211: This is How You Land a REMOTE Data Job!

Speaker: 00:00:00

All right, I got to admit that landing

a remote data analyst job in: 2026

2

: 00:00:04

feels virtually impossible, and most

people listening will not succeed.

3

: 00:00:08

But there are five things that you can

do to give yourself an unfair advantage

4

: 00:00:12

in landing a remote role, and I will show

you all five of them in today's episode.

5

: 00:00:16

But first, why does this

feel so gosh darn impossible?

6

: 00:00:19

And the answer is because

it kind of low-key is.

7

: 00:00:22

If I'm being honest, the odds are

stacked against you, and really

8

: 00:00:25

what it comes down to is math.

9

: 00:00:26

There was a study done in

: 2023

10

: 00:00:30

workers want to work from home.

11

: 00:00:32

They want to work remotely.

12

: 00:00:33

And I get it, working remotely is awesome.

13

: 00:00:35

I love working from home.

14

: 00:00:36

It's the best.

15

: 00:00:37

But that means when you're applying to a

remote data job, you're not only competing

16

: 00:00:41

with the people inside of your local city

or inside of your county or your state

17

: 00:00:46

or even the country, you're competing

with people from all over the place.

18

: 00:00:49

And so the odds of you being the

best candidate just kind of go

19

: 00:00:52

down with the number of applicants

that are actually applying.

20

: 00:00:54

And even if you are a great applicant,

the odds of your resume and you

21

: 00:00:58

actually getting noticed through the

applicant tracking system is so low,

22

: 00:01:01

so it virtually feels impossible.

23

: 00:01:03

Now, you might be thinking, "Well, if

everyone's applying to these remote

24

: 00:01:06

jobs and I can actually apply to

any remote job, then I have lots of

25

: 00:01:09

jobs that I can apply for, right?"

26

: 00:01:11

Well, and the unfortunate truth is there's

not a lot of remote data analyst jobs.

27

: 00:01:15

Despite what the courses tell you,

despite what the influencers tell you,

28

: 00:01:18

here is the raw number from my job board

that I've been running for 18 months.

29

: 00:01:23

17%.

30

: 00:01:23

That means about 2 out of every

10 data analyst jobs are remote.

31

: 00:01:28

The remaining 8 out of 10 are not remote.

32

: 00:01:30

So if 98% of us want to work remotely,

but only 20% of the jobs are remote, this

33

: 00:01:35

is a huge supply versus demand issue.

34

: 00:01:38

And basically, what it means is those

remote jobs are incredibly competitive.

35

: 00:01:40

They get 5 to 10 times more applicants

than its normal counterpart, and it

36

: 00:01:45

feels impossible to land these roles.

37

: 00:01:46

And actually, in my corporate life, my

W2 data jobs, I never had a remote role.

38

: 00:01:51

In fact, I barely had a hybrid

role, if I'm being honest.

39

: 00:01:54

Now, obviously, since becoming

more of a consultant educator,

40

: 00:01:57

I get to work from home.

41

: 00:01:58

So with the odds stacked

against us, what can we do?

42

: 00:02:00

Well, here are five things that you

can do today to increase your odds of

43

: 00:02:03

landing that data analyst role remotely.

44

: 00:02:05

The first thing you can do to land a job

more successfully, and hear me out here,

45

: 00:02:10

don't stop listening, don't hate me, is

to, one Not go for a remote data job.

46

: 00:02:15

And, and let me explain real quick.

47

: 00:02:17

Please keep listening.

48

: 00:02:18

I think that there's something that you

actually want that you have a better

49

: 00:02:21

chance of landing that will get you most

of what you are actually desiring, and

50

: 00:02:25

I'm gonna call it an 80% remote job.

51

: 00:02:28

It's not 100% remote, it's 80% remote

job, and another term for this is hybrid.

52

: 00:02:33

And hybrid roles are actually

more common than remote jobs.

