Zero data experience but want to be a data analyst?

You’re not alone!

My student Erin was the same. A music degree. No technical background.

And yet, she landed a Financial Analyst role at Humana (a Fortune 50 company) in less than 70 days.

Here is exactly how she did it. (and how you can too)

She Started The Same Way Most People Do

When Erin decided to get into data, she did what most people do. She took the Google Data Analytics Certificate. But after a few months, she got stuck.

She understood the concepts, but she could not apply them. So she joined my program, the Data Analytics Accelerator.

And that is where everything changed.

Instead of just doing boring, pointless exercises, she built real-world projects.

It felt more hands-on, and more fun. She felt like she was actually learning.

She built her confidence.

One of the projects was a healthcare SQL analysis. Real hospital data. Over 100,000 rows. Real patient data & outcomes.

That’s when it kinda clicked for Erin.

She had spent years inside hospitals. She knew the medical words. She knew how hospital teams think and work.

She realized she had a lot of domain knowledge that most people didn’t have.

She decided to try to focus on healthcare related data jobs.

Your Old Job Is Worth More Than You Think

You might think your previous experience is pointless. But it’s not.

Erin was a music therapist. On paper, that is as far from data as you can get.

But she worked inside hospitals. That experience went straight into her project and straight into her interviews.

When the hiring team saw Erin’s resume (after she got a referral; more on that below), they did not have to guess if she could do the job. They knew she had the domain experience. And they knew should could do healthcare analysis (because of the project she had done).

You previous experience is valuable.

You have spent years in some industry. You know how that world works. You know what problems people there actually care about. You know the language.

That is called domain knowledge. It just means you understand how an industry really works. And that is hard to teach someone who has never been there.

Anyone can learn the data skills in a few weeks.

But that domain knowledge? That takes years.

She Also Did These Two Things Right

The Hybrid Hack

Everyone wants a fully remote jobs. But only 16% of data jobs are remote.

This means 84% of us are probably going to be pretty disappointed.

Think about it…when you apply for remote roles, you compete with thousands of people all over the world.

That’s a lot of competition. Compare that with hybrid…

Hybrid has a lot of the same perks as remote, but only people from the area can apply.

Similar perks. 2% of the competition.

Erin decided to apply to hybrid roles instead.

The role she applied for & ultimately landed? 4 days at home. 1 in the office. 80% remote.

Chase hybrid roles.

The "Weak" Referral

A lot of people tell me, "Avery, I don't know anyone in data! How can I get a referral?"

And here’s the secret…

You don't need to know anyone in data!

Erin didn’t have some magical network. She didn’t know any other data analysts, or any recruiters.

But she did have a friend who worked at Humana. Totally random department. Not data. Not finance. Not human resources.

But it didn't matter. Any referral from inside the company helps your resume get noticed faster.

Talk to your friends. Your Family. Your neighbors.

You’ll be surprised how helpful they may be.

You Can Become a Data Analyst

Erin went from music therapy to a Fortune 50 financial analyst in under 70 days. She took her domain experience, learned some data skills, built some data projects, and used her network. That was enough.

You can do the same.

This is EXACTLY what we cover in the Data Analytics Accelerator.

We’ll build projects like Erin’s SQL healthcare project, along with help on resumes, networking, and the job search.

Weekly office hours. Monthly networking opportunities. Quarterly internships.