over time.

A Personal Invitation 📧

I know the six things we laid out here are easier said than done. And the process can be lonely and confusing—I get it. But here’s my personal invitation, let me help you.

We cover ALL six of these objectives inside The Accelerator. It’s a 12-week program built not to just teach you the technical skills, but it’s designed to get you a data job. That’s what you want, right?

Skills are important (and we will teach you everything you need there), but we balance the curriculum to help you with focusing on what actually matters: your resume, your LinkedIn, your job hunting, your interviews, your cold messages, your projects, your portfolios, etc.

At the end of 100 days, you will indeed be ahead of 99% of aspiring data analysts.