Data Career Jumpstart

🚀 Helping professionals break into data science 

Data Career Jumpstart is an online, data science school designed to teach you data science by doing practical, personal projects, enabling you to build an online portfolio that blows recruiters minds 🤯

Data Scientist

Data Analyst

Check this out at Data Career Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts!

Podcast Host

MIT Professional Education

Data Engineer

Snow Data Science

⛰️ Snow Data Science is an analytics firm that provides data solutions

📫 Send me a DM if you’d like to learn more about our services

We offer the following services:
▪️ Machine Learning 
▪️ Data Visualization
▪️ Algorithm Development
▪️ Data Sourcing
▪️ Data Cleaning
▪️ Dashboard / Web App

ExxonMobil

- Developed tool to make automated, data-driven decisions to improve capital planning ($330M/year)
- Created enterprise-wide web application via cloud computing to democratize manufacturing data to all engineers 
- Lead US wide analytics interest network of 200+ providing advice, expertise, and training
- Modeled complex supply chain processes that include 3,000+ variables to provide economic clarity via predictive analytics
- 3x company-wide data analytics competition champion that included 100+ participants

Vaporsens

- Implemented machine learning and advanced algorithms to identify and quantify unknown chemicals
- Solely responsible for all analytics in startup company
- Generated 30% revenue growth through convincing data visualizations and customer relations
- Performed and presented data analysis to Fortune 500 companies to secure collaborations

University of Utah College of Engineering

- Published first-author paper in International Federation of Automatic Control’s special issue Intelligent Manufacturing Systems (see link to read paper)
- Created new algorithm for clustering sensor data with over 1 million data points
- Constructed novel process to perform outlier detection in large industrial systems utilizing machine learning

Big Data Researcher

🖥️       Developed tool in Python to make automated, data-driven decisions to improve capital infrastructure planning and spending, providing an estimated savings of $330,000,000/year
🧮        Investigated complex mathematical refinery models to ensure accuracy in making crude oil acquisitions

Optimization Engineer

Machine learning and statistical data analysis 
-	Understanding of complex statistical strategies and strong critical thinking methods. 
-	Innovation and implementation of advanced algorithms for chemical sensing system to identify and quantify unknown chemicals applying machine learning and data analysis tools and methods.  
-	Programmed own data analysis pipeline and edited and updated chemometrics package from past chemomitrican to perform key calculations and capture vital data. 
-	Development of unique chemical fingerprints and chemical library. 
-	Assistance to engineering side through microcontroller production and coding for flow measurement and device communication used in future commercial products.

💽   Built bio-chemical organic semiconductor sensors 
☠️  Handled dozens of narcotics and explosives 
🧐  Lead quality assurance initiative to ensure $60k in product worked properly
🧬   Conducted 100's of complex experiments

R&D Engineer

University of Utah College of Science

☺️   Worked for free, part-time for 3 months. I owe everything good in my life to those 3 months.
🌎  Conducted scientific experiments for Doctor Sohn’s Iron Novel Development Lab
🔬  Used ICP-MS to analyze chemical samples for purity
📉   Performed data analysis in Excel to ensure high quality

I worked for free, part-time for 3 months. I owe everything good in my life to those 3 months.

Laboratory Assistant

I help people land their first data job within 90 days

Hey! I'm Avery! 👋🏻   My mission is to help working professionals break into data science. Let's connect!

🚀 Creator of Data Career Jumpstart; the data bootcamp that helps you start your data career by building an online portfolio full of projects!
Course includes: 
1) Data Skills (Python, R, SQL, Data Viz, ect)
2) How To Do Projects & Build A Data Portfolio 
3) How To Build Your Personal Brand 
4) How To Land Your Dream Job That Is Remote, High-Paying, and Fun 👩‍💻👨‍💻

📧  Sign Up To Get Updates: DataCareerJumpstart.com!

⛰ Running an analytics firm called Snow Data Science where we take on all sorts of data projects. From building custom dashboards, to predictions via machine learning, we are helping organizations utilize the power of their data. Have a project in mind? Send me a DM. Or visit, SnowDataScience.org. 

🏀   Landed a project with the Utah Jazz via LinkedIn post

⛽   Ex-ExxonMobil Data Scientist: solved complex supply chain problems, made beautiful data visuals, and taught data science to 300+ engineers! 2x company wide analytics champion. 

🔬 I fell in love with data at Vaporsens. I was hooked on finding meaning and insight from their chemical sensor data. The feeling was addicting. I felt like a super hero. I've never looked back.

