what is a case study?
-> a common way for employers to assess job skills and gain insight into how you approach common data-related challenges.
->
... [Show More] Different employers might send you different kinds of case studies. For example, you might be asked to clean and analyze a data set, offer a proposal around how to measure the success of a project, or figure out and define metrics of success for a specific product.
is there a time limit for a case study?
-> Usually, there's a time limit for the case study you've been asked to do. For example, a potential employer might give
you some sample data and project questions and ask you to create a presentation or memo with your recommendations in 24 to 48 hours.
-> That time limit can be a little challenging. But the good news is, your answer to the case study doesn't have to be perfect. What's important is that you show off your thought process
so that the interviewers can understand how you approach the problem.
Brainpower
Read More
0:01
/
0:15
what is a portfolio
A portfolio is a collection of case studies that can be shared with potential employers. Portfolios can be stored on public websites like GitHub, Kaggle, or Tableau, or on your blog. Your portfolio can also be linked in your resume. This will give you examples of how you approached data tasks in the past
that you can talk about in your interview.
how can personal websites be a great host for your portfolio?
Creating a personal website to host your portfolio is a great option because you can also use it to showcase aspects of your personality or background that contribute to your professional brand. For example, you might share a compelling experience that reflects your ability to collaborate, be resilient, or not give up.
how can github be a great host for your portfolio?
GitHub is a hosted platform primarily used by developers as a repository for code, but it can also be used as a repository for documentation. One of the tips you have been given in this program is to keep an electronic journal of things to remember, especially for SQL or R syntax. If something in your electronic journal is particularly useful, you can create a document for your portfolio in GitHub
what is important when answering a case studies questions?
On top of answering the question, you also want to make sure
that you're communicating the steps you've taken and the assumptions you made about the data. One of the reasons potential employers are interested in case studies is because they show your thought process and problem-solving skills.
Showing the steps you took to reach your conclusion can help them get a good idea of how you work
what makes a great portfolio?
they are personal, unique, and simple
how do career counselors recommend you create your resume
When you create your resume, the way you present your skills can capture the attention of a recruiter or a hiring manager. Many career counselors recommend that you customize your resume each time you apply for a job so that your experience and skills align as closely as possible with the requirements listed in the job description.
resources to explore other case studies
medium.com/search
github.com/search
public.tableau.com
kaggle.com
about the kaggle platform (sharing your portfolio)
Kaggle has a broad data science community you could join.
It hosts a lot of competitions for users to join in and
offers all kinds of learning opportunities.
This is a great option if you enjoy connecting with other data analysts.
about the github platform (sharing your portfolio)
GitHub's primarily used for programming languages like R or Python.
It has a more technical setup than other platforms. But it's a great place to share your code and the how behind your analysis with other users. And if you want to learn from other data analysts' work, GitHub's a great place to be.
about other platforms (blogs for sharing your portfolio)
Blog platforms like Medium, WordPress and Google Sites are personalized and ownable.
Blogs aren't as code-focused as Kaggle and GitHub,
so you'll have to store your code somewhere else.
And there might be a few extra steps you'll have to take to display code on blogs. But you can show off your expertise, write about your process in your own voice, and
show thought leadership in your field
about the tableau platform (sharing your work)
Finally, you might choose Tableau to host your work. You've already got some experience with Tableau from our work here.
It's a great option if you're focused on the data viz side of things. Plus, you can create interactive dashboards using Tableau's tools that are easily shareable. Choosing where to host your portfolio is an important decision, but hopefully now you have some ideas about how each platform could be useful. And you might end up using multiple platforms over time to fit your specific needs. The important thing is to remember the two questions we talked about earlier. What platforms align with your interests and passions? And where do you want to spend more time after this program?
keep your portfolio:
Personal: Show who you are, what you are interested in, and what is important to you.
Simple: Display your work with easy navigation and without cluttered pages.
Relevant: Match your work to the skills included in job descriptions.
