December 22, 2025 • 30 mins
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Most aspiring data analysts struggle with knowing what projects to build. This list of 5 projects spans beginner to advanced levels and is designed to impress recruiters and hiring managers.
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⌚ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 – From construction to Senior Financial Analyst (no applications)
03:06 – Why his non-data background actually helped
08:24 – The projects + portfolio that made recruiters reach out
10:27– How LinkedIn led to a job offer
23:03 – Biggest lessons for breaking into data
🔗 CONNECT WITH JORDAN
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jtemplemba/
🔗 CONNECT WITH AVERY
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💻 Website
Mentioned in this episode:
🎉 The 2026 Cohort of The Data Analytics Accelerator 🎉
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Today I wanna tell you aboutmy friend Jordan Temple.
(00:03):
Jordan was a constructioncost estimator and a hundred
percent new to data analytics.
No experience whatsoever,
but somehow a few months later,
he landed a senior financial analyst role.
Without even applying for the job.
A recruiter actually found him onLinkedIn, messaged him, and he had
a job offer shortly thereafter.
So in today's episode, we'll talk aboutwhat Jordan did, where I helped him,
(00:24):
and how you can steal our strategyto get recruiters in your inbox and
ultimately land your own data jobs.
So let's go ahead and dive in.
But first I wanna tell youthat this episode is sponsored
by me in my own newsletter.
Every Wednesday I send a newsletterdesigned to help you land your data job.
It has a lesson, job listings,and a personal note from yours.
Truly,
it's a hundred percent free, and youcan join 25,000 other aspiring data
(00:47):
professionals@datacareerjumpstart.com
slash newsletter.
Or you can just click on thelink, the description down below.
Now let's go ahead and hop in.
Avery Smith (00:54):
our guest today is Jordan.
Jordan went through the DataAnalytics Accelerator program and
now is a Senior Financial Analyst
at a company called,
extentnet Systems.
Senior Financial Analyst.
Beforehand, I'll letyou kind of explain it.
You are a cost estimator.
Is that right?
Jordan Temple (01:10):
yeah, yeah.
So work for a general contractor.
And I was in the estimatingdepartment, but it was a lot of
budget and cost estimation forground up construction projects.
Avery Smith (01:21):
Okay, so like, is this like residential or more commercial?
Jordan Temple (01:24):
It was mostly residential multifamily apartments
and some single family homes.
Avery Smith (01:29):
Gotcha.
So if someone's building a new homeand they want to like, maybe they
had like a plan, for example, from anarchitect or something like that, or
maybe it was like a developer had abunch of homes they want to get built.
They'd come to your company andspecifically you and be like, Hey,
how much does this get a cost andyou'd kind of give an estimate
of what that project might cost.
Jordan Temple (01:46):
Yeah, exactly.
They, would approach us with theirconstruction drawings and we would look
through them and essentially put togethera conceptual budget based on what we
saw in the drawings and go from there.
Avery Smith (01:59):
Okay.
So I'm not a construction expert.
I haven't been really exposed to thatindustry very much, but that doesn't
sound super data analytics y to me.
Would you agree with that?
Or,
Jordan Temple (02:09):
Yeah.
No, it's it's definitely not reallythe the most data thing about it is
looking at historical costs just tosee What has changed over the years
that way you can use that to forecastwhat future costs are going to be.
Avery Smith (02:26):
okay.
So in a matter of a few months, you'reable to go from a role that wasn't
necessarily very related to data analyticsto a senior financial analyst role.
So that seems like a prettybig jump, especially getting
that senior in that title.
So in today's episode, I was hoping youkind of walk me through that journey of
going from, you know, this cost estimatorto a senior financial analyst and what
(02:46):
exactly it took, you know, what, decisionsdid you make that you're glad you make,
what are some things you kind of wishyou did maybe earlier in the process?
Does that sound good with you?
Jordan Temple (02:54):
Yeah, that sounds great.
Let's get started.
Avery Smith (02:56):
Okay, sweet.
So I guess maybe we'll worka little bit backwards.
So you got the seniorfinancial analyst role.
What are some of the, you know,Qualifications for this role
that they were looking for.
Jordan Temple (03:06):
One of the biggest things that they were looking for was someone
who had a construction background.
They wanted someone who I guessunderstood that side of the business.
Because first and foremost, we'rea telecommunications company.
We work with AT& T, Verizon, T Mobile.
And the big network providers andwe install fiber optic cable for
(03:28):
like outdoor and indoor facilities.
So they wanted someone that wasfamiliar with the construction
side of things and had dabbledin data just a bit for the role.
So that's, kind of their, main asks.
Avery Smith (03:41):
Okay.
And I think that's really importantto, realize is a lot of data roles.
I kind of said your backgroundwasn't very data analytics y, but
we see that that's actually kindof what they wanted in this case.
