Analyse the analyst: How to secure a Web Analytics hero!

Sep 7, 2015 2:08:33 PM

This year has already been a great year in the web analytics world. We have witnessed increasing demands for talented Web Analysts from many of our data driven ecommerce clients. Web Analytics is playing an ever-important role inside digital marketing teams and companies are now fully relying upon analytics to drive growth in their bottom line.

The web analytics sector has also come a long way in the past few years and it’s rapidly changing. It’s a really exciting space to work in and constantly evolving. We have seen new advanced tools flooding the market, continued growth in the Internet of Things (IoT), hype around predictive analytics and innovation around cloud analytics.

Analytics is quickly becoming 'the air companies breathe and the oceans in which they swim,' according to Deloitte’s report Analytics Trends 2015: A Below-the-Surface Look.

What is the current climate for Web Analysts?

Although there have never been as many skilled web analysts as there are today, talented candidates are still very hard to find and especially tough to hire. There are many more web analyst vacancies on the market than there are candidates, making it a very candidate driven market.

This means when a web analyst candidate is looking for a new job they have the luxury to be very selective about which organisation they want to join, particular about the work they want to perform and demanding about what salary they want to earn.

Picture this: a good web analyst candidate will receive on average 3 Linkedin messages a day from employers / recruiters and around 1 headhunt call a week at their desk. When these candidates become active on the job market they can easily collect multiple job offers from different employers at once and will probably get counter-offered by their current employer. 

What does a Web Analyst look for in a role?

Having been immersed in the world of web analytics recruitment, I have collated some of the most important reoccurring questions candidates will ask before accepting an interview request and even more so, a job offer:

  • Is it a data driven company?
  • Is the senior management receptive to change? Will they be easily influenced, fluid and quick to respond to new ideas or products? The current perception given from candidates is that it’s extremely challenging and time consuming to implement change in very large corporate organisation.
  • Do they embrace agile methodologies and lean thinking?
  • What goals / KPIs will I be measured on? In the case of non-transactional companies, Web Analysts will find it arduous to measure short-term success and to justify the need to have a web analytics team.
  • What do they want to achieve out of Analytics? What value do I bring to the organisation? Is there a clear problem to solve? Clarity around what the employer wants to achieve and to do with this data is very important. As stated by William: “If you do not know how to ask the right question you discover nothing”
  • What happens once I finish setting-up the analytics correctly? Is there progression?
  • Is there a budget to implement and test latest tools and do they have the infrastructure to implement more advanced technologies?
  • If so, is there a budget (or even time) to get trained and test these new tools?
  • Do I believe in the product and company? Am I going to be passionate enough about the product to get fully absorbed in the all this data?
  • Will the role be fulfilling enough, with lots of autonomy to solve problems?
  • Are they serious about all these required skill-sets in the job description? (This question usually followed by a nervous laugh). More often than not, job descriptions look more like wish lists; making it apparent the employer is actually searching for 3 people for the price of 1.

Just remember that installing a web analyst culture in your organisation will certainly bring change. Good change.  

What do you think?

Share your thoughts on this post - whether you agree, disagree or have your own insight to share, we want to hear from you!

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