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Behind the Scenes of a Data Analyst Recruiting Process

Increase your chance of success as the hiring manager or the job applicant

Image by www_slon_pics from Pixabay
Image by www_slon_pics from Pixabay

Earlier this year I was involved with the recruiting process for a new data analyst position on my team. I’ve interviewed for data analyst jobs and been an interviewer at onsite interviews but this was the first time I was part of the hiring process from beginning to end. Today I want to give you a behind the scenes look at the recruiting process and how you can leverage this information from both sides – as the hiring manager or the job applicant.


Job Description

The job description was a wish list of what we wanted in a candidate. We deferred to HR to help us screen for applicants meeting the job requirements. Our mistake was not relaying to HR the skills we felt were the most important. This resulted in unqualified candidates passing the initial HR interview and proceeding to an interview with my manager.

Let’s take a look at the skills needed in this hybrid data analyst/data scientist role.

  • A proven track record of initiating and delivering actionable analyses/recommendations in order to drive business impact
  • Some experience building data science models to provide deeper insights
  • Excellent communication skills (technical and non-technical) and comfort working with high-level stakeholders

Recruiting tip:

HR and the hiring manager should align on the most important skills necessary for success in the role. Provide pre-qualifying questions for HR to assess if the candidate has the experience that aligns with those skills. Using the example above, HR can ask candidates to describe a time when they provided recommendations that drove business impact, an example of insights gained from a Machine Learning model, and their approach explaining data results to different audiences to assess their communication skills.

Adding the pre-qualifying questions helped us filter out candidates in the initial HR interview and saved my manager time from having to talk to candidates that didn’t have the necessary skills.

Applicant tip:

Focus on the top 2 to 3 required skills in job descriptions. If there’s a section that says "nice to have" check if you have any of the ones listed.

On your resume, emphasize experience matching the top skills in the job description to increase your chances of getting an interview.

During your HR or hiring manager interview, discuss examples of when you demonstrated those top skills when asked to describe your job experience. This will help show how your experience aligns with the needs of the role.

Applicants

HR placed the job on commonly used job sites such as Glassdoor and LinkedIn but we didn’t get many applicants. My theory was because we were recruiting for a senior-level role and there weren’t as many people with the 6+ years of experience we required.

The role asked for mentoring junior analysts and had the potential to become a manager position. I suggested we change the job title from "senior analyst" to "senior manager" to attract senior analysts looking to become a manager.

This increased the number of applicants but the downside was we had managers applying for the role when we needed a hands-on senior analyst with the potential to become a manager. We did get a few great candidates, one of which we ended up hiring.

Recruiting tip:

If you’re not getting enough qualified applicants for the role, consider listing the job with a different title or modifying the requirements of the role to attract more people to apply. We initially asked for 10+ years of experience and lowered it to 6+ to increase our applicant pool.

Applicant tip:

LinkedIn shows the number of applicants for jobs. Find ones with a low number of applicants and apply to those jobs to increase your chances of getting noticed.

If you see a job is reposted for the same company most likely they’re not getting qualified applicants. Take advantage of this to highlight your experience that aligns with the required skills.

Take Home Test

We had a take home test that was given to every candidate that passed the HR and hiring manager interviews. This helped us assess how the candidate would approach a real-life business problem.

Some companies prefer technical interviews and ask candidates to answer questions on the spot. We didn’t feel it would be indicative of future performance because you can practice for these types of tests online and pass but given a real-life scenario they may fail.

We were able to filter out many candidates with the take home test that we wouldn’t have been able to otherwise during the phone interviews.

Recruiting tip:

Assess technical and business acumen with a take home test or technical interview. Make sure the test will help screen out candidates that won’t be successful in the role.

Applicant tip:

Normally HR will notify you of what you’ll be tested on. In the past, I was told in advance if it was a SQL, Python, or a combination test. Use online resources to practice your technical skills if needed.

Final Thoughts

From beginning to end our recruiting process took about 4 months. We ended up hiring a wonderful analyst for our team and I couldn’t have been happier when HR told us the offer was accepted.

The lessons learned along the way were definitely helpful to refine the process for future data analysts we planned to hire. I also gained new insights being part of the recruiting process that wouldn’t have occurred to me as a job applicant.

I hope this behind the scenes look has helped you gain a new perspective in the recruiting process the next time you hire or apply for a data analyst job.

What has your experience been like in the recruiting process?


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