And there's actually a lot of roleslike this, no matter what role you're
currently in, if you're listening to this.
Like you can probably use it indata analytics one way or another.
We've had a lot of teachers comethrough, the data analytics accelerator
(04:02):
program, and they ended up becoming,you know, educational data analysts,
or they become data analysts for aschool system or some online learning
platform or something like that.
And in your case, you tookyour construction background.
Now you're kind of like a constructiondata financial analyst type.
Jordan Temple (04:16):
Yeah, that's, that's essentially what it is.
Avery Smith (04:19):
Okay.
Which is really cool.
I don't think I realized thatit did telecommunication stuff.
One of the projects I did in myconsulting company, Snow Data Science,
you might find this interesting, wasI helped create an algorithm based off
of historic data, like you mentionedearlier that it was for a company.
I don't even know what they exactly didbut they provided quotes of how much it
(04:40):
would install, how much it would cost toinstall I guess like high speed internet
in their like residential office places.
So a lot of the times they hadlike fiber going close to their
You know, business, but it didn'tactually tie into their business.
And so they'd want to quickly, theywant their salespeople to be quickly to
estimate the cost of what it might costthat like this, company I was calling,
(05:03):
you know, how much is it going to cost toget high speed internet in, our building?
Well, these salespeopleobviously didn't really know.
And so what we'd use is the historicdatabase, a bunch of different factors,
and try to create a predictive modelto be like, yeah, it's going to
cost, you know, 50, 000 or somethinglike that, and give these sales
people a quick and dirty estimate.
So anyway, it sounds like at least alittle bit similar in those spaces.
Jordan Temple (05:22):
It's, , somewhat similar to what we do.
Avery Smith (05:24):
Okay.
That's, really neat.
So now that, you're at this company whattools are you using on a day to day basis?
Jordan Temple (05:30):
So the role is really Excel heavy.
We do a lot of analyzing datain Excel, you know, using pivot
tables and things like that.
Other than Excel, we usePower BI a fair amount.
Not so much building reports anymore.
Most everything has alreadybeen built and put together.
Now we just utilize those in our dayto day functions, such as validating
(05:53):
costs and things like that acrossthe markets that we do work in.
Avery Smith (05:57):
Yeah, that's awesome.
First off, it's really cool that youcan land I just want everyone listening
to realize you can land a seniordata role with like just using Excel.
Jordan's proof of that, especiallyif you're leveraging that, senior,
background from construction that youhave, because you do have all those
years of experience in construction.
and then also it's just awesomethat you're using, you know, Power
BI, not necessarily that you'recreating these Power BI reports, but
(06:20):
you're able to know how they work.
If they break, you could fix them, thosetypes of things, because you are right.
That like a lot of us, especiallywhen we want to you know, when we're
new to this, we're like, Oh my gosh,I'm going to go to this company.
I'm going to start doing the coolestthings on planet earth, and I'm going
to save the world and make these coolvisualizations and dashboards and models.
But what it comes down to a lotof the time is we did that a long
(06:41):
time ago and you just need to helpfix stuff if it breaks or just
Jordan Temple (06:44):
Exactly.
Mainly just there to maintainit if something messes up.
Or if you want to create somethingon your own, you know, you would
think is beneficial to yourrole specifically, you know.
Avery Smith (06:53):
yeah.
Okay.
So that's a little bitabout what you do now.
Let's talk about how you got this role.
So what made you interested indata analytics in the first place?
Jordan Temple (07:01):
So, I'm a big baseball guy, a big baseball fan, so analytics
got really big in baseball, Idon't know, 10, 15 years ago, so.
Just that's kind of how I first gotintroduced to data analytics and that
whole train of thought and mindset.
And I've always kind of had it inthe back of my head that it would
(07:21):
be really cool to work in data.
I've got my MBA.
I took a few analyticscourses really enjoyed those.
And whenever I finished my program, I washopeful to get some sort of analyst job.
You know, that didn't work out.
I ended up getting into construction.
And worked in constructionfor several years.
Enjoyed what I did, you know, workingin construction, but knew that I wanted
(07:43):
to get into something a little more,you know, numbers and data driven.
So that's whenever I found your programand attended one of your, and, you
know, informational calls and, youknow, things took off from there.
Avery Smith (07:57):
Yeah.
Okay.
So you were kind oflike a money ball child.
Jordan Temple (08:00):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Very similar.
Avery Smith (08:02):
Yeah.
That's awesome.
I love the movie money ballof the book money ball.
Yeah, I think, analytics and baseball andsports in general is really fascinating.
And, that makes sense.
So you kind of done thisbusiness stuff in the past.
You know, you were hoping out of theMBA to maybe land an analyst job.
What do you think the main differencebetween, you know, coming out of
your MBA versus, you know, thislast time you tried to get into
analytics, what was the biggestdifference that in the end for you?
