Pick an area of specialty within the broader data analytics and data science field.

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To those who are looking to become successful in the data analytics and data science field I offer the following advice:

Pick an area of specialty within the broader data analytics and data science field.

For example in the world of IT operational analytics, as I discussed in an earlier post, one of the top three areas that a CIO is focussed on is improving customer satisfaction. What does this mean? What is out there in the IT operations world that can have an impact on customer satisfaction?

Now ask yourself, if all the podcasts you have listened to, if all the posts you have read so far, if the SQL training, if the Excel training, if the R training, if the python training, if the data visualization training, if the data storytelling training, is going to help you answer that question?

It’s great to talk in generalizations about how data visualization is important. It’s great to talk about how you should more effectively communicate your story about your analysis. But if you can’t even understand the business or the challenge the client is facing. No amount of make-up or smooth talking is going to help you.

What will you tell the CIO? How will you answer his/her question? How will you talk about past projects and the results you have delivered? No amount of certifications, books, etc is going to help you gain the CIO’s confidence.

In order to demonstrate to the CIO that you have the skills, capability, and capacity to help him/her solve their business problems, you need to have an understanding of their domain.

As an example, in the IT world, First Call Efficiency, First Call Resolution, Incident/Service Request Response Times, MTTR, Timely status updates, thorough documentation of all details in the case log, reduction of repeat/chronic issues, improvement in the self-help portal, implementation of automation (i.e. account management, etc), and reduction of ticket backlogs are just some of the things you would look into to determine how client satisfaction can be improved.