This is an anonymous post from an Elpha member.

Breaking into Data Analytics with Google Data Analytics Cert

Posted in:Advice Job Hunting Career Growth

Hey Elphas,

My partner is trying to make a career pivot. He is a buyer but has taken some courses to pivot to data analytics. He has taken a SQL course and the Google Data Analytics Cert course. He also is volunteering for a nonprofit doing some basic data tasks, like data cleaning, etc. Next, he will do his capstone project for the data analytics certificate.

I'm wondering if there are any folks out there with advice for him on how to get more hands-on experience and even a job?? Has anyone else pivoted into this field with zero experience before and maybe have some feedback?

Morgan·Dec 13

The volunteering is already a good start! I've never seen anyone get a job with a Google Cert (or any cert)

Iynna·Dec 13

+1 to @MorganLucas, a google certification in and of itself is nice but it won't get you the role (like a professional degree or certification (think CPA, law school, etc.) will) it's what you do with it. I love that he is picking up volunteering, maybe he can explore a fellowship (fancy word for being matched at an org and do work for them akin to an internship), that will open some doors as well and of course he should keep the networking going. What career is he in right now? Trying to see if there's obvious synergies and transferrable skills he can use to make the switch.

Herlinda78·Dec 14

right now he is a buyer for a vitamin manufacturing company, so he is in the supply chain field. He has been able to implement his skills to create some data reports for work but works at a company that is not very interested in recommended improvements from his team... I'm curious where he might be able to find a fellow ship, do you know of any resources where those are made public?

Iynna·Dec 14

Oh I see what you mean, it's good that he's been able to build skills around that though.Hm yes i think there might be some people who have consolidated those resources (twitter might be a good place to find that) but just off the top of my head, I know NYC has a programme called TTP (tech talent pipeline) where they match talent (incl. career pivoters) to tech-focused roles incl. in data. Then there's also this nonprofit Tech Impact that has similar initiatives. And lastly not sure if you've heard of People + AI, https://fellowship.peopleplus.ai/ perhaps of interest too.