Jordan Temple (08:24):
I would say just having the hands on experience with the projects
that were done in the program and having aportfolio, you know, none of those things
were really covered in my MBA program.
It was just more or less an introductionto different analytic systems and
more theory based than application.
Avery Smith (08:42):
Yeah.
And there is a difference between thetheory and the application, isn't there?
Jordan Temple (08:46):
yeah, no doubt,
Avery Smith (08:47):
Yeah, that, totally makes sense.
For me, even when I got my master's degreeat Georgia Tech in data analytics, it's
one thing to learn the skills, right?
It's another thing to apply theskills, and then it's a whole other
thing to show off your skills.
And for me, I mean, you cankind of in, the program, I
try to do all three at once.
But if you're not cognitivelythinking through, it's really
(09:08):
easy just to stop at step one oflearning the skills and skipping the
applying and skipping the showing.
Right?
Jordan Temple (09:13):
Mm hmm.
Avery Smith (09:14):
Yeah, I agree.
I think my program did a good jobof teaching me, but didn't do a good
job at helping me make it applied andhelping me , show off those skills.
So, okay.
You joined the program.
We're doing projects forshowing off our skills.
You start doing a little bitmore stuff on LinkedIn as well.
Correct.
Jordan Temple (09:29):
Yeah, yeah.
So started posting a few times a weekutilize the articles function and
would post my module projects on those.
Reach out to different contentcreators on LinkedIn and, you know,
leave comments and engage with,other folks in the industry as well.
And that was kind of howI got my foot in the door.
Avery Smith (09:47):
Yeah.
Okay.
I like that.
Explain that a little bit more,tell the listeners, how did
you get your front of the door?
Jordan Temple (09:51):
Yeah, I mean, just being proactive on LinkedIn.
I mean, anything from posting about,you know, my, weekly goals and steps
within the program interacting withother students in the program, posting
projects asking for feedback on things.
I mean, just trying to beas proactive as possible.
Avery Smith (10:10):
Yeah.
You did a great job.
You have a great looking profile.
You, commented, you know,thoughtful, left good comments
and you also created good posts.
You know, like you mentioned, you createsome articles, you create some posts.
And eventually that got to a point wheresomeone, noticed a recruiter DMD, right?
Jordan Temple (10:27):
Yeah, yeah, that's how I have my current role is someone
DM'd me about the position askedme if I would be interested in it.
They sent over the the job description.
I read through it and did notfeel qualified for it at all.
I felt like it was just way over myhead, , they were pretty insistent that
I would be a good fit for the role.
So I was like, you knowwhat, let's go for it.
(10:47):
I had a call with someone atthe the recruiting agency.
We, spoke for 30 or 45 minutes, I wouldsay just getting more familiar with each
other, my background and things like that.
And they were like, yeah,everything looks good.
We're going to send your profile on tothe company and we'll let you know that
they're interested in moving forward.
And I would say within 30 minutesof the conversation being over, they
(11:10):
reached out and said that the companywanted to set up an interview with me.
So that was really nice.
Avery Smith (11:15):
Yeah.
And, I think there's something reallyimportant here because this was a
third party agency, recruiting agencythat reached out to you via DM on
LinkedIn said, Hey, we saw your profile.
We might think you're agood fit for this role.
And then they presented you tothe company and we're kind of like
backing you like, Hey, this is ourcandidate or one of our candidates.
We feel really strongly about Jordan.
And this is something I liketo call the job hunt reversal.
(11:39):
It takes a lot of factors, youknow, one of it is luck, right?
Because one of the reasons whythis company liked you so much
was, you were in the area thatthey were looking for, right?
They weren't like, they're lookingfor someone in a hybrid role.
We'll talk about this here in a bit.
So that was kind of like, thelocation was a good for you.
You had a great background that's on you.
Cause you had, you know, you have donethe choices you've made have given you the
background and experience that you have.
(12:00):
So that was on you.
You had a great LinkedIn profile.
You know, which is something thatwe've been working together on, like
making sure LinkedIn profile was good.
We were active on it so that we werelike hyping up the LinkedIn algorithm
to like be interested in us and, youknow, have a better chance of attracting
recruiters and stuff like this throughthat whole process, you weren't
going out and applying for that job.
(12:20):
That job was almostapplying for you, right?
Like all of a sudden, instead ofyou contacting a recruiter and
being like, Hey, please hire me.
The recruiter reached out to you andwas like, Hey, please work for us.
Jordan Temple (12:31):
Yeah, that's exactly how it felt.
I mean, it was just like yousaid, almost a reversal of roles.
Avery Smith (12:37):
How did that feel?
Like, was that a way better processthan what you did previously?