53

: 00:02:36

There's about 22% of all posted

data analyst jobs that fall

54

: 00:02:40

into this hybrid category.

55

: 00:02:41

And the cool thing about hybrid

is you have a lot of the perks

56

: 00:02:43

of working remotely, but you

have way less competition.

57

: 00:02:46

Because unlike 100% remote jobs, you're

not competing with everyone in the

58

: 00:02:50

entire country and the entire world

for this role, it's only the people

59

: 00:02:54

in the area of the actual job office.

60

: 00:02:56

This means it's gonna get a lot

less applicants, it's gonna be a lot

61

: 00:02:59

less competitive, but you're still

gonna have the opportunity to work

62

: 00:03:01

from home at least a percentage.

63

: 00:03:03

Now, hybrid is a spectrum.

64

: 00:03:04

Sometimes hybrid means that you go to

the office four times a week and you

65

: 00:03:08

work from home one day a week, but it

can also mean the opposite, that you

66

: 00:03:11

work from home four days a week, and

you come to the office one time a week.

67

: 00:03:14

Heck, I even have some students who

graduated from my accelerator program

68

: 00:03:18

who are hybrid, and they have to come

to the office once a month, and I have

69

: 00:03:21

one that has to come to the office

once a quarter, which is insane.

70

: 00:03:24

That is basically remote to me.

71

: 00:03:25

But the job that she applied

for was labeled hybrid.

72

: 00:03:28

So answer me this, are you okay

potentially going to the office one

73

: 00:03:31

to two times a week if it was going

to help you land a job a lot faster

74

: 00:03:35

and probably have a higher salary?

75

: 00:03:36

Would that be worth the trade-off for you?

76

: 00:03:38

And while I have you thinking

about this, I'm gonna suggest one

77

: 00:03:40

more thing, and that is that you

actually go for an on-site job.

78

: 00:03:44

Because as you can see, 61% of data

analyst jobs are posted on-site.

79

: 00:03:48

This is the majority, and these

are less desirable than the

80

: 00:03:51

remote and the hybrid jobs, right?

81

: 00:03:53

So they're gonna be way less competitive

because people don't wanna do it.

82

: 00:03:56

There's also a smaller applicant pool just

because you're not going to be competing

83

: 00:04:00

with people from all over the country.

84

: 00:04:01

But let me also point out, if you're

trying to land your first data job,

85

: 00:04:04

another two reasons why this in-person

job might be a really good bridge for you.

86

: 00:04:08

Number one, you have no proven

experience of being a data analyst, and

87

: 00:04:12

when you're going through the hiring

process, the hiring manager is thinking,

88

: 00:04:15

"Is this person a risk, yes or no?"

89

: 00:04:17

When you have no experience, you're

already kind of by default a risk.

90

: 00:04:20

Let me tell you that corporate and

managers see people working remotely

91

: 00:04:24

often as a risk as well because

they can't see you, and they can't

92

: 00:04:27

keep track of what you're doing and

if you're actually working or not.

93

: 00:04:30

Now, does every manager think that way?

94

: 00:04:31

No.

95

: 00:04:31

But corporations do think

that way, I promise.

96

: 00:04:33

And working remotely, you are

a risk to a lot of companies.

97

: 00:04:36

So no experience risk and working remotely

risk, you're just not likely to get hired.

98

: 00:04:40

The second reason you might wanna

consider an in-person job is you're

99

: 00:04:42

gonna receive way better training.

100

: 00:04:45

I love working remotely, I love working

virtually, but I can't disagree that

101

: 00:04:48

you get better training with a human

right next to you than you do on Zoom.

102

: 00:04:51

I promise you're gonna learn

a lot more in the office.

103

: 00:04:53

You're gonna make more friends.

104

: 00:04:54

You're gonna have better

visibility opportunities.

105

: 00:04:56

You're gonna be seen by the manager more.

106

: 00:04:58

Honestly, you're probably

gonna get more promotions.

