I was laid off in March 2020 when the pandemic started. Prior to that, I worked in the fashion industry for over a decade. I’d gotten pretty burned out on it, and with industry-wide layoffs and hiring freezes, it seemed time to make a change. I spent most of 2020 being depressed, half-heartedly applying to random jobs, and trying to choose my next career. Finally in December, I settled on data analytics and enrolled in a bootcamp.
I decided to put my job search on hold until I finished the bootcamp and had projects to show. In the meantime, I did a ton of networking through informational interviews, webinars, and virtual networking events. I increased my LinkedIn network from less than 200 to more than 500. In January, I met a recruiter who said her company might be hiring junior analysts in March. Since I was early in my bootcamp and in no rush, I put it on my calendar and followed up with her in March.
When I saw the job description, I was intimidated. There were soooo many technologies I didn’t know, and the ones I did know, I had just recently learned. But I had a good rapport with the recruiter and figured it didn’t hurt to apply. Over the next 2 months, I had a phone screen, behavioral interview, technical interview, and case study interview. I put so much work into preparing for each one, but I was still shocked each time they invited me back. And then, a few weeks before finishing my bootcamp, I got a job offer! Even better, it pays $5k more than my last job!
That was 2 weeks ago and I’m still in utter disbelief. I’ve read this sub for a long time and was prepared for the possibility that I’d have to apply for hundreds of data analyst jobs. I never imagined I’d get the first one I applied for. (I did apply for a handful of others during the interview process, but never heard back about them.)
This experience really showed me the power of networking. By being proactive, persistent, and polite, I was able to send my resume directly to a human with influence over the hiring process. I don’t think I would have gotten the first interview if I had applied online and had my resume scanned by ATS. Yes, networking is a long game and you don’t know which connections will lead to an opportunity. I’ve heard it described as “planting seeds and seeing what grows.” But if job searching is a months-long process anyway, I’d rather spend it meeting new people than clicking “apply” and never hearing back.
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