Thomas Gresco as a high school teacher who wanted to leave the classroom.

He knew he liked math & so he enrolled in a $12,000 Data Science certificate from Rutgers University.

6 months later, he had learned a lot (VBA, HTML, Python, SQL, CSS, Java).

But he still couldn't land an interview.

That's because Skills are just 1/3 the equation.

You need a portfolio and a network to land a job.

Without both, Thomas was struggling.

Until he joined The Accelerator.

61 days after joining, he had a Senior Reimbursement Analyst role with Centauri Health Solutions.

100% remote.

Here's how he did it 👇

👟 Focused on Basic Data Skills

Thomas knew Java, Python, NoSQL, Machine Learning, and a bunch of other skills. But he knew that he just wanted his foot in the door.

Instead of applying to jobs that required all these difficult technologies, he focused on ones that use Excel, Tableau, and SQL instead.

In fact, his current job mainly uses Excel.

And it's great because he's confident in Excel & continuing to learn on the job.

🔗 Finding Data Jobs on LinkedIn (in Creative Ways)

Most people are using LinkedIn jobs, but few are looking for openings in other places on the platform.

One of the best ways to find jobs that don't have 23,191 applicants is to look for job postings in the LinkedIn feed.

Thomas found a post from Chris French on LinkedIn with multiple jobs posted. He applied to them all.

🔐 Applied Despite Not Being a 100% Match

Notice that I said he applied to all of them. He applied even though he wasn't a 100% match.

Even if he wasn't a 70% match.

He tried to apply if he was a 50% match.

In fact, this job description required 2-5 years of data experience, and Thomas had 0.

After the first interview, he even admitted, "I don't think I have enough healthcare experience."

📊 The SPN Method

Thomas was able to use the SPN Method (skills, projects, and networking) to land a job, and you can too.

Don't give up. You've got this!