107

: 00:05:00

I'm just telling you, I hate to say

it, I wish it wasn't the case, but when

108

: 00:05:03

you're in the office, good things happen.

109

: 00:05:04

Now, before all of you guys accuse

me of being a corporate wog in the

110

: 00:05:08

comments down below, I don't like

going to the office When I worked

111

: 00:05:11

at Exxon, I was working hybrid.

112

: 00:05:13

It was during COVID.

113

: 00:05:14

It, it really is an in-person job, but

I decided I didn't really want to go to

114

: 00:05:17

the office, and so I didn't go to the

office for six months, and I promise

115

: 00:05:20

you, that hurt my growth at the company.

116

: 00:05:22

So step number one to landing a

remote data analyst job is to first

117

: 00:05:26

not land a remote data analyst job.

118

: 00:05:28

I know, kind of wonky, kind of meta,

but it's something I actually really

119

: 00:05:31

believe in, and it's honest advice coming

from someone who's been in your shoes.

120

: 00:05:33

But if you want to ignore all that

and say, "Avery, I'm going for

121

: 00:05:36

the competitive 17% remote job.

122

: 00:05:38

I want it.

123

: 00:05:39

I need it," then okay, step two, three,

four, and five will help you become the

124

: 00:05:43

best candidate to stand out in that pool.

125

: 00:05:44

Let's start with step number two,

and that is the obvious one once

126

: 00:05:47

again, and it's to learn the skills.

127

: 00:05:49

You can't become a remote data analyst if

you don't have good data analyst skills.

128

: 00:05:53

Now, I've made a lot of episodes in the

past talking about this, but my philosophy

129

: 00:05:56

is you shouldn't try to learn every single

data skill out there, every single data

130

: 00:06:00

tool out there, because there's way too

much to learn, and it's way too hard to

131

: 00:06:03

learn them all, especially at the same

time when you're just getting started.

132

: 00:06:05

So what skills should you actually learn?

133

: 00:06:07

Well, for me, I think there's two factors.

134

: 00:06:09

One, how in demand the skill is,

and two, how easy is it to learn?

135

: 00:06:13

Now, what's the most

in-demand data skill there is?

136

: 00:06:15

It's Python, right?

137

: 00:06:16

That's what everyone says.

138

: 00:06:17

That's what all the Influencers

say that's what the course is.

139

: 00:06:20

No, it's not.

140

: 00:06:21

It's Excel.

141

: 00:06:21

It's boring freaking Excel, you guys.

142

: 00:06:23

And if you don't believe me, I actually

analyze all the job descriptions

143

: 00:06:27

on my job board, findadatajob.com,

144

: 00:06:29

and I created this graph right here

that's actually live on the website,

145

: 00:06:32

updates automatically to show you

what skills are most listed in the

146

: 00:06:36

job descriptions for a data analyst.

147

: 00:06:38

So you can see that Excel is basically

mentioned in half of all data analyst

148

: 00:06:41

jobs, followed by SQL at 38%, and then

the business intelligence tools of

149

: 00:06:45

Power BI and Tableau are on that 24 to

25% mark, followed by Python and some

150

: 00:06:49

more complicated tools down below.

151

: 00:06:51

So what's in demand?

152

: 00:06:52

It's Excel, it's SQL, and it's

a business intelligence tool.

153

: 00:06:55

And in terms of ease of learning and

using, most of us have already used Excel

154

: 00:06:59

before, so it's a great place to start,

and it's really not that complicated.

155

: 00:07:02

The next easiest in my mind

is the business intelligence

156

: 00:07:04

tools of Power BI and Tableau.

157

: 00:07:06

If you can figure out how to make

a PowerPoint presentation, you

158

: 00:07:09

can figure out how to make these.

159

: 00:07:10

And then I think SQL is a lot easier

than Python because there's a lot less

160

: 00:07:14

coding involved, and there's really only,

like, 17 commands you need to know to get

161

: 00:07:17

started with basic SQL for data analysts.