Jordan Temple (12:41):
Yeah, I mean, it definitely it was different, but I mean,
in a good way, you know, it definitelyfelt much better than me going to
these different companies websites andhaving to register for their applicant
tracking systems and, you know, massapplying for jobs, you know, it was
it was pretty effortless on my end.
They reached out, like I said,via LinkedIn, asked for my resume.
(13:02):
And if I was interested in having aconversation and that was really all
of the paperwork that I had to do.
Avery Smith (13:09):
Yeah.
And I know we'll talk about yourinterviews here in a second.
You had a few interviews after that,but you said they weren't too bad.
And I just want to emphasize to everyone,you guys can be the same as Jordan.
It really comes down to havinga good LinkedIn profile and a
good resume to rank really well.
And these recruiter algorithmsthat are going on on LinkedIn.
And then one really thing, reallyneat thing about this whole process as
(13:30):
well is if you're open to potentiallyworking in person or hybrid work, the
pool of candidates is a lot smaller.
And so you have a chance to be,I guess, the same size fish in a
different pond, a smaller pond.
And so that worked well for Jordanbecause Jordan works hybrid.
And you might be thinking,Oh, I want to work remote.
Well, Jordan right now, originallyit was one day at home, right?
(13:50):
Jordan.
Jordan Temple (13:52):
Yeah, originally it was only one day remote.
That's how it started.
Avery Smith (13:55):
But now,
Jordan Temple (13:57):
Yeah, now I work remote two days a week Monday and
Friday, so I only go into the officeduring the middle of the week,
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Avery Smith (14:05):
so basically if you reframe the word hybrid as I got to work remotely
40 percent of the time or 40 percentremote Or I had one thing that Jordan
mentioned when we were talking earlier.
I mean, Jordan, you're working on Mondayand Friday, but it's almost as if you
have an extended weekend in those cases,of course, you're still working, we're
not dogging it at work, but like, ifyou want to go somewhere, for example,
(14:27):
maybe, you want to go, I don't know,visit some family member in, you know,
one state over or go to some event.
So maybe like an NFL footballgame or an MLB baseball game.
You could leave Thursdaynight after work, right?
Work remotely on Friday and then youhave the rest of the weekend where
you're already in your location.
You know, maybe you, leave Mondaynight and you get back to work on
Tuesday or something like that.
(14:48):
Like it just really opens up alot of flexibility in my mind.
Jordan Temple (14:51):
Yeah, it definitely does, and that's one of my
favorite things about the role.
Avery Smith (14:54):
Yeah.
That's, awesome.
So I think those are the things,I mean, you obviously had the
great construction experience.
You had the data projectsdisplayed on your LinkedIn
and displayed on your resume.
Like you are a qualified candidate,but you're also, we're prepping
your prime in the pump, the LinkedInalgorithm to make sure that like,
okay, my profile is optimized.
I'm putting stuff out there.
And opening up chances, did,did the recruiting company
(15:15):
ever say how they found you?
Or is it just like, they just foundyou via LinkedIn, open to work.
Jordan Temple (15:20):
hmm.
They didn't really go into specifics,but with the company being located
in the city that I work in, they,just relocated from Chicago to
North Texas, and we're looking to...
I guess backfill some roles of peoplethat they had let go that didn't
want to relocate and , that's kindof how they stumbled across my name.
Avery Smith (15:39):
Perfect.
That's such a cool story.
Yeah.
I'm sure that was the LinkedIn algorithm.
So all that work you're puttingin ended up being worth it.
so you have this recruiter whoDMs you, you talk to the recruiter
on the phone for like 45 minutes.
They're talking about, I guess, experiencemostly, like what type of experience you
have in construction, what experience youhave in data analytics, is that right?
Jordan Temple (15:57):
Yeah, pretty much.
They just, you know, wanted me to gothrough my education background, my
construction experience kind of discussmy my portfolio projects that I had
done, tools that I had worked with, andwhat I was looking for in my next role.
Avery Smith (16:11):
So they had seen your portfolio.
Jordan Temple (16:14):
Yeah, they saw it and they were, I mean, they thought
that it looked really nice, had ahad a good mix of projects using
different, you know, analytic tools,Excel, SQL, Tableau, I think I had
some Power BI in there, or Python.
So, I mean, it was well rounded.
Avery Smith (16:30):
So yeah, they were more asking about like the, whole
portfolio or did they like dive intoone specific project, one or two
Jordan Temple (16:35):
I don't think they looked at all of the specific projects.
They looked at the Power BI one thatI had on there and they looked at
The projects that I used dealingwith Excel because the role is,
you know, Power BI and Excel heavy.
Avery Smith (16:49):
Yeah.
Yeah.
That makes sense because theywere hiring for someone who, who
needed Excel and Power BI skills.
So yeah, that's, I mean, that's one ofthe reasons why we do at least one project
with each one of the technical skills thata data analyst should know is so you at
least have one project for every skill,no matter, what they're asking for,
you at least have something, hopefully.
