What Makes A Great Analytic Professional? - Fisher … OSU... · · 2012-05-25What Makes A Great...

What Makes A Great Analytic Professional?

@BillFranksGA

www.linkedin.com/in/billfranksga

www.youtube.com/user/billfranksga/videos?view=1

www.tamingthebigdatatidalwave.com

[email protected]

www.Bill-Franks.com

2 Proprietary and Confidential to Teradata and Bill Franks. Do not distribute without permission.

The Big Data Tidal Wave Is Coming…

…Will your organization have the right talent to tame it?


Who Is The Analytic Professional?

Analyst

Predictive Modeler

Statistician Advanced Analytics Consultant

Data Scientist

Data MinerCommon Question:

Do others share your view of the similarities?


Analytic Professionals: Common Misconceptions Miss The Mark

• It is not just about:

• Programming skills

• Statistics and math skills

• Advanced degrees in relevant fields

• Specific industry experience

• Hire knowledge and skills, not just check boxes!

• Most great analytic professionals are an exception

• Some examples…

Many skills are necessary, but not sufficient


Some Critical, Yet Underrated, Traits Of A Great Analytic Professional

• Commitment

• Creativity

• Business Savvy

• Presentation Skills

• Intuition

Note: The traits are listed in no particular orderCommon Question:

What about other traits?


CommitmentTraits Of Great Analytic Professionals (1 of 5)

• Commitment benefits every profession

• People either have it or they don’t

• Don’t waste your time on someone without it


CommitmentTraits Of Great Analytic Professionals (1 of 5)

Assessing candidates:

• Listen carefully to how a candidate describes their work

• How do they deal with problems?

• Do they go the extra mile?

• Once hired, it is very easy to see if someone has this or not


CreativityTraits Of Great Analytic Professionals (2 of 5)

• This is not the first thing most people think about

• Every analytic endeavor is different…

• Every data source has issues…

• There are many ways to frame a problem…

• Need to aim for improvement, not perfection

Common Question:Aren’t analytics all about formulas and not creativity?


CreativityTraits Of Great Analytic Professionals (2 of 5)


• Creativity is a rare trait in those with the technical skills

• Ask how they dealt with some “Oh #$%@!!!” moments

• A creative person will have a good story, not a list of steps


Business SavvyTraits Of Great Analytic Professionals (3 of 5)

• Analytic professionals are an odd hybrid

• Strong business and technical skills are required

• Ability to focus on the important is key

• Cultural awareness is critical

• Business savvy ≠ experience

Common Question:Are there any other examples of focusing on the important?


Business SavvyTraits Of Great Analytic Professionals (3 of 5)


• Ask why they made the decisions they did

• You should hear some practical and business considerations

• If you just hear technical criteria, be wary


Presentation SkillsTraits Of Great Analytic Professionals (4 of 5)

• Must be able to engage non-technical audiences

• Technical details will lose a business audience

• Results aren’t the most important factor of success

• Why do the results matter & what should be done?

• It is all about storytelling…




• Take a test drive: Have them present at the interview

• Ask for articles, white papers, etc.

• Check out their social media presence

• You’ll see exactly where they stand

Common Question:Do even junior people need these skills?



• Below are actual slides from a candidate presentation

• The person did not get the job…


IntuitionTraits Of Great Analytic Professionals (5 of 5)

• Very hard to quantify

• Is the right decision usually made the first time?

• Must win trust from business partners

• Analysis requires a lot of art with the science

• Must be a data artist as well as a data scientist!


IntuitionTraits Of Great Analytic Professionals (5 of 5)


• Hard to list criteria that aren’t too “squishy” for HR

• Ask about background in art, music, or other creative area

• Once hired, you’ll see over time if someone has it

Common Question:Does artistry imply that two people will get two answers to

the same problem?


Analytic Certification:Needed or Noise?

• Many certification programs are being started

• By necessity, they are focused on technical skills

• Certifications can be helpful as a starting point

• Return to the concept “Necessary, but not sufficient”

• Use such certifications in context


Match!!!

However, the match is using a highly structured shape,

not the print itself…

Key Points About Unstructured Big Data

•Very few methodologies directly analyze unstructured data

•Unstructured data is usually pre-processed so that some structure can be applied to it

•The result is highly structured & much smaller than the source


Does Big Data Change Everything For Analytic Professionals?

> No…

> Your fundamental data and analytic strategies won’t change…

> You may need some new tools and tactics…

> However, the big picture remains:

� Driving value from data through effective analytics

Don’t let big data intimidate your organization!


Great Analytic Professionals…

• “Get” data

• “Get” the business issues

• “Get” how to frame problems

• “Get” that they are artists as well as scientists

• Will be able to tame big data for you!


If You Enjoyed The Talk, Don’t Miss The Book It Was Based Upon!

“This book, then, puts the focus squarely where it belongs in my opinion. It’s primarily about the effective analysis of big data…”- Tom Davenport, Author, Competing on Analytics

“This is a one-stop handbook for anyone who wants to understand what big data is and how to leverage it through advanced analytic processes and methods...”—Stuart Aitken, CEO, dunnhumby USA

“In my entire career of researching and lecturing on analytics, I have never encountered a book that combines the knowledge of both information technology and business managers in such a succinct way.”—Diego Klabjan, Professor at Northwestern University; Director, Master of Science in Analytics

THANK YOU!

www.linkedin.com/in/billfranksga

www.youtube.com/user/billfranksga/videos?view=1

www.tamingthebigdatatidalwave.com

[email protected]

@BillFranksGA www.Bill-Franks.com

What Makes A Great Analytic Professional? - Fisher … OSU... · · 2012-05-25What Makes A Great...

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