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- 🚀 My Resume was the Problem: How I fixed it
🚀 My Resume was the Problem: How I fixed it
Discover how a simple yet profound change to a resume ignited a successful transition from the oil and gas industry to data analytics in this week's "from X to Tech."
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When I started applying for jobs in data analytics, I expected it to be a quick search. I had the experience, the skills, and the education. Although I came from the oil and gas industry, I had been generating insights from data for almost a decade. This included working for 5 years in data modelling and analytics. I understand data, am exceptionally great with spreadsheets, and was on my way to becoming an SQL guru.
Also, because of my MBA education in Canada, I was able to build a solid network quite fast and was getting those referrals in. So, I was sure recruiters were viewing my applications. The only problem - I kept receiving rejection emails. It was not until one of my mentors from Skillful (now The Commons), Max, took a look at my resume that we narrowed down the issue.
You see, my resume was filled with words like reservoir, petrophysical, seismic, Petrel, and Reservoir Characterization. Do these words mean anything to you? Probably not. That’s because unless you're a geologist or petroleum engineer, these words don’t mean much. In the oil & gas industry, my resume would kick ass. And it did; I got an interview as a geophysicist with Suncor with that resume. But while looking for a job as a data analyst in a SaaS company, it was not moving the needle.