🔥 Hot take: the job DOES NOT go to the most technical candidate.

It goes to the person who seems the LEAST risky.

A lot of people miss this. They think the person with the best SQL, the fanciest dashboard, or the most online certificates wins.

Sometimes that helps. But that is not what actually gets you hired.

Just ask my friend, Tim.

Tim failed his AP Computer Science test in high school (1 out of 5). He thought he’d never work in tech. But…fast forward to today?

He’s a fully-remote Senior Data Analyst at one of the biggest marketing agencies in the world.

what!

So how did a guy with zero tech skills pull that off? And how can you do the same?

The Black Hole Of LinkedIn Jobs

Well, here’s Tim’s story (audio version here).

Tim was a cold caller in sales. Pretty dang miserable. Wanted to get out.

Tim saw his brother working remotely as a data analyst, making good money, and actually enjoying the work.

He said, “THAT is what I want.”

But he didn’t know where to start. He didn’t want to spend $20,000.00 and 2 years on a data degree. But he needed help (remember 1 out of 5 on the CS exam).

So, he jumped on LinkedIn and found my content.

Thought it was helpful so he checked out my program.

He ended up joining and learning the basics from scratch.

He studied. He built a solid portfolio.

Then, he started applying for jobs on LinkedIn.

And… crickets.

🙈

Rejection after rejection. It got so bad he almost quit.

But then he noticed something. Other people in the program with a similar background and skill level were landing jobs.

He asked a question that changed his career: "What are they doing that I'm not?"

The Secret To Getting An Interview

Tim noticed that although he was doing a good job learning the skills. And even building projects. He was kinda ignoring the networking aspect of getting a job.

You need all 3 to land a job: S(kills), P(ortfolio), and N(etworking).

He decided to take a step back and STOP applying to thousands of jobs.

Instead, he started reaching out to real people. He noticed a hiring manager at a massive marketing agency had recently hired another student from our community.

Tim sent her a cold message. She agreed to a quick call. Then she looked through his portfolio and liked what she saw.

That one first message turned into a referral. And that referral turned into an interview for a senior-level role.

How To Make Hiring You A Safe Bet

Tim was nervous - but excited.

On paper, Tim wasn’t really qualified for this job maybe.

He had no marketing experience and no real data job experience. He had a psychology degree, locksmithing and sales experience.

But he had the skills, the confidence, and a secret weapon…

In the interview, every time they asked him about a skill or responsibility, he did not just answer the question. He pulled up his portfolio and walked them through a real project.

One of those projects was a newsletter marketing analytics project that he did as part of our internship program in our bootcamp.

A real company gave us their email data. Students had to analyze it and give actual recommendations.

Tim had done a great job on the project & suddenly, he had REAL marketing analytics experience.

He proved he could do the job before they even hired him. He made them feel safe picking him.

And boom. He was hired.

The Three Steps To Your First Data Job

So remember, Tim wasn’t the most technical. He probably wasn’t the most experienced candidate. Time got hired because he:

• Learned the skills. Not all of them. Just the ones that actually matter for the job.

• Built real projects. Don't just show certificates. Show proof you can solve real problems.

• Networked and got a referral. Stop relying on the “Easy Apply” button. Send cold messages. Get in front of real people.

That’s the secret sauce.

And if you want help making your own version of the secret sauce, I’m here to help.

This is EXACTLY what we do inside Data Analytics Accelerator.