So.
Okay.
That's awesome.
And then they submit yourinformation to the company.
(17:09):
The company responds back within like anhour that they're interested in with you.
And then do you haveinterviews from there?
Jordan Temple (17:15):
Yeah.
I had an interview the next day withthe gentleman who's my now boss.
It was only supposed to be about a 30minute interview, but it turned into
a 55 minute or an hour discussion.
We hit it off great.
I mean, it went really well.
So after I finished that interview,I reached out to the recruiter,
told them how it went on myend after I spoke with them.
(17:37):
I guess they got with the guy thatI interviewed with and just kind of
debriefed and called me right back andthey were like, yeah, I mean, they loved
you, you know, they want to have you doanother interview, but with one of someone
who would be one of your teammates.
I was like, okay, well,yeah, that sounds great.
They wanted me to do the interviewthe following week, but I was going
out of town on a family vacation.
(17:59):
So I told them that.
they gave the company a heads upand the the company was more than
willing to, you know, wait forme to get back from vacation to
continue the interview process.
So that felt really nice.
Avery Smith (18:11):
Yeah.
That's, awesome.
And do you remember what theyasked you in those interviews?
What, were thoseinterviews focused around?
Jordan Temple (18:17):
So the first interview was really just getting to know me just as a
person just asking about my background.
I'm from Louisiana.
My boss is also from Louisiana.
We're from different parts of thestate, but we really just kind of
talked about that for a little while.
Just we, you know, we had that in commonand Really played into that and just
(18:38):
got to know each other really well.
And then was just asking mainlyabout my analytics experience.
You know, he asked about my MBAprogram, asked about the bootcamp,
what type of stuff we did.
And, you know, I was justtransparent about all of that.
And we had a really good conversation.
Avery Smith (18:56):
Yeah.
So no, like hard questions.
You felt like, like they
Jordan Temple (18:59):
No, not really.
Avery Smith (19:00):
No technical questions.
It even sounds like,
Jordan Temple (19:02):
no, no, I mean, I didn't have any technical questions in any of the
interviews that I did with the company.
Avery Smith (19:07):
yeah.
And I think, first off, I thinkthat's a factor of this company.
It sounds like, like a good companythat, you know, they want to take care
of their, people, but also I think it'sa factor of just the broad experience
you already had in construction andalso the portfolio stuff you have there.
Cause I mean, it reallydepends on the company.
Like for instance, Facebook, nomatter what you really do, they're
going to give you a technicalinterview, like no matter what.
(19:30):
Right.
So some companies have their certainthings, but really what these
companies are testing for is canyou actually do data analytics?
They're looking for some sort of proofthat you can actually do something.
And if you provide that proofin advance, you know, a lot
of the time that's helpful.
If you say, Hey, here's my portfolio.
They're like, all right, this guyseems like he knows what he's doing.
So like, we don't have tostress test them too much.
Jordan Temple (19:50):
Yeah, and I think that was the case with me.
You know, I mean, they, sawmy experience on my resume.
They saw the portfolio, the fewquestions that I was asked about
data analytics and things like that.
You know, I mean, I nailed those.
So I think the, biggest thingwas making sure that I was going
to be a good, I guess, culturalfit, you know, for the company.
(20:12):
Am I easy to get along with, youknow, I mean, how, am I going to fit
with everyone else from a culturalaspect, you know, because the company's
really big on culture and they'vegot several different organizations
within the company and that's theiremphasis, you know, is making sure that
employees are happy and comfortableand like coming to work every day.
(20:35):
So that's really big.
Avery Smith (20:37):
Yeah.
Okay.
That, makes sense.
Then you got the job offerand perks about the job offer.
what were some of thebiggest perks for you?
Like what, made youexcited about this job?
Jordan Temple (20:47):
So one of the biggest things, like I said, was
the being able to work remotely.
You know, it started out as oneday and his girl and said, you
know, working two days remote.
So that's nice.
Five weeks of PTO starting out.
That's pretty awesome.
and, you know, It's, I mean, in myexperience is unheard of the places
that I've been, you know, typicallystarting out, you don't, get that much.
(21:09):
So that both of those were, you know,really, really nice selling points.
Avery Smith (21:13):
Yeah, that's, super nice.
So yeah, better PTO, more flexible, likethose, are awesome, perks for sure.
Jordan Temple (21:19):
And I forgot about this one proximity to my home.
It's like 12 or 13 minutes from,where I live to my work, to my office.
So that's really nice as well.
Avery Smith (21:27):
That's, so awesome.
And I know one of the things we talkedabout with like the hybrid or, or remote
work Previously is like, obviouslyit's great that like we talked about
like the, I don't know, maybe youcan go see an LSU baseball game on
the weekend or something like that.
Right.
When you're on your fourday ish hybrid weekend.