Presentable: Emphasize quality in the samples you show.
Unique: Showcase your own work; cite sources of content to avoid plagiarism.
publishing your portfolio in github
https://medium.com/@brianmwevi/8-steps-to-publish-your-portfolio-on-github-9d6e6e3d2e84
publishing your first dataset on kaggle
https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/publishing-your-first-dataset-on-kaggle-6be8c37e59e8
how to publish on medium
https://help.medium.com/hc/en-us/articles/115004681607-Getting-started-with-a-Medium-publication
how to publish on wordpress
https://wordpress.com/learn/get-published/
instructions on how to publish your site and share it publicly (google sites)
https://support.google.com/sites/answer/6372880
instructions if you want to use a custom URL for your portfolio
https://support.google.com/sites/answer/9068867
types of notebooks in kaggle
Scripts: Typically code-only documents. Cells can be formatted in R or Python only. They execute each cell as code sequentially.
RMarkdown scripts: Cells can be formatted in R and RMarkdown only. These files are preferred by many R authors.
Jupyter Notebooks: Cells can be formatted in Markdown, R, or Python. These are most suited to flexibility.
Suppose you want to add a description of your code to your Kaggle notebook. What button would you click to create the proper cell?
In R, you can use Markdown to format non-code text. The + Markdown button adds a Markdown cell, which you can use to type and format non-code descriptions in your Notebooks. Going forward, you can use code cells to represent the content of your portfolio.
what is an elevator pitch used for?
When you're discussing the case studies in your portfolio,
you'll want to develop an elevator pitch to give interviewers a quick, high-level understanding of your work. Basically, an elevator pitch is just a short statement describing an idea or a concept. It should be just a couple of sentences, short enough that you could explain it to someone in an elevator. It's always a good idea to prep your elevator pitch beforehand.
Then once the interviewers have that high-level understanding of your case study, you can give concrete examples of your process and how you solved problems in your data analysis before.
Q&A: interviewer asks you to talk about how you approach data cleaning
you might highlight your case study to outline how you've cleaned data before. After giving them a quick explanation of the case study, you can describe your process and show them
how you successfully completed the analysis.
what are the four stages of the interview process?
Stage 1: Introduction (resume and portfolio)
Stage 2: The skill test interview (case study)
Stage 3: The compatibility interview (optional)
Stage 4: Decision-making
Stage 1: Introduction (resume and portfolio)
The goal of the introductory interview is for the recruiter to get to know you. Their goal is to find out who you are and assess your background. This is your chance to shine. Have your portfolio and resume ready and be prepared to speak concisely about your qualifications, experience, and skills using specific examples from both.
This is the part of the interview when the interviewer usually answers questions about the company and the position. It's also an opportunity for the applicant to outline how the skills they used in past roles can translate into the position they are applying for.
Stage 2: The skill test interview (case study)
This is usually your second interview and it will often be conducted by a fellow data analyst or data engineer. In this interview, you will be given a technical assessment that will consist of testing your SQL and programming skills. You will also be asked to complete a case study or a behavioral test. Your potential employer wants to know if you can do the job that you are interviewing for and they will be focused on getting you to demonstrate your skills. Make sure you are prepared with well-formed answers and highlight your technical knowledge and problem-solving skills.
Most interviewers will ask applicants questions related to their problem-solving abilities. In this video, Sally provides specific examples of past challenges and how she used her problem-solving skills to overcome them.
Stage 3: The compatibility interview (optional)
In some cases, not all, there will be an additional interview to determine mutual compatibility between you and the company. To give you a comprehensive idea of what the work culture is like, the interviewer might include other members of the team during this round.
Stage 4: Decision-making
Once your last interview concludes, it is advisable to ask about next steps as well as a timeline of when a hiring decision will be made. Take note that the process can take anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks as things get finalized and all other interviews are wrapped up.
You can receive one of three responses: an offer letter, a rejection letter, or no communication. Receiving a job offer is very exciting [Show Less]