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CV Tips for Web Analytics



Contributed By Sam Jones

Working in a recruitment agency means reading a lot of CVs, I would say something around 50 per day. Having spent over five years in analytics recruitment I’d estimate I’ve scanned over 60,000 CVs, and there is probably a good chance I’ve seen yours.

I’m going to share some brief advice on what a recruiter loves and hates to see on a web analytics CV. Please take my bluntness on the subject as friendly advice!


The bad ones:

  • Avoid using company logos, graphs/pie charts, strange fonts, colourful text, silly email alias’s and pictures of yourself. Anything out of the ordinary leaves you open to judgement, which is usually something negative.
  • Keep it to 2 pages. Difficult for some, but bear in mind that if a top MBA strategic consultant with 15 years’ experience can summarise their career on 1 page, you can do it on 2. No small font or walls of text; it simply isn’t going to get read.
  • Long paragraphs and lengthy introductions (more than 3 lines), lack of bullet points, page borders and poor layouts, such as using tables and grids, are always a bad sign.
  • Quoting LinkedIn referrals and multiple references to social media are not advised.
  • Don’t oversell technical skills. You will get caught out at interview.  
 

A good CV will be structured as follows:

  • A simple header with only your relevant contact details.
  • A short introduction outlining skills and aspirations for the next career move (no longer than a few lines).
  • Key technical skills section (list these with your strongest first). This is a good place for buzz words which both recruiters and clients search for. Don’t include too many and if you are looking to get into web analytics avoid lots of PPC/SEO references as they just aren’t relevant. You may want to add academics details here, or some prefer to leave it at the bottom of a CV.
  • Work experience. Keep sections clear and concise with dates and any long gaps explained. More info should be given to most recent work and earlier career information can be summarised towards the end. Bullet points are a must throughout.
  • Use buzzwords and technical tools a second time here. Remember to focus on any key projects and achievements and explain what you actually did.
  • An experienced web analyst may want to add a few bullet points under each section of Digital analytics / Optimisation / Technical / Key achievements to really showcase skills.
Personal/other. Any personal interests that are relevant. Nothing too strange or that again might leave you open to judgement!

To summarise:

The first impressions of your CV are very important and an experienced recruiter or client is likely to make some sort of decision in the first few moments of scanning it so make sure you get the basics right.

A CV's only purpose is to get you an interview so focus on key and relevant skills that ideally mirror a job spec or position you are applying for.   

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From Idea to Impact: How Charities Use Data