But like the, good news is when you'rein the office, you're in the office,
which means you can get trainingfrom like your supervisor or, or the
(21:50):
person above you, you know, you getmore face to face time with bosses,
which is really good for promotions.
I know when during the pandemic and I wasworking at ExxonMobil, I kind of stopped
going to the office and I think it reallyhurt my progression in my career there.
So that's something I thinkthat's really beneficial.
And also it's just like, itscratches your social itch, right?
Like you get to get out of the house.
(22:11):
Jordan, do you have kids?
I can't remember.
Jordan Temple (22:13):
No kids.
Avery Smith (22:13):
Well, I have a kid.
I know sometimes I love toget out of the house now.
It's just like, all right,I got to go to work.
I got to go to work.
So but like it gets you out of thehouse, get you with some people, right?
Do you enjoy those things?
Jordan Temple (22:23):
Oh yeah.
I mean, it's, it's reallythe best of both worlds.
I mean, I enjoy it.
I mean, you know, during COVIDwhenever I was working fully remote.
I mean, it was nice, don't get mewrong, but I started to go stir
crazy being at home all the time.
So, the hybrid workmodels is perfect for me.
You know, there's Monday and Friday,whenever there's things that I
(22:44):
need to get done, I can do that.
I can You know, plan to do thosethings at home where I'm not
going to have any distractions.
And middle of the week, whenever I'min the office, if there are things
that I'm working on that I havequestions on or need to collaborate
with my team on, you know, I mean,that's what those days are for.
So, I mean, it works out perfectly for me.
Avery Smith (23:02):
Yeah, that, makes sense.
Now I want to ask you a question.
If you can go back, I'm pullingup your LinkedIn profile here.
If you can go back and you can gotalk to Jordan, you know, Jordan, just
after he finished his MBA you know,trying to hope to land an analyst job.
What would be some things you'd give him?
What would be some adviceyou'd tell him to do?
Jordan Temple (23:20):
Try to find a program similar to the one that I did and
work on applying the concepts that Ilearned in my MBA program, you know,
put together a portfolio, you know, useExcel at an advanced level SQL, some
sort of data visualization tool, be itTableau or Power BI, get more familiar
(23:42):
with those and how to apply those.
Don't just understand how they work,but apply those tools and be able
to I guess be able to back that up.
Avery Smith (23:54):
I love it.
So basically do projectsand build a portfolio.
Jordan Temple (23:58):
Yeah.
I mean that's really what it is.
I mean, , that's what it's all about.
I mean, you need to be able to provideproof that you understand how to use these
tools and be able to show that you can,and that I feel like that's the best way.
If you don't have like a work portfolio,you know, you can have something
like this where you've got projectsthat you've done on your own time.
Avery Smith (24:18):
Yeah I give this analogy a lot.
So sorry, Jordan, if you've heard it orif someone else on the call has heard it,
but it's like, if I think the Fast andthe Furious 10 movies literally coming out
sooner rather than later, although withthe strikes now, you never know, like all
these movie dates have been pushed back.
But regardless, like if you'rehiring, if you're hiring a stunt For
the fast and the furious 10 movie,which is an action movie with cars.
(24:38):
I've never seen any ofthe fast and furious.
I've actually never seenany of the fast and furious.
But like, if you're hiring a stuntdouble that has to jump over a car, who
are you going to hire the person thatsends in a resume and says, yep, I can
jump over a car or the person B thatlike sends in a resume that says, yeah,
I could jump over a car and then likesends in some sort of like, maybe some
sort of video of them jumping over a carin a movie or jumping over the car on
(25:00):
their own time or something like that.
It's like, you're going to go with personB because hiring, this is something
that you and I, you know, people whoare employed don't think about a lot.
But like hiring is expensive.
Hiring is terribly expensive becauseit takes a lot of the people's times.
One.
Usually you have to promote it on somejob platform, or in this case, for
instance, they're using a third partyrecruiter that costs money, right?
(25:23):
That costs, you know,thousands of dollars.
And then you have to like pay, havepeople fly out and interview for the job.
There's all the time that you'respent doing the interviews.
And then more importantly,It's like the training that's
going into this new person.
You just don't want to hire a dud andthen train them three months later.
Oh crap.
This person's a dud, you know, haveto let them go or, something, or
like they make some terrible mistake.
(25:44):
Like hiring is really expensive forthese companies and they want to make
sure that they're doing a good job,you know, and so they want low risk and
the, the less risk you can make yourselfappear, you don't even, it doesn't
even have to be that you're less risky.
It's the fact that you have tomake yourself look less risky.
Like that can make all thedifference in the world.
Jordan Temple (26:06):
agree.
I agree totally.
