One of the main questions I get asked by professionals who are interested in getting started in a data related career is “what is the most valuable skill they should learn when applying for jobs”. There are many answers to this question that include having strong technical skills (such as working with SQL, Python and/or R), to having strong math skills (such as understanding what it means to have results that are statistically significant). These are examples of how you can help an organization, but the most important question is why should they hire you.
The reason an organization will hire you is because they expect you to create an IMPACT. This topic is where people tend to focus the least yet it is absolutely essential. An organization hires people to provide value to their bottom line. All the math and coding skills are useless unless they are applied to address problems that create an impact. Too frequently I notice very skilled individuals talk about their proficiency with certain tools and algorithms but fall flat in explaining what is the “business problem” that they are trying to solve.
There are a few ways you can create an impact. Below I highlight three main forms that I frequently hear:
Increase Revenue
You can create an impact in an organization through the generation of revenue. The goal is to work on a product or service that makes money. An example of this are product recommendation systems. When you shop online at websites such as Amazon, they recommend other products you might like based on your purchase history. If each customer ends up buying a few of the recommended products, it will generate more revenue, that otherwise would not have been obtained without the recommendation.
Reduce Costs/Loss
In this case your goal is to save the organization money. One way of solving this is by improving a process. For example, assume you work for a financial institution where a certain percentage of the credit card transactions are fraudulent. This can cost the company quite a bit of money. However, if you can help determine which transactions are fraudulent you can save the organization a lot of money.
Provide Insights
Providing insights can be helpful for organizations to make decisions. For example, let's say a person is trying to sell their house and has $10,000 they could invest in a few upgrades before listing their home. They may consider doing one or more of the following: paint the walls, renovate the kitchen, remodel the bathrooms, change the windows to be more energy efficient, upgrade the plumbing system, get new appliances, etc. Given that their budget will not allow them to do all these changes, the homeowner must decide where they should invest to get the most bang for their buck. An algorithm that analyzes similar properties that have been sold can help identify which item(s) would provide the best return of investment.
Note that all of the examples above can be solved using various tools and mathematical algorithms. If you can identify business problems that create an impact for the business regardless of the tools and algorithms used, then you will address the why a company should hire you.