It’s that time of year again. As the festive season draws near and we pull together wish lists, many of us also begin to think about how we can give back. Given that the UK spent over £7 billion this Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend, it’s not surprising that the idea of Giving Tuesday is becoming more and more popular.  But with 160,000 registered charities in the UK alone, institutions are turning to data to find new ways to stand out and make a greater impact.  Far from just running quarterly reports, charities are now utilising the insights they gain from data to inform their strategies, improve their services and plan for the future.  IDEAS Given that not every charity is lucky enough to go viral with an Ice Bucket Challenge style video, there is a need to find other ways to stand out in such a crowded market. As such, many are looking to the data they have collected to help create a strategy. Macmillan Cancer Support, one the UK’s biggest charities, wanted to see more success from one of their main fundraisers, ‘The World’s Biggest Coffee Morning’. The event, which sees volunteers hold coffee and cake-fuelled gatherings across the country was revolutionised by data. By engaging with their database and researching what motivated fundraisers, they refocused their marketing around how the occasion could create an opportunity for people to meet up and chat, such as swapping ‘send for your free fundraising pack’ for ‘order your free coffee morning kit’. Whilst these amends may seem superficial, they had a major impact increasing funds raised from £15m to £20m.  Some brands have taken this idea even further, using Data & Analytics tools to engage with potential donors. Homelessness charity Cyrenians’ data told them that there were a number of misconceptions about rough sleepers, including 15% of people believing that they were homeless by choice. To counter this they created an AI chatbot, named Alex, that allowed users to ask questions they may not have been comfortable asking a real person.  Another charity using data tools to counter common misconceptions is Dyslexia Association. Their Moment of Dyslexia campaign saw them utilise facial recognition technology; the longer a person looked at their digital poster, the more jumbled up the words and letters became. By harnessing both insights and the technology made possible by data, they were able to offer an insight into what dyslexia is like for people who previously didn’t understand.  INDIVIDUALS A big issue facing a number of charities is trust. Following a series of recent scandals, the public are more sceptical than ever of how charities are run, and their use of data is no exception. This ‘trust deficit’ has resulted in vast amount of potential donors staying away, with recent research highlighting that only 11% of people are willing to share their data with a charity, even if it means a better service.  Whilst charities with effective Data Governance are able to use their vast amount of data to enhance those business, those who mismanage it are likely to suffer. Following a cyber-attack that exposed the data of over 400,000 donors, the British and Foreign Bible Society were fined £100,000. As hackers were able to enter the network by exploiting a weak password, this serves as a timely reminder that our data needs not only to be clean, but secure.  Financial implications aside, improper data usage can also do irreversible damage to a charity’s reputation. St Mungo’s has faced criticism for passing information about migrant homeless people to the Home Office, putting them at risk of deportation. Whilst they were cleared of any wrongdoing by the ICO, this controversial use of data has had a negative impact on the charity’s image. With a decline in the number of people donating to charity overall, anything that can put people off further is bad news.  IMPACT Whilst there is more demand than ever for charities to share their impact data, there is also more opportunity. With Lord Gus O’Donnell urging charities to make data an ‘organisation-wide priority’, many are going beyond publishing annual reports and fully embracing a culture shift. Youth charity Keyfund have been able to justify how the spend their funds based on their impact data. Having heard concerns from fundraisers regarding whether their leisure projects were effective they looked at the data they had gathered from the 6,000 young people they were helping. What they found was that not only were their leisure projects effective, they had an even more positive impact than their alternatives, particularly for those from the most deprived area. This allowed them to continue to support these programs and even increase funding where necessary. Going one step further are Street League, a charity that use sports programmes to tackle youth unemployment. Rather than share their impact data in quarterly, or even annual, reports they moved to real-time reporting. Interested parties can visit an ‘Online Impact Dashboard’ and see up-to-the-minute data about how the charity’s work is impacting the lives of the people it is trying to help. This not only allows for the most relevant data to be used strategically, but also supports the business holistically, gaining donor both attention and trust. To stand out in the charity sector institutions need to take advantage of data. Not only can this be used to generate campaigns and streamline services but, when used securely and transparently, it can help rebuild trust and offer a competitive edge.  If you want to make the world a better place by harnessing and analysing data, we may have a role for you. Take a look at our latest opportunities or get in touch with one of our expert consultants to see how we can help you. 