Avery Smith (26:08):
And I'm glad that you ended up, you know, talking to these recruiters
and being like, even though you didn'tfeel like you were a fit, I'm super
glad that you ended up, you know, goingthrough with it because hopefully for
people listening, that's a source ofinspiration that like, yeah, I might not
feel like I'm a good fit for this role.
So I'm not going to apply.
They don't apply, but there's a chancethey could have landed that role.
Jordan Temple (26:26):
Yeah, I mean, absolutely.
I mean, If someone reaches out to you andthey feel like you're a good fit for a
role, you know, don't sell yourself short.
I mean, there's a reasonthat they reached out to you.
I mean, they obviously thinkthat you would be a good fit.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have sentyou a message, DM'd you, and you
know, kept you in mind for the role.
Avery Smith (26:44):
Yeah.
And, and even this is an example onetime Facebook messaged me, actually they
sent me an email and out of nowhere, likea cold email, like, Hey, we'd like, we
think you'd be a great fit for this job.
And I looked at the job description andI was not a good fit for the job at all.
Not a good fit.
And I was like, all right, sounds good.
Let's do an interview.
Right.
Let's go.
(27:05):
It was like a pretty highlevel job, to be honest.
I was like, I don't think I'm a good fit.
So I get on the call with this,like, honestly, it was like this
director of like this team and shewas really nice and we're talking and
I kind of explain everything and, andshe's like, yeah, you're not really
that good of a fit for this role.
And I was like, yeah, I totally agree.
I'm not.
And she's like, but I thinkyou'd be a good fit for Facebook.
(27:26):
So let me like, let me refer you tosomeone else inside of our company.
You know, and so like, I could have justsaid, no, I'm, I'm not a good fit for this
role, or I think you got the wrong guy,but even going into that interview and to
be honest, kind of bombing the interview,because like, I just did not, I just
did not have any experience with what,it wasn't even really like a data role.
It was like a more data engineering role.
And at the time I was far lessexperienced data engineer than I am now.
(27:48):
Although I'm still not that great ofa data engineer, but like, I just was
not a good fit for the role, but thatgave me an opportunity to interview
somewhere else inside the company.
Right.
And so it's just like, I put thispost out on LinkedIn the other
day, but the hiring manager whorejects you the most is yourself.
And that's, hard to take in sometimes.
Jordan Temple (28:04):
Yeah, I mean, it really is.
I mean, and that's obviously whatI was doing whenever they first
reached out about this role.
I mean, I was disqualifying myself from itwithout knowing anything about it, really.
Avery Smith (28:14):
Yep.
So guys be like Jordan, get overthat fear, you know, go from the cost
estimator to the senior financialanalyst, have a strong LinkedIn profile,
have a strong portfolio and withtime, some stuff's going to happen.
I have faith in that.
Jordan, anything else to add?
Jordan Temple (28:32):
Yeah, I mean, if you're in Avery's program, I mean, listen to him.
Just skills, networking, portfolio.
I mean, focus on those threethings and, you know, you'll
get to where you want to go.
Avery Smith (28:42):
Appreciate you, Jordan.
Thank you so much forcoming on the podcast.
Today I wanna tell you aboutmy friend Jordan Temple.
(00:03):
Jordan was a constructioncost estimator and a hundred
percent new to data analytics.
No experience whatsoever,
but somehow a few months later,
he landed a senior financial analyst role.
Without even applying for the job.
A recruiter actually found him onLinkedIn, messaged him, and he had
a job offer shortly thereafter.
So in today's episode, we'll talk aboutwhat Jordan did, where I helped him,
(00:24):
and how you can steal our strategyto get recruiters in your inbox and
ultimately land your own data jobs.
So let's go ahead and dive in.
But first I wanna tell youthat this episode is sponsored
by me in my own newsletter.
Every Wednesday I send a newsletterdesigned to help you land your data job.
It has a lesson, job listings,and a personal note from yours.
Truly,
it's a hundred percent free, and youcan join 25,000 other aspiring data
(00:47):
professionals@datacareerjumpstart.com
slash newsletter.
Or you can just click on thelink, the description down below.
Now let's go ahead and hop in.
Avery Smith (00:54):
our guest today is Jordan.
Jordan went through the DataAnalytics Accelerator program and
now is a Senior Financial Analyst
at a company called,
extentnet Systems.
Senior Financial Analyst.
Beforehand, I'll letyou kind of explain it.
You are a cost estimator.
Is that right?
Jordan Temple (01:10):
yeah, yeah.
So work for a general contractor.
And I was in the estimatingdepartment, but it was a lot of
budget and cost estimation forground up construction projects.
Avery Smith (01:21):
Okay, so like, is this like residential or more commercial?
Jordan Temple (01:24):
It was mostly residential multifamily apartments
and some single family homes.
Avery Smith (01:29):
Gotcha.
So if someone's building a new homeand they want to like, maybe they
had like a plan, for example, from anarchitect or something like that, or
maybe it was like a developer had abunch of homes they want to get built.
