Recruiting & Interviewing Panel Takeaways

I recently had the great fortune to moderate a panel with some amazing people for the DC Data+Women meetup.  If you are in the DC area and want to check out the meetup, you can learn more information here.  

For this quarter's meetup, we held a recruitment panel discussion followed by speed mentoring and networking.  Our panel included Ann K. Emery, Eric Duell, Executive Director of Applied Analytics, Comcast Communications; Emily Vose, Deloitte Consulting, and Meghan Marie Fowler-Finn, of DDOT.   The focus of the panel was on recruitment, interviewing, and career transition advice.  The panelists delivered great insight and was very generous with their time in talking with attendees afterwards.  

The Takeaways

• Recruiters and potential employers are looking at LinkedIn (LI).  One point that seemed to surprise a lot of attendees?  People look for and at recommendations on LI. 
• When you list a skill, it's always a good idea to have a good working knowledge of it.  In an interview, if you start discussing a technical skill, be prepared to discuss it in depth.  Taking one class in python does not mean you are an expert for a python developer job.
• Be open and honest.  Especially at larger consulting firms, you might not be the best fit for the position you applied for, but may be good fit for another position in the future.  Be open and honest about what you're looking for in a job and whether your skills are commensurate with the position posted. 
• If contemplating going independent, ensure you have enough savings o cover expenses for an extended period.  Our panelists recommended 12 months.  Work the numbers to see what it will take for you. The average ramp up time for data visualization work is approximately four months, based on panelist and attendee's experience. 
• For women, know that you do not need to have every single bullet point in the job qualifications section to apply for the position, whereas men tend to apply based on their belief in their skills and their ability to learn. This is where I interjected with a piece of advice that I learned from Women Empower Expo 2018.  When in doubt, ask yourself: What would corporate dude do?  And then do that.  

There was such good interaction from the attendees and the panelists at this event.  Though the panel lasted about one hour, it could have definitely gone on for another 30 or 60 minutes! 

I hope these takeaways were useful. If you have any questions, are interested in participating in the next data+women meet ups, or would like a moderator or speaker for an internal workshop on recruitment in the data field, you can contact me at [email protected].