162

: 00:07:19

So those are the three skills I

would focus on in the order of

163

: 00:07:22

Excel, Tableau or Power BI, and SQL.

164

: 00:07:25

Now, you might be saying, "Avery, those

are the best skills for data analyst jobs.

165

: 00:07:27

What about remote data analyst jobs?"

166

: 00:07:29

And the answer is the data

doesn't really change that much.

167

: 00:07:32

On the website, findadatajob.com,

168

: 00:07:34

you can look at this report and actually

filter by remote jobs only, and you'll

169

: 00:07:37

see that the top five are still the

top five, although SQL and Excel do

170

: 00:07:41

change place, and SQL is required

in 48% of remote data analyst jobs.

171

: 00:07:46

So SQL might be a little bit more

important for remote data analyst

172

: 00:07:49

jobs, and so that might be something

you wanna focus on a little bit more.

173

: 00:07:52

But even if you've learned these

skills, you're still a risk to the

174

: 00:07:54

hiring manager because you have

no proof, you have no experience.

175

: 00:07:57

So you need to actually figure out

how to create your own experience.

176

: 00:08:00

And that leads me to step number

three, which is creating your own

177

: 00:08:03

experience by building a portfolio.

178

: 00:08:05

Once again, if you're going to be

hired remotely, you are a risk.

179

: 00:08:08

They haven't met you in person probably.

180

: 00:08:10

They won't be able to walk by your desk

and see what you're working on day to day.

181

: 00:08:13

You'll probably have less

conversations with the people

182

: 00:08:15

on your team and your manager.

183

: 00:08:17

You are a foreigner and you are a

risk, and so you need to build up every

184

: 00:08:20

single ounce of evidence that you can

actually analyze data to present to

185

: 00:08:24

the recruiter, to present to the hiring

manager, that you can actually be a

186

: 00:08:27

productive data analyst on their team.

187

: 00:08:29

And in my opinion, a portfolio is the best

way that you can present this evidence.

188

: 00:08:32

If you've never heard of a portfolio

before, it's basically you do pretend

189

: 00:08:35

work, and you call it a project, and

you publish it online somewhere, so

190

: 00:08:38

it's very accessible for them to,

like, read through your case study

191

: 00:08:42

of how you actually analyze data.

192

: 00:08:43

And it's basically like, "Hey,

look, this is what your job

193

: 00:08:45

description says that I need to do.

194

: 00:08:47

Here's evidence of me doing

this for a different job."

195

: 00:08:49

It could just be a job you make up,

whatever project you're interested in.

196

: 00:08:52

And it proves to the hiring manager,

oh, this person's actually capable.

197

: 00:08:55

So in terms of where to host your

portfolio, I have a new favorite, and

198

: 00:08:59

it's because I'm extremely biased, I

built it, but it's called mydatafolio.com.

199

: 00:09:03

And it's really what my solution

was to portfolio making.

200

: 00:09:07

It used to be hard, it used to take

a long time, it used to be ugly.

201

: 00:09:09

I think this is the fastest and easiest

way to build a data analyst portfolio.

202

: 00:09:13

So you can get started for

absolutely free at mydatafolio.com.

203

: 00:09:16

But here's the catch.

204

: 00:09:17

Even with a portfolio, even with

the skills, that's not gonna be

205

: 00:09:20

enough to make you stand out in

this huge pool of applicants.

206

: 00:09:24

In fact, I suggest skipping the

applicant tracking system altogether.

207

: 00:09:28

And how do you do that?

208

: 00:09:28

Well, it's easier said than done, but it's

step number four, which is networking.

209

: 00:09:32

The ATS applicant tracking system is

a complete mess for these remote jobs.

210

: 00:09:36

They're getting 200, 500, 1,000

applicants for these remote data

211

: 00:09:39

analyst jobs, and you have to stand

out in this applicant tracking system.

