Three Methods To Get Internal Referrals For Data Science Positions
Data science roles are quite competitive as it attracts a lot of people due to several reasons such as high paying salary, impact, and interesting working tasks on daily basis. The most difficult part of landing a job is finding a way to pass the application screening successfully. The first way is to capture the attention of recruiters, and that’s no easy feat! This will happens if you have a standing-out resume and portfolio. You can check these two articles for this: How I Got 15 More Data Science Interviews in One Month? and Hiring Manager Tips To Land Your First Data Science Job.
But there’s an alternative way to skip this step completely through internal referrals. An internal referral is to get referred or recommended to the company you are applying to through one of their current employee. Internal referrals will not only facilitate your hiring process but will also help you to improve as you will likely get constructive feedback. Internal referrals are the fastest way to get interviews in tech and are proven to improve your chance of an offer by 55%. In this article, I will discuss three granted methods to get internal referrals, especially for data science positions which are: cold emails, networking, and referral services.
Table of contents:
- Cold Emailing
- The power of Networking
- Referral services
- References
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1. Cold Emailing
Since applying to data science is very competitive and even having a standout resume and portfolio will not stop being ghosted or prevent failing to pass the screening phase. So to pass this phase a very strong technique is to have an internal referral, but what to do if you do not have connection or referrals inside the company you are applying to, the answer is cold emailing. Cold emailing is simply writing an email to the company recruiters without any prior contact. It is worth noting that even the best cold email will not help you if you are pursuing a job that you are not a good fit for. However, you should know to whom exactly you should cold email. There are four possibilities depending on the company size as listed below:
- For small companies (start-ups) with less than 50 employees, emailing the CEO or CTO works very well.
- For mid-range companies which have between 50 to 250 employees searching for technical recruiters if they have otherwise emailing a normal recruiter will be enough. Another option is emailing the hiring manager for the team you will like to join.
- For large companies with more than 1000 employees, you should be looking for technical recruiters. If you are a new graduate or searching for internships you should search for university or campus recruiters.
- For very large companies such as FAANG, there are dedicated recruiters for data science positions. You should cold be emailing them. You can find them through LinkedIn.
Now you know what is cold emailing and why it is important and to whom you should send it. It is time to know how to write an effective cold email to increase the possibilities of getting a response.
Below is eight tips that will help you to write effective cold email:
1. Keep the email short: Try to keep the email between 50 to 125 words as based on HubSpot analysis this is the ideal length to maximize your chance to get a reply.
2. Mention an accomplishment or two: Highlight a relevant achievement, put a hyperlink to a project or previous work experince that makes you worthy of response and opportunity.
3. Add urgency and establish a timeline: For example, you need a response before a certain date as you are waiting for another interview.
4. Relate personally to the recruiter or the company: Try to relate personally to the recruiter to make the email not very cold. You may have a mutual connection, live in the same city, graduate from the same university, or attended the same event before. This is important as it increases the response rate.
5. Have a specific ask: Ask directly about what you what whether it is an open position or an internship.
6. Have a strong email subject line: Without a strong subject, the email probably will not be opened. Therefore it is worth your time to craft a catching email subject that will urge the recruiter to open your email.
7. Follow up 3 times: Even a perfectly cold email sent one time will not work. You should follow at least three times. It is better to reply to the same thread so the context from the first email stays there. Do not worry about feeling too pushy, it is standard ins ales to reach out 3+ times. Send the first follow-up email after 3–4 days, and send the second follow-up 4–5 days later. Do not think putting in a 2week delay will make you come across as more polite.
8. Send the email at the right time: Sending the email at the right time will maximize the probability of getting a response. The right time is when the recruiters are free adn in the mood to respond. That means avoiding weekends, holidays, and days people typically might take as a long weekend. Figure out the time zone for the recruiters and make sure you send it during business hours. Try to send it before the lunch hours or after it in a short time, the physiology behind this is that we are counting down the minutes to lunch so probably we will be aimlessly refreshing our inbox and slack to pass time. Same with after lunch lull. The best days are between Tuesdays and Thursdays as on Monday there are always 1:1 meetings, team meetings, or catching up on work from the previous weekend.
2. The Power of Networking
As mentioned above, data science roles are quite competitive and the most difficult part of landing a job is to find a way to pass the application screening successfully. The first way is to capture the attention of recruiters, and that’s no easy feat! But there’s an alternative — skipping this step completely through internal referrals. Internal referrals will not only facilitate your hiring process but will also help you to improve as you will likely get constructive feedback. And the best way to get internal referrals is to build a good network.
Although there are various opportunities to establish a meaningful relationship with successful data scientists, I will focus on the ones you can’t go wrong trying which are conferences and social media.
1. Meetups & Conferences
Attending meetups and conferences is a surefire way to build a strong network. However, you should choose them carefully. Here are some of the important tips to find the best events:
1. Focus on the meetups held by interested companies or related to your domain.
2. Focus on technical conferences.
3. Search for moderate-size conferences, which are not too big or too small.
4. Search for regularly held events.
Once you find a good meetup, follow the tips below to build a good network:
1. Actively attend the events and make sure to make your presence noticed by asking questions and being involved in the discussion during and after the talks.
2. Ask the organizers to give a tech talk. This will not only help you develop your network and raise your profile among the organizers and attendees but will also increase your technical know-how.
3. Add people you have conversations with on LinkedIn. This will allow for further communication, especially if you are active on the platform. Asking them to meet and grab a coffee and talk more about their job and experience could bring you closer to receiving a referral in the future.
2. Social Media
Social media is shaping our current world, and it is becoming a very important tool for expanding your professional network. The most important social media sites for data scientists are LinkedIn and Twitter. Here are some tips on how to make the most of them:
1. Connect with data scientists that are working in interesting companies.
2. Interact with them through comments and like what they post.
3. Post original valuable posts on LinkedIn and Twitter daily.
4. Share your work such as projects, dashboards, and blogs.
This will help you to develop a good relationship with your network which could further turn into one-on-one communication through face-to-face or video meetings. Having a strong online presence will also capture recruiters’ attention to your profile, which could give you extra points during the hiring process.
3. Referal services
The last method to get internal referrals is through paid referral services. There are many referral services available such as ReferMarket, and MassApply.
- ReferMarket is a service that helps job seekers get referrals to the companies where they want to work. They have a network of over 100 referrers who can help you get the interview you want. They match you with employees at the companies you’re looking to join, optimizing your chances of landing an interview. they’ve partnered with employees at top-tier companies such as Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Uber, and more.
- MassApply: if want employee referrals to companies like Apple, Square, and Dropbox? They have gathered 80 referrers from the top tech companies to help you make your next move! With the beta launch of MassApply Referrals, we’ll be matching you to employees who can submit a referral to their company (and hopefully land you some extra interviews)!
4. References
[1]. https://365datascience.com/career-advice/transition-into-data-science-career/
[2]. Ace the data science interview, chapter 3