📕 First author published as undergrad in IFAC. Novel research on anomaly detection in manufacturing data using machine learning. Feel free to read: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405896319309073

📊 I am obsessed with data. Don't believe me? My dog has her own fitbit 🐶 My iPhone app usage has a dashboard 📱 My Chick-Fil-A visits are already predicted for next month 🐥  I run, breath, and sleep data 📊 What more proof can I give? 🤪

💬 Message me to talk about: How to break into data science, how to build a data science portfolio, and how to build a personal brand. 

Find me on:
🌐  DataCareerJumpstart.com
💻  GitHub: https://github.com/AveryData
🎥  YouTube: AVery Data
📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/datacareerjumpstart/
✏️  Medium: https://medium.com/@averyjs
🎉 TikTok: @verydata

📧  Sign Up To Get Updates On My Latest Course: DataCareerJumpstart.com!

SELECT another_baby FROM family 
WHERE due_date = '2024-12-06'
AND gender = 'boy'; 

Result: 1 row added!!! 

Excited to announce a new addition is coming to our family this December.

Avery Smith

No alternative text description for this image

If this gets 500 reactions, I’ll build a job board specifically for Sports Analytics jobs and make it 100% free

♻️ Repost to help the cause

UPDATE: we hit 500 but keep liking to spread the word 👇 

Check out v1 👉 https://lnkd.in/ea_xfM7p

📈 I help people land their first data job (even with no experience) 📊 Join 10k+ other analysts & get my newsletter! 🎙️ Host of The Data Career Podcast

If you look closely, you'll discover this church is very "Normal"

Your job as an aspiring analyst is not to make dashboards

Your job as an aspiring analyst is not to write SQL queries

Your job as an aspiring analyst is not to do pivot tables

Your job as an aspiring analyst is not to create reports

Your job as an aspiring analyst is not to clean data

Your job as an aspiring analyst is to LAND A JOB

Keep that in mind. 

#SQL #DataAnalyst #Tableau #Excel

I've been programming in SQL for 7 years, and I'm happy to admit that I still don't know wtf I"m doing half the time 🤦‍♂️

My saviors?
- ChatGPT 
- StackOverflow
- Google
- YouTube

If some podunk chemical lab technician from Utah can learn SQL, you can too 

#SQL #DataAnalyst #DataAnalytics

If you're trying to become a data analyst, you might be worried ChatGPT will take your job.

Don't be.

Be worried someone who knows how to use ChatGPT is going to take your job. 

Here are 3 ways I'm using ChatGPT as a Data Analyst 👇

1) Code Writing 📝

If I want to write a SQL query or some sort of Python script, I just tell ChatGPT what I'm trying to do. I specify the columns & the result I want & ask ChatGPT to do the rest.

If ChatGPT does a poor job, I'll write it on my own.

Work Smarter. Not Harder. 

2) Bug Finding 🐛

Nothing is more frustrating than when you're stuck with an error, and not sure how to solve it. I now pass in the error I'm getting & ask ChatGPT why it's not working correctly. 

Work Smarter. Not Harder. 

3) Project Brainstorming 🧠

When you have a new data set, & not sure where to start, why not ask ChatGPT for some ideas. Give it a data description, ask it to act as a Senior Data Analyst, and ask what you should do next.


A.I. is not here to take your job.
It's here to augment your job. 

Work Smarter. Not Harder. 

✌ Avery

Dear Future Analysts,

There are ONLY 3 ways to learn data analytics (don't overcomplicate it)

1) Pay to Learn
2) Learn for Free
3) Get Paid to Learn

If you're like me, then you want to go with number 3. Here's how I got paid to learn: 👇

I got my foot in the door EARLY. I wasn't trying to land a six-figure data scientist job that used machine learning. I took what I could get right away: basic analysis, nothing fancy. It didn't even require all that much data skills. In fact, I didn't know Tableau, SQL, Python, or R. I pretty much used Excel and an engineering tool called MATLAB.

Eventually, my role required me to learn SQL. So guess what? I watched videos & took courses on company time and learned SQL. 

Later my job required me to upgrade to Python. I learned it on company time. 

Now I'm a SQL & Python expert...and I got paid to become one.

But I'm nothing special. You can do the same thing.

I made a full video explaining more on how this works 👇 (see comments)

It is SO overwhelming to land your first data job. 

I honestly felt like this 99% of the time. 

Want it to be LESS overwhelming? The Accelerator is starting a new cohort on Monday 👉 https://vist.ly/3mngbrz

If you want to be a data analyst, you'll need to know SQL.

But you do not need to master it.

