Comments on: Analytics Career Advice:"I am an Analytics God, I want more $$. How?"

By: Avinash Kaushik

Avinash Kaushik — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:58:32 +0000

Katie: The most elusive person in all of Web Analytics land, the proverbial purple cow, is….. a business person in WA who has medium to strong technical skills. They are sooooo rare.

So if you are willing to be exposed to the business side of things, hijack a site (no matter how small) and market the heck out of it, perhaps consider taking a couple business classes, becoming a student of Seth Godin, getting advice on how hard life is from your parents :),…. of any such thing then you just might become a purple cow.

At the end of the day data is in service of the business. Most people think the business is in service of data. Be in the first category and you'll thrive.

Good luck!!

Avinash.

By: Katie

Katie — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 07:55:52 +0000

Thank you for this great post, Avinash. I'm in the early stages of my analytics career and your layout of the possible career paths really opened my eyes. Especially the part about choosing between the technical or business side of things, as I'm currently in the process of making this choice.

I'm leaning towards business/strategy but I am not very experienced at it; on the other hand, I'm really good at the technical stuff but I can't see myself carrying on as a career techie. The question I'm trying to answer for myself is, can I learn to be good at the one despite my natural skills in the other?

This is what's going through my mind at the moment, and triggered by your very thought-provoking post. Thanks again.

By: Shankar Saikia

Shankar Saikia — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:16:11 +0000

Avinash, your post (and your books) are fantastic. More importantly, your humility is a great quality. When it comes to career advice I agree with bobj (http://www.medfaxxinc.com/) (see comment above posted on Dec 9, 2008) when he says:

"the only real monopoly allowed in the US is a "personal monopoly" …"

In other words, one of the best ways to realize your true potential and increase income is to go into business for yourself, either as a consultant or some variation of it. Of course, it depends on the individual's level of risk preference.

Avinash, you are the Peter Drucker (or Michael Jordan) of web analytics! You are an inspiration.

By: There is no room at the top for the hired help | Jeb Stone > Analytics

There is no room at the top for the hired help | Jeb Stone > Analytics — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 06:45:31 +0000

[...] Avinash Kaushik recently addressed a question perenially on our minds — how to make more money as a web analyst — by offering some very specific advice on how to choose a career path in web analytics based on your strengths and aspirations. It's a long post but definitely worth a read if you're in the field. [...]

By: This Week In Search Marketing Staffing – 12/9/08 — Internet Marketing Career Blog by Onward Search

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:33:36 +0000

[...]
The analytics expert Avinash Kaushik recently provided some great analytics career advice in his latest post, Analytics Career Advice, “I am an Analytics God, I Want More $$. How?” As someone who has climbed the analytics ladder, Avinash has some great experiences to pull from to help fellow analyst move their careers forward. As always the most important aspect to advancing your career is self evaluation. Avinash provides us with four questions to begin this:
[...]

By: medyum

medyum — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:27:00 +0000

Thank you for the great outline of the various career paths available to us analytic types.