212

: 00:09:42

You have to stand out to a computer,

and so really all it really has is your

213

: 00:09:46

resume and sometimes your LinkedIn.

214

: 00:09:48

So you obviously wanna make sure

that those things are up to snuff,

215

: 00:09:51

as optimized as possible, that they

have all your listed skills, and

216

: 00:09:54

a link to your portfolio as well.

217

: 00:09:55

Also, if you can actually show that

you've worked remotely before on

218

: 00:09:58

your resume or your LinkedIn, that's

bonus points because, oh, look it,

219

: 00:10:01

they actually have done this before.

220

: 00:10:03

We trust them.

221

: 00:10:03

If you haven't worked remotely

before, then you can give some sort

222

: 00:10:06

of bullet points that you can be

dependable, and you can communicate

223

: 00:10:08

clearly, and that can be, uh, suffice.

224

: 00:10:10

But in my opinion, you really wanna

skip this whole applicant tracking

225

: 00:10:13

system if you can, and you can do that

through networking in two different ways.

226

: 00:10:17

Number one is by getting a referral, which

I know is easier said than done, but a lot

227

: 00:10:21

of aspiring data analysts don't even try.

228

: 00:10:23

They just think, "Oh, I don't know anyone.

229

: 00:10:25

How am I ever going to get

a referral at a company?"

230

: 00:10:27

But false.

231

: 00:10:28

You know lots of people.

232

: 00:10:29

Look to your left, look to your right.

233

: 00:10:31

There's people around you.

234

: 00:10:32

And if you're by yourself, re-listen to

this in like, I don't know, eight hours,

235

: 00:10:35

and you're probably next to someone else.

236

: 00:10:36

My point here is you have neighbors,

you have friends, you have family, you

237

: 00:10:39

have cousins, you have soccer teammates,

you have pickup parent buddies.

238

: 00:10:42

Like, there are people around you

who could refer you to a job that you

239

: 00:10:46

just aren't thinking about right now.

240

: 00:10:47

And the key part here is they don't

have to be a data analyst They

241

: 00:10:49

just have to work at a company

that would hire data analysts.

242

: 00:10:52

Start talking to them.

243

: 00:10:53

Start talking about what you're looking

for, start talking about your work life

244

: 00:10:56

when you see them, and just like, "Hey,

this is the job I'm kind of going for.

245

: 00:10:59

I want to become a data analyst,"

and you'll be amazed what happens.

246

: 00:11:01

I promise you, there's miracles.

247

: 00:11:03

I've seen so many people in my program.

248

: 00:11:04

In fact, we've had one, uh,

lady who talked to her friend

249

: 00:11:07

and got hired basically with,

like, a 15-minute interview.

250

: 00:11:10

She now works remotely as a

data analyst in Houston, Texas.

251

: 00:11:13

She was an esthetician beforehand,

no technical experience, and now

252

: 00:11:16

a remote data analyst, all because

of one person that she knew.

253

: 00:11:20

It was her friend's husband

who knew someone, I think.

254

: 00:11:23

So just open your mouth.

255

: 00:11:24

On your girls trip, start

talking, and you'll be amazed.

256

: 00:11:26

The other thing that you can do to

network is actually network with

257

: 00:11:29

the recruiter or the hiring manager

that is responsible for this role.

258

: 00:11:32

And you might be thinking, "Avery,

I have no clue who this is."

259

: 00:11:35

And you're right.

260

: 00:11:36

For most jobs, you don't know who the

hiring manager or the recruiter is.

261

: 00:11:39

So what do you do?

262

: 00:11:40

Well, a lot of hiring managers and

recruiters will actually post on LinkedIn

263

: 00:11:43

about the job that they're hiring for.

264

: 00:11:45

And if you find these types

of posts right here, you can

265

: 00:11:47

actually figure out who they are.

266

: 00:11:49

So r- in this instance, Tyler

says, "My team is hiring.