For one, I'm not sure anyone has "mastered" SQL. There's so much to learn and it's always expounding. Maybe you can, but it'll take years, not months. 

Two, job hunting is a numbers game. It'll take you weeks, if not months to land interviews and gain offers. Start this process as quickly as possible. That way when it inevitably takes a long time, you've been practicing SQL as you apply.

This tip might seem simple, but it's a game-changer.

Agree or disagree?

The roadmap I wish I had when I was breaking into data analytics.

Warning: if you follow all 33 steps, you just might get a job...

How? It's centered around LANDING A JOB--not just learning tech skills. There's a difference. The most skilled person doesn't always land the job. The person who is able to make it as EASY & RISK FREE for the employer often does. 

The truth is, you don't have to know it all to break into data

You just have to look strong & attractive (professionally) enough for someone to take a chance on hiring you.

Follow this plan.
See what happens.
I dare you.

View newsletter: 🚀 Data Career Newsletter

If I had to break into data analytics all over again, here would be the 33 steps I’d take By the way, for fun, I asked two AI robots to discuss their 

Open article: Follow This 33-Step Data Analyst Roadmap by Avery Smith • 3 min read

After reviewing 300+ aspiring data analysts LinkedIn profiles, I feel I should share some advice for those looking to land a job. I hope this helps someone.

1. You need bullets in your experience section. It's not just enough to say your title and company name and the dates. You need to actually explain what you did in that role. And try your best to relate it to data analytics when you can. These can be the same bullets in your resume, but they don't have to be. These bullets shouldn't only just be what you did, but what impact that had on your organization. This is often most easily done by try to quantify your results with some sort of number. Think in terms of dollars saved, hours saved, lives saved, people improved, etc. The experience section is the most important in the LinkedIn job seeker algorithm--don't ignore it. 

2. Your headline matters more than you realize. Your headline is what shows up at the top of your profile, but also when you do other things like apply for jobs or comment on posts. After your name and your profile picture, this is the next most vital thing. Plus, it actually tells a lot more than just a name or image. This is your chance to showcase what you are able to do and your capabilities. Maybe even more importantly, this part gets mined by LinkedIn for job matching algorithms so the more keywords you put in here, the better. You cannot just say, "Aspiring Data Analyst" and leave it at that. You're cutting yourself short and hurting your odds of landing a data job. 

3. Add a cover photo, and utilize that real estate to your advantage. I'd say about 2/3's of folks don't use this section at all, and the other 1/3 waste the space with some image of a city or some generic "tech" background. Just use Canva and create a banner that highlights your profile. Maybe it includes an image of yourself, maybe it tells viewers what to do, or maybe it just summarizes who you are. Just do something. This is the first thing people see when open up your profile. This is the first impression. If you leave it blank, what are you saying? If you just have it be some weirdly cropped stock image, what are you saying? It takes just a few minutes to do this, but that effort will multiply over time. 

Data jobs have never been more competitive and you owe it to yourself to make it as easy as you possibly can for yourself. Your LinkedIn profile can be a superpower in your job search, if used correctly. Take 15 minutes today and make all three of these changes if you need to. Your future self will thank you later when landing interviews and jobs offers.

You got this, and good luck! 

Sincerely,

Your Data Coach,

Avery

I got paid to learn Python. I got paid to learn SQL. I got paid to learn Power BI. And you can too.

On Wednesday, I’ll send 13,849 aspiring data professionals a guide on how they can do the same. 

Want to get it? Make sure you're subscribed to my free newsletter. https://lnkd.in/eqqURFrq

🤔 Is it possible to get paid to learn data? 

There are only 3 ways to learn Data Analytics: 
1) Pay to learn
2) Learn for free
3) Get paid to learn

The third is my personal favorite & what I think you should do.

This article will help you learn how 👇

Want to be a data analyst? Well there are three main ways to become one. Learn for Free Pay to Learn Get Paid to Learn Here's how you can do each 👇 ?

Open article: 💸 How to Get Paid to Learn Data Analytics (a guide) by Avery Smith • 5 min read

💸 How to Get Paid to Learn Data Analytics (a guide)

I wake up and my head is throbbing. I look around me. I'm somehow a Chemical Lab Technician again. No longer a data analyst. What the H*CK! 

This is EXACTLY what I'd do to become a data analyst again from scratch 👇

1. Understand the Different Data Roles Available
2. Figure Out What is Actually Required
3. Figure Out How to Convince a Hiring Manager or Recruiter to Hire You
4. Start Learning Excel, Tableau, and SQL
5. Create a Home for Your Projects
6. Make Sure Your LinkedIn and Resume Are Up to Date and Optimized
7. Start Applying
8. Start Networking
9. Prepare for Technical and Behavioral Interviews
10. Land a job baby!


