Why are there so many open positions in analytics?

Last week, I gave an information session on the next-gen data analytics bootcamp called Principal Analytics Prep that we just launched. A recap of the session is available here as a podcast.

To prepare for the session, I did a job search on Linkedin, and found over 80,000 open positions in the U.S. matching the word "analytics". Of these, about 3,500 positions are junior or entry-level positions in the greater NYC area. Over half of those positions have been posted in the last 30 days. There are lots of analytics jobs in the business world, and hiring managers are having trouble filling them.

One reason for the difficulty is that everyone wants to hire from a small pool of experienced people. This is rational behavior on the part of hiring managers.

First, there is a huge gap between book knowledge and practice in this field. This is most apparent, for example, in design of experiments (the theory behind A/B testing). Academic courses focus on design and analysis but in real life, the most crucial matters are getting buy-in from various parties affected by testing, and making sure that the design is operationalized properly.

Second, a good data analyst needs to have a wide-lens perspective, which must be developed over time.

Third, corporate America has cut training budgets to nothing. Managers are not rewarded for training workers; in fact, they may be chastised for hiring untrained talent. It typically takes 12 months to get a new employee up to speed, for the employee to turn from being a cost driver to a productive worker.

Finally, training frequently backfires on the supervisor. It is common to be offered a big wage hike (say 20%) when switching employers but it is almost unheard-of to be offered more than 5% even when an internal promotion is rewarded. Thus, after 12 months of training, the hiring manager might learn that the employee has been poached.

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Principal Analytics Prep helps bridge this gap by offering the kind of broad-based training in the fundamentals of analytics - instead of begging the hiring manager to train you, you bring the training to the employer.

Our instructors are all practitioners who typically hold senior level positions in industry. They help bridge the theory-practice gap, and also provide a deep network of professional contacts within the industry.

If you or your friend is looking to enter the exciting analytics field, check out our website: http://principalanalyticsprep.com

Comments

[Nicholas Alanis]

Kaiser, I recently subscribed to your blog and find your posts insightful and entertaining. The role of a data analyst is an ever-evolving field where it can be difficult to develop proper training for individuals, especially in smaller organizations. Without such training we are usually in the weeds and not seeing the big picture. It took me at least a full year to get comfortable/confident in my position.

[Hada]

Thanks for the informative information.
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