Kirsty Garshong

29. November 2018

How Data Is Making Mass Marketing Personal

“Pretend that every single person you meet has a sign around his or her neck that says, ‘Make me feel important.’ Not only will you succeed in sales, you will succeed in life.” – Mary Kay Ash, Founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics From the very first market stall, sales have always relied on convincing individuals that what you’re selling is meant for them. The ability to connect with a person’s instincts, likes, and dislikes, is one of the key skills of any good salesperson. But as sales have moved from the market to the masses, businesses have needed to be increasingly innovative with the ways they target their specific audiences. To do this, they’ve looked to data. However, as customers become increasingly sceptical of targeted ads, just presenting your audience with a tailored advert is no longer enough. We’re having to get creative with data. Speaking to the Masses One approach brands are utilising to be more creative is, rather than using data to target, they’re using it to inform campaigns for a wide-audience. For example, Spotify’s end of year campaigns use data to recap highlights of the past year. These range from broader data about what music performed well, to data highlighting unusual behaviour from individuals.  This tongue-in-cheek approach helped reaffirm Spotify’s position as a brand who represent the zeitgeist. Furthermore, it feels personal even though it isn’t specifically targeted. If users identify themselves as part of a group being discussed they can feel as though the ad is personal to them, even if it’s on a billboard in Time’s Square.  However, there are still some risks to being so transparent with your use of data. Netflix stirred up a minor controversy when using viewing data for a light-hearted tweet. Whilst some saw the funny side, others felt that the post was invasive. Either way, it got people talking and ultimately led to an increase in views of the film they mentioned.  Using Insights to Incite Change Whilst some companies, like Spotify, use data to reaffirm their current brand, others utilise it to help them define their position. This doesn’t have to take the form of a radical change.  Nike’s recent campaign was fronted by a divisive figure within the world of US sports, Colin Kaepernick. Whilst some audiences found the move controversial, Nike’s core audience of under-35s saw this as a principled stand, repositioning one of the world’s biggest companies as a challenger brand. The move paid off and Nike saw their share price rise to an all-time high as a result of the campaign.  Data also has its place in reshaping an actual product. Take Hinge, a dating app that started life with few differentiators from its competitors. In 2017, they relaunched with a revolutionised app informed entirely from insights from their existing userbase.  Their data told them that users were “over the game” of swiping and wanted an app that allowed them to make more meaningful connections. Armed with this information, Hinge re-established themselves as an app led by unique, personal insights through a UX and brand overhaul, and are now a major player in the world of online dating.    Getting Engaged Data-driven advertising is also an excellent way to engage your audience. For example. Snickers brought their ‘You’re Not You When You’re Hungry’ campaign to life in Australia with their ‘Hungerithm’ algorithm.  The algorithm scanned 14,000 social posts across three sites every day throughout a five-week period, searching for users in a bad mood. If they found a post complaining about a traffic jam or the weather, they’d send a personalised promo code for a discounted Snickers to the ‘Hangry’ user. Across the campaign over 6,600 coupons were redeemed, and both sales and online engagement dramatically increased. Additionally, by using data that people had publicly posted, rather than their own stored information, Snickers managed to swerve any controversy.  If you are looking to create personalised ads based upon cookies and profile data, you can engage your audience without appearing too invasive. Animal rescue non-profit, the Amanda Foundation, used data to target groups without appearing too specific.  Fans of staying in and reading books were shown programmatic banner ads suggesting they adopt a cat, whilst athletic types were presented with active puppies. By loosely targeting demographics they created personal adverts that didn’t feel overly intrusive.  If you can creatively interpret data to inform targeting strategies, we may have a role for. From Marketing Analyst opportunities to Campaign & CRM jobs, we work with some of the best agencies around. Get in touch if you’d like to know more. 

Sian Taylor

01. November 2018

How Digital Analytics Are Changing The High Street

As customers, we are now looking for more and more personalisation in our shopping experiences. We expect recommendations suited to our tastes and budgets, as well as a seamless customer journey. However, this has come at the cost of the more traditional shopping trip. The retail industry, long leading the way in utilising data and insights to provide unique, tailored online experiences, has left their own bricks and mortar high street stores at risk of redundancy. Now that AI is entering the Customer Journey, there is more necessity than ever for these outlets to evolve how they operate and apply the tools they have available to develop their stores,  advancing their back office processes and in-store experiences.  Having initially been applied to just the customer journey, digital analytics are now being used to help shape every touch point throughout the sales process. From the design of the store, to sales predictions, through to product conception and final purchase. Evolving The Experience As retail executives have begun to take a closer look at their own operations, it has become clear that they need to go beyond just having enough staff during their busy seasons. With many of us now using our phones to make online price comparisons whilst in-store, the entire experience needs to change. This has facilitated a move from predictive analytics to prescriptive analytics, with data analysis being used to optimise store operations, set pricing models, and dictate the future of the high street store. Minding The Store If you’ve ever been to a busy store with more customers than cashiers, you’ll understand one of the major challenges retail businesses face. Compared to the few clicks required for us to search for, purchase, and ship an eCommerce order, having to stand in a length queue seems like a lot of effort, even for us British. It’s here where in-store analytics shine. Store owners can manage operations by optimising the number of staff required based on historical data and various scenarios gleaned from the data. Above and beyond traffic numbers, retailers can ultilise other trends and data to go one step further; weather predictions, location intelligence, peak hours and product availability provide them with the opportunity to precision manage their operations and maximise profit margin.  Beyond Customer Data Against big online retailers, such as Amazon, one of the biggest challenges has been pricing. A survey from Vista found that 81% of the British public still see the high-street store as ‘vital to the shopping experience’ and so, to maintain this level of necessity against falling online prices, shops must continue to evolve. Some leading outlets are already using new technologies to enhance the in-store experience by introducing Augmented Reality (AR) into their stores. Both Topshop and Gap have installed AR mirrors into certain outlets. Looking into these would allow you to see how the clothes you are trying on may look in different colours and styles, whilst Specsavers have an in-store app that lets you asses the best shape and size glasses for your face shape. Whilst such schemes are still in their early stages, they could be the answer for ensuring that the high-street store remains an essential part of the shopping experience. A Guiding Hand Retail businesses are now looking for a guiding hand to support them in calculating gathered data, as well as to make recommendations for future innovation. If you're looking for a permanent or contract Data & Analytics position within retail, we may have a role for you. Check out our current vacancies here. Alternatively, you can call us at +44 20 8408 6070, or email us at ukinfo@harnham.com.

