Very interesting post Benn. I'm long overdue writing up a tool we built and out-sourced while I was at Expedia Group which is similar in intention - I've finally published it. This was built for internal use, but also had the concept of a Portfolio or Repository of work. While not intended to be presented outside the company it was intended to help Analysts present their work as a story and to help with review cycles and internal moves. I think it would be trivial to clone the repo to something personal, 'sanitise' it and create a portfolio for external hiring. It's open source, so feel free to engage, suggest and contribute!
Aug 5, 2022·edited Aug 5, 2022Liked by Benn Stancil
Great post benn!! But I have a genuine question -
How much time do you think any average hiring manager is willing to spend on literally the first step? Like taking time out to actually read through?
Companies gets swamped by applications and they have deadlines to close positions. So we as humans start using shortcuts to accept/reject anyone and make "famous college/company" based decisions.
Moreover taking a look at an analytical portfolio takes way more time compared to website/design portfolio. Have you heard similar concerns from fellow analytics hiring manager?
I attempted something like this a few years ago when trying to tell a better story about my myriad of experience. I don't think it yielded any material leads (probably for reasons other commenters have mentioned + the broken expectation of receiving a deck instead of a resume).
Great post. As a professional with ~14 years of experience in various data functions , I have always been in a dilemma on whether creating a portfolio would be of any value . This post definitely gave me that push to create a portfolio .
Aug 7, 2022·edited Aug 7, 2022Liked by Benn Stancil
What's interesting is that a lot of highly payed Engineers don't share any portfolios. Their code is locked in within corporate environments of FANG. It is the engineers working at start-ups who share code.
Curious, what makes Analysts different? My gut feeling is that the answer is "nothing". Both SE and Analysts can be and are evaluated on the strength of their thought process during interviews - exception being, when someone actually comes from FANG. Much of FANG talent is allowed to cruise through the interviews on the strength of their supposed work experience - which could be questionable.
So what we need is portfolios for the type of group that needs it the least to get a good job. True for Engineers as much as for Analysts.
I like the idea, but at the same time analysis is also often confidential.
Every deck I have includes "Confidential" on every slide as this is the branded template.
It also goes into other problems. Not all analysts are deck-based. For the first half of my career, my deliverables were numbers and reports(sometimes very challenging details), not decks.
These aren't "hard problems", but it will create an issue because pedigreed analysts with "confidential" on every deck are more likely to have the required skill than those who would benefit from the change.
Very interesting post Benn. I'm long overdue writing up a tool we built and out-sourced while I was at Expedia Group which is similar in intention - I've finally published it. This was built for internal use, but also had the concept of a Portfolio or Repository of work. While not intended to be presented outside the company it was intended to help Analysts present their work as a story and to help with review cycles and internal moves. I think it would be trivial to clone the repo to something personal, 'sanitise' it and create a portfolio for external hiring. It's open source, so feel free to engage, suggest and contribute!
https://medium.com/@maxillis/introducing-insights-explorer-f8e7d732a3d5
Great post benn!! But I have a genuine question -
How much time do you think any average hiring manager is willing to spend on literally the first step? Like taking time out to actually read through?
Companies gets swamped by applications and they have deadlines to close positions. So we as humans start using shortcuts to accept/reject anyone and make "famous college/company" based decisions.
Moreover taking a look at an analytical portfolio takes way more time compared to website/design portfolio. Have you heard similar concerns from fellow analytics hiring manager?
Can we start a LinkedIn competitor with portfolios (and other artifacts) vs resumes alone?
I attempted something like this a few years ago when trying to tell a better story about my myriad of experience. I don't think it yielded any material leads (probably for reasons other commenters have mentioned + the broken expectation of receiving a deck instead of a resume).
Great post. As a professional with ~14 years of experience in various data functions , I have always been in a dilemma on whether creating a portfolio would be of any value . This post definitely gave me that push to create a portfolio .
okay okay i'll play along https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Q58We-exF3pYtlOmHmCFOZM4BY9GWEpsXgx3c8dhC8s/edit#slide=id.g1371f801cca_0_52
This is a fantastic idea. I am fan of portfolio sites, but this solution fits everyone. And, the format you suggested is a good jumping off point.
What's interesting is that a lot of highly payed Engineers don't share any portfolios. Their code is locked in within corporate environments of FANG. It is the engineers working at start-ups who share code.
Curious, what makes Analysts different? My gut feeling is that the answer is "nothing". Both SE and Analysts can be and are evaluated on the strength of their thought process during interviews - exception being, when someone actually comes from FANG. Much of FANG talent is allowed to cruise through the interviews on the strength of their supposed work experience - which could be questionable.
So what we need is portfolios for the type of group that needs it the least to get a good job. True for Engineers as much as for Analysts.
I like the idea, but at the same time analysis is also often confidential.
Every deck I have includes "Confidential" on every slide as this is the branded template.
It also goes into other problems. Not all analysts are deck-based. For the first half of my career, my deliverables were numbers and reports(sometimes very challenging details), not decks.
These aren't "hard problems", but it will create an issue because pedigreed analysts with "confidential" on every deck are more likely to have the required skill than those who would benefit from the change.