How Data Professionals Can Impress Even When Busy

While there may be plenty of room for advancement even when busy, how to achieve that isn’t always clear. In that spirit, here are five ways you can impress your company leadership.



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The upcoming holiday season provides the ideal opportunity to make an impression as a data professional. It’s a busy time of year, and given the field’s recent growth, company leaders may be looking to promote some workers in 2022. If you impress now, you can move to the next step in your career before long.

While there may be plenty of room for advancement in the holiday season, how to achieve that isn’t always clear. In that spirit, here are five ways you can impress your company leadership.

 

1. Showcase an Understanding of Business Needs

 
The difference between a junior and senior data professional is often more about business acumen than technical expertise. Those who succeed in the field understand why companies are interested in data science and how to deliver in those areas. The holiday season is also an excellent time to showcase that understanding.

Amid the pandemic, 75% of American shoppers adopted a new shopping behavior. Retail companies will need to adapt to these changes this holiday shopping season, and you can help serve that need through data. Enriching first-party data with third-party data and making sense of the results will help these partners succeed amid these shifts.

When you understand these business/data relationships, you can deliver better results and impress customers. These results will, in turn, impress your boss. Showcasing how you can deliver tangible business benefits from data demonstrates your value as an employee.

 

2. Look for Ways to Improve Productivity

 
You can also look to deliver business benefits within your company’s internal operations. Data analysis and science often involve a lot of manual work. For example, up to 80% of AI project time goes towards labeling and preparing data. All of this slow, manual work leaves room to improve productivity.

Start noting which processes in your day-to-day work take the most time and compare them to which deliver the most value. As you compare these factors, you may find ways to adjust workflows to improve team efficiency. You can even try implementing these changes in some of your own tasks to see how they work.

After finding potential areas to improve, present your findings to your management. This demonstrates initiative and care for the company’s bottom line, which leaders will look for in a senior employee.

 

3. Find New Possible Clients

 
Another way to deliver value to your company this holiday season is to look for potential new customers. Data science is a rapidly growing field, so many businesses in traditionally non-data-centric industries will now be interested in these services. Reaching out to these companies could gain your company new clients.

For example, the trucking industry is slowly becoming increasingly data-centric. Data analytics can help fleets save fuel, reduce equipment downtime, and more, yet integrating data into these operations is a relatively new trend. You can look into companies in this field or those like it to find new customers for your company.

These new connections can bring more revenue to your company, which leadership will doubtless appreciate. Taking the initiative to reach out will make you stand out this holiday season.

 

4. Develop Your Technical Skills Outside of Work

 
While soft skills and business knowledge are often the most significant factors in progressing in data science, technical skills are still important. If you take the time to hone your data talents outside of work on personal projects, you can impress your management.

Gaining new certifications in your free time can demonstrate initiative and respect for the field. This also shows your boss that you take advancing in your career seriously. You can emphasize these factors by looking for personal projects that are still relevant to your company’s niche and goals.

One important aspect of these projects to focus on is how you present your progress to your seniors. Data science managers say they want people who can communicate concisely for senior data scientist positions. If you can present your personal projects concisely and clearly, you can demonstrate what your management is after.

 

5. Stay on Top of Developing Data Trends

 
Finally, you can impress this holiday season by showcasing an awareness of growing data science trends. This is a new and developing field, so staying abreast of these changes can be critical to a business’s success. If you can show your boss that you stay up to date on these developments, you can leave a lasting impression.

You can stay updated on these trends by reading updates from industry-leading organizations or data science forums. If you notice any growing or promising trends, bring them up around company leadership, either in casual conversation or relevant meetings. If you show that you understand these developments beyond knowing buzzwords, you may impress them.

 

Advance Your Career in 2022

 
This holiday season is the perfect time to impress management and advance in your career. If you want to move forward in 2022, follow these steps to make an impression on your boss as the year closes.

Advancing in data science often comes down to demonstrating how you can bring your company value in this field. These steps will show your skills and knowledge, helping you earn the position you deserve.

Bio: Devin Partida is a big data and technology writer, as well as the Editor-in-Chief of ReHack.com

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