Rosie O'Callaghan

18. July 2018

Risk & reward of the leap from permanent hire to contractor

Want to implement digital change through a variety of projects? Are you more interested in coding than hanging about the water cooler? Have you got 2 – 3 years of experience in your field within the field of digital and analytics? Are you a risk taker who wants to help businesses succeed in their short-term projects? If this is you, then you may want to consider a contract role within the industry. Variety is the spice of life and in our always on, always in demand world of technology, we’re growing at astronomical pace. While some businesses are racing to transform their business models, others are ready to implement their changes, but may be missing the key personnel to do so. The skill shortage gap within the industry makes it tricky for businesses to find the right person for the right job. The reason? Oftentimes, it’s because the right permanent candidates have already been placed. What to Consider Before You Make the Move One of the benefits of making the move from permanent employee to contractor is the opportunity to increase your wages. For example, someone making £50,000 per year on a day rate basis of £200, £300, or £400 per day could potentially command closer to £100,000 per year. However, there is risk in this kind of reward. It’s important before accepting a contract role to understand the risk. This type of role is project based and can last anywhere from two to six months – sometimes less, possibly more. This short term offers slightly less financial security than a more traditional role, but with the rise of the freelance economy, many who walk this path understand its important to be financially stable before making the move. Urgent projects create even more instability, but with the difficulty of finding permanent talent, day rates may increase. In other words, before you hand in your notice, be sure you’ve budgeted properly and are financially stable to take on a contractor role. But, if you’re an expert in your field, perhaps a Head of Digital Analytics, the reward of making the move from permanent placement to contract role is the opportunity to focus on what you’re doing. As a contractor, you can get back in the trenches, help guide and grow teams, and be on the cutting edge of business transformation utilizing their digital implementation road map. Be the driving force for change and avoid getting bogged down in such day-to-day rituals as office politics. Boost Your Digital Analytics CV with These Tips Want to boost your CV to the top of the pile? Follow these tips: Be specific when you reference digital analytics and/or digital implementation as a specialisation. Be able to marry web analytics tool set with R, Python, SQL, etc. Include any specialized training certificates such as Adobe Analytics Certificate. If you’re a Web Analyst familiar with Snowplow Analytics, it’s an added bonus and can boost your chances even further. For Web Analytics contract roles, Adobe Analytics and Snowplow Analytics are in particularly high demand. More and more businesses interested in doing an Adobe Analytics Implementation project often find a skills gap in this area. However, though Adobe has been around longer and is more well known, a disruptor in the industry is Snowplow Analytics which is more personalised. Your Turn Contract roles offer bite size glimpses into the digital transformations of business and the skillsets they need to implement those changes. In our Your Turn section, we want to hear from you. What projects have you worked on you found to be difficult or tricky? What might make you move from permanent to contract role? And if you’ve made the switch, what most interested you to make the move? With a shortage in the market for digital implementation specialists, what route have you followed? And if you’re interested in making the move, what draws you most toward it? We’re currently looking for implementation specialists in the travel and online gaming sectors. For more opportunities, check out our current vacancies or contact Elizabeth Stone, Recruitment Consultant with a focus on Contract Roles at +44 20 8408 6070 or email elizabethstone@harnham.com to learn more.

Elizabeth Stone

31. May 2018

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