Get the full story by reading the article ✌

If I woke up one morning and suddenly lost ALL my experience in data and HAD to start ALL OVER, here are the 9 steps I’d take to become a data analyst

Open article: How I Would Become a Data Analyst In 2025 (if I had to start over again) by Avery Smith • 4 min read

How I Would Become a Data Analyst In 2025 (if I had to start over again)

5 signs that Data Career Jumpstart is exploding: 

1. Big box bootcamp employees are subscribing to my newsletter (spying!) 

2. Fortune 500 companies are contacting me to remove their logo from my website (just showing where our employees work) 

3. Big-name career coaches are downloading my free resources

4. Just hit 600 reviews on Data Career Podcast at 4.9 stars

5. Have 4.1k users on FindADataJob.com in the first 30 days

Things are looking up! 🔥🔥🔥

I guarantee you Zach Morris Wilson is very happy he doesn’t still work for Netflix tonight 😂

Ever dreamed of getting paid to learn data? Sounds too good to be true, right? Let me tell you – it's totally possible!

I'm living proof that you can break into data analytics without hefty tuition fees or massive debt. Instead, you can pocket a solid salary while sharpening your skills. How did I do it? 

I didn't spend thousands on a fancy degree to become a data analyst. My secret? I found a way to make companies pay me to learn on the job!

I started by dabbling with free resources like YouTube and podcasts. Once I had a handle on the basics, I realized mastering Excel and SQL was enough to get my foot in the data door. With this foundational skill set, I landed my first data job and leveled up my skills on the company's dime. Instead of clocking off to study, I was earning money while learning new tools like Tableau and Python right at my work desk.

ExxonMobil, one of my previous employers, invested heavily in my growth. They paid for my LinkedIn Learning courses and even sent me to exclusive seminars by data legends like Edward Tufte. And get this – I was still drawing my salary while upping my data game. Talk about a win-win!

The beauty of my journey is that companies WANT their employees to evolve. It’s a no-brainer for them because a well-trained analyst means better business results. Whether through free course access, paid advanced degrees, or simply on-the-job learning, companies are constantly investing in their talent. For me, it translated into mastering the necessary skills without spending tens of thousands of my own money.

Watch to learn more 👇

One thing that bothers me is when people email me & say, "I'm getting my Master's degree, so I can't afford The Accelerator program."

Let's compare. Shall we? 

Master's Degree:
- $13,440 
- No portfolio help
- No career help

The Accelerator:
- $1,999
- Portfolio help
- Career help 

Choose wisely, folks.

I interviewed 4 of the SMARTEST data hiring managers out there & asked what they’re looking for when hiring data analysts.

CLICK HERE SO YOU DON’T MISS IT https://lnkd.in/dAR9m6Pj

Their answers may surprise you…

👔 What Matters Most to a Hiring Manager?

If I had to start all over in 2025, here's my 10-step plan to land a data job as QUICKLY as possible 👇

Step 1) Ignore all the different data roles—data is data, right? Who cares if it’s analyst, engineer, or a scientist ?

Step 2) Don’t bother figuring out what skills are required—just wing it! Just learn as much as I possible can and never stop at all to examine if what I'm learning is worth it.

Step 3) Convince myself that recruiters will magically find me—why even bother talking to them? My aura alone will get me hired.

Step 4) Avoid learning Excel, Tableau, or SQL—those are too basic. I'd go straight of Python, LLM's, Machine Learning, and JavaScript.

Step 5) Never create a portfolio—real analysts don’t need to prove their skills! Just keep my genius locked away.

Step 6) Forget about LinkedIn and a resume—they're just outdated relics. I'll be fine with my AOL email and a MySpace profile. 

Step 7) Apply to zero jobs—who has time for that? It's just rejections anyway. Just meditate and trust the jobs will flow in soon.

Step 8) Network? No way!—why would I talk to people? Ew. I'll just keep watching Outer Banks Season 5. 

Step 9) Skip preparing for interviews—just show up and "vibe" my way through the technical questions. 

Step 10) Never ask for help. I want to do this on my own. Even if "self-studying" and "getting no help" gets me no where. That's fine. 

👏 There you have it, my 10-step plan....

Oh shoot! I posted the wrong plan!!!

If you want to know my ACTUAL plan, check it out here: https://lnkd.in/ddzFCU8

Taplio

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