267

: 00:11:52

We're looking for a digital analyst

to join Urban Outfitters," which

268

: 00:11:54

is, like, the cool clothes company,

right, "uh, analytics team to

269

: 00:11:57

help run our A/B testing program."

270

: 00:11:59

Sounds really cool.

271

: 00:12:00

I like that job a lot.

272

: 00:12:01

I'm very interested.

273

: 00:12:02

And so I could actually comment on this

post or I could reach out directly to

274

: 00:12:05

Tyler on LinkedIn, send him an InMail, uh,

and say, you know, "I'm really interested.

275

: 00:12:09

Here's a project I've done

with A/B testing previously.

276

: 00:12:12

Like, I think I'd be a really

good fit for this role.

277

: 00:12:14

Let me know if I'm a good fit," or,

"What advice would you have for me?"

278

: 00:12:16

Or whatever question you want to ask.

279

: 00:12:18

You can send some sort of a cold message.

280

: 00:12:19

You could also leave a

comment saying the same thing.

281

: 00:12:21

Now, how do you find these types of posts?

282

: 00:12:22

It's a little bit difficult.

283

: 00:12:23

I've made a video in the past about

how to actually do this step by step.

284

: 00:12:26

The easier option is just let me find

them for you and give them to you.

285

: 00:12:30

So I created a second job board

called premiumdatajobs.com.

286

: 00:12:33

That's literally only these types of jobs

that have a LinkedIn post where the hiring

287

: 00:12:37

manager or the recruiter has posted them.

288

: 00:12:39

You can comment or send an InMail to

them directly and skip the ATS altogether

289

: 00:12:43

and become one of the first names

that they actually see in their inbox.

290

: 00:12:46

I specifically hunt for jobs that

are posted within 24 hours and that

291

: 00:12:49

are good fits for people like you.

292

: 00:12:51

If you want to check it out, you

can go to premiumdatajobs.com,

293

: 00:12:53

which that actually brings me to step

number five, which is to search smartly.

294

: 00:12:57

Now, obviously, you can just go to

LinkedIn Jobs and turn on the remote

295

: 00:13:00

setting and apply for jobs that way.

296

: 00:13:02

But that's kind of what

everyone does, so here are a few

297

: 00:13:04

suggestions that I can give you.

298

: 00:13:06

Number one, try a different job

board that most people don't do.

299

: 00:13:08

My free job board, findadatajob.com

300

: 00:13:10

is a great place to start.

301

: 00:13:12

We have a remote filter

there that you can test out.

302

: 00:13:14

Number two, there's a bunch of

remote first job boards, like

303

: 00:13:17

Remote OK or Remote Rocketship.

304

: 00:13:19

These post only remote jobs.

305

: 00:13:21

They're not data specific, but they have

good options for you to check out, and not

306

: 00:13:24

a lot of people are checking those out.

307

: 00:13:25

And number three is to actually find

remote first companies, companies

308

: 00:13:29

that- actually care and do remote work.

309

: 00:13:32

Then you go to the jobs available

and careers on their website and

310

: 00:13:35

apply directly on their website.

311

: 00:13:37

Oftentimes, you might notice a job faster

than other people, or you might have a

312

: 00:13:40

better chance of g- doing well in the ATS

if you apply directly from the website.

313

: 00:13:44

Now, I made a list of 50 remote-first

companies right here that'll pop up

314

: 00:13:48

on the screen if you're watching this.

315

: 00:13:50

If you're listening, obviously you

can't see it, but companies like GitLab,

316

: 00:13:53

Zapier, Buffer, Basecamp, HubSpot.

317

: 00:13:56

These are remote-first companies,

and I'll have a link in the

318

: 00:13:58

description down below so you can

see all 50 remote-first companies.

319

: 00:14:02

You guys, it's really hard to

land a remote data analyst job,

320

: 00:14:04

but I promise that you can do

it with these five cheat codes.

321

: 00:14:07

I hope this helped.

322

: 00:14:08

If it did, I will see

you in the next episode