The Analytical Talent Shortage

 

 

If your business requires an analyst with strong skills in Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager or SQL, don’t be afraid to opt for somebody who needs training. In the current talent-short climate, it’s the businesses which are willing to invest time in upskilling employees and hiring people who are motivated to work hard and embrace the training that are getting the steal on their competitors.

 

If you hire for attitude and train for skill - particularly at junior to mid-Level (30-50K) - then you could be lucky enough to attract some of the brightest sparks on the market. Okay, so they’ll need a little fine tuning but in the long-run, it will be well worth it.

 

This doesn’t mean you need to recruit total rookies. But if a candidate is already competent and a good culture fit with your organisation, then it’s worth your while spending 3 months training them; you’ll reap the rewards for a long time afterwards. Otherwise, you could easily find yourself waiting for 3 months (or longer) in the hopes of finding an ‘expert’, who may or may not turn out to be a good fit for the team.

 

This approach will also enhance your staff retention rates. Employees who receive ongoing training and upskilling will be more motivated to stay and will have more loyalty to a business that has invested time in training them.

 

 

The primary reason for Data & Analytics professionals to seek a new role is career progression. So you’ll find it hard to recruit people who already have all the skills you’re looking for. Because if they do, then they’re already in a similar role.

 

Add into the mix that most candidates will be ‘counter offered’ by their current employer. So to make them choose your organisation, your offer needs to represent a progression from not only their current role, but also any improved offer their existing employer may try and tempt them with.

 

 

Gone are the days of making candidates jump through hoops during interviews to prove that they are worthy of the role. It is now much more of a level playing field, with businesses realising the importance of Data & Analytics talent.  So be sure to use the interview process to convince candidates that your organisation is an amazing place to work. Talk about all the perks on offer, how you envisage their career progression, and make them aware of training and development opportunities.

 

A good interviewer will find out if the candidate can do the job, whilst a great interviewer will do this at the same time as selling the business and the opportunity to work there.