Hi there,
Coming from a marketing background, BS degree, I'm a few months into the world of SEO/analytics (learning on my own, not employed--learning most of my stuff thru Yahoo and Google Analytics and the book Search Engine Optimization: An Hour A Day) and have formed the following opinions of the world of analytics, which I'd appreciate your feedback on as to their accuracy:
Most of this stuff is in the gray area: there are few defined rights or wrongs to doing things. Intuition is hard at work here, and lots of fudging and guesstimating is at play.
This stuff changes daily. It's hard for even the most "RSS-feeded" among us to keep up with the changes.
It's unclear what the current job market is like, and employers seem confused as to what to ask for in the world of analytics. Recognized training and work experience is another gray area. Employers don't seem to know what they're really looking for in an individual's background (years experience, training, etc.)
Those of you who are actually working in the field of analytics, a question: What types of questions were asked of you to "prove" your ability to do the job? What are employers looking for?
How's the future job outlook? I read that it's growing exponentially, but there aren't so many job offerings at this time.
Lastly, are California and New York truly the epicenters for jobs in the analytics world? They seem to outrank other states by far.
Any other words of advice for a newbie trying to make it?
Also, what' are the most in demand IT skills at this time? There seems to be so much variety-- what does one train for?
Thanks!