Getting interviews is naturally essential for many jobs and data science jobs are no exception. Although resources on this topic are certainly not lacking, practical and actionable advice is rare. Going into my job search I knew that over 70% of job seekers find employment through some form of networking. I knew that I should “contact recruiters and build up my network to break in the field”. But even knowing this I was still left with an important question: how?

The first time I looked for a data science job was when I was about to complete grad school in Feb. 2017. I tried everything I could to get interviews including…

• Hundreds of applications on LinkedIn, GlassDoor, and Indeed
• Reached out to people (alumni, people with common friends) on all social networks for referrals
• Researched on Google and tried everything (except creating my own data science job) that’s recommended in articles such as “Top 10 Ways to Get Data Science Interviews”, “5 Tips for Getting a Data Science Job” and “How to Get a Data Science Job: A Ridiculously Specific Guide”.
• Spent numerous hours creating, formatting, and refining my resume

After job searching with the commitment of a full-time job (i.e. spent at least 8 hours a day) for three months, I finally got my first interview opportunity through AngelList.

The second time I found myself searching for a data science job was when I was laid off by my then startup company in Dec. 2018. This time around I got 10 interview opportunities within a month using 50 applications and 18 referrals (spent less than 30 hours in total). This enormous difference was not because I had job experience. In truth, I was not much more competitive on the job market the second time. This drastic change was because I did it all wrong the first time! This was not because the articles on getting a data science interview were misleading or incorrect, but they only told me what to do not how to do it.

In this post, I will share not only what to do (only 3 ways rather than 10) and how to do them to get interviews efficiently. You will find strategies, scripts, and other free resources in this post which will help you be methodical and organized in your job search. Specifically, this blog answers these questions:

• Where should I look for data science jobs?
• How do I reach out to the gatekeeper?
• How do I get referrals?
• What makes a good data science resume?

You can reach out to me here if you have any questions in your job search.

Before we begin, are you more of a video person? Watch this YouTube video instead of reading.

#resume #job-search #job-hunting #data-science-interview #referrals