They'd come to your company andspecifically you and be like, Hey,
how much does this get a cost andyou'd kind of give an estimate
of what that project might cost.
Jordan Temple (01:46):
Yeah, exactly.
They, would approach us with theirconstruction drawings and we would look
through them and essentially put togethera conceptual budget based on what we
saw in the drawings and go from there.
Avery Smith (01:59):
Okay.
So I'm not a construction expert.
I haven't been really exposed to thatindustry very much, but that doesn't
sound super data analytics y to me.
Would you agree with that?
Or,
Jordan Temple (02:09):
Yeah.
No, it's it's definitely not reallythe the most data thing about it is
looking at historical costs just tosee What has changed over the years
that way you can use that to forecastwhat future costs are going to be.
Avery Smith (02:26):
okay.
So in a matter of a few months, you'reable to go from a role that wasn't
necessarily very related to data analyticsto a senior financial analyst role.
So that seems like a prettybig jump, especially getting
that senior in that title.
So in today's episode, I was hoping youkind of walk me through that journey of
going from, you know, this cost estimatorto a senior financial analyst and what
(02:46):
exactly it took, you know, what, decisionsdid you make that you're glad you make,
what are some things you kind of wishyou did maybe earlier in the process?
Does that sound good with you?
Jordan Temple (02:54):
Yeah, that sounds great.
Let's get started.
Avery Smith (02:56):
Okay, sweet.
So I guess maybe we'll worka little bit backwards.
So you got the seniorfinancial analyst role.
What are some of the, you know,Qualifications for this role
that they were looking for.
Jordan Temple (03:06):
One of the biggest things that they were looking for was someone
who had a construction background.
They wanted someone who I guessunderstood that side of the business.
Because first and foremost, we'rea telecommunications company.
We work with AT& T, Verizon, T Mobile.
And the big network providers andwe install fiber optic cable for
(03:28):
like outdoor and indoor facilities.
So they wanted someone that wasfamiliar with the construction
side of things and had dabbledin data just a bit for the role.
So that's, kind of their, main asks.
Avery Smith (03:41):
Okay.
And I think that's really importantto, realize is a lot of data roles.
I kind of said your backgroundwasn't very data analytics y, but
we see that that's actually kindof what they wanted in this case.
And there's actually a lot of roleslike this, no matter what role you're
currently in, if you're listening to this.
Like you can probably use it indata analytics one way or another.
We've had a lot of teachers comethrough, the data analytics accelerator
(04:02):
program, and they ended up becoming,you know, educational data analysts,
or they become data analysts for aschool system or some online learning
platform or something like that.
And in your case, you tookyour construction background.
Now you're kind of like a constructiondata financial analyst type.
Jordan Temple (04:16):
Yeah, that's, that's essentially what it is.
Avery Smith (04:19):
Okay.
Which is really cool.
I don't think I realized thatit did telecommunication stuff.
One of the projects I did in myconsulting company, Snow Data Science,
you might find this interesting, wasI helped create an algorithm based off
of historic data, like you mentionedearlier that it was for a company.
I don't even know what they exactly didbut they provided quotes of how much it
(04:40):
would install, how much it would cost toinstall I guess like high speed internet
in their like residential office places.
So a lot of the times they hadlike fiber going close to their
You know, business, but it didn'tactually tie into their business.
And so they'd want to quickly, theywant their salespeople to be quickly to
estimate the cost of what it might costthat like this, company I was calling,
(05:03):
you know, how much is it going to cost toget high speed internet in, our building?
Well, these salespeopleobviously didn't really know.
And so what we'd use is the historicdatabase, a bunch of different factors,
and try to create a predictive modelto be like, yeah, it's going to
cost, you know, 50, 000 or somethinglike that, and give these sales
people a quick and dirty estimate.
So anyway, it sounds like at least alittle bit similar in those spaces.
Jordan Temple (05:22):
It's, , somewhat similar to what we do.
Avery Smith (05:24):
Okay.
That's, really neat.
So now that, you're at this company whattools are you using on a day to day basis?
Jordan Temple (05:30):
So the role is really Excel heavy.
We do a lot of analyzing datain Excel, you know, using pivot
tables and things like that.
Other than Excel, we usePower BI a fair amount.
Not so much building reports anymore.
Most everything has alreadybeen built and put together.
Now we just utilize those in our dayto day functions, such as validating
(05:53):
costs and things like that acrossthe markets that we do work in.
Avery Smith (05:57):
Yeah, that's awesome.
First off, it's really cool that youcan land I just want everyone listening
to realize you can land a seniordata role with like just using Excel.
Jordan's proof of that, especiallyif you're leveraging that, senior,
background from construction that youhave, because you do have all those
years of experience in construction.
and then also it's just awesomethat you're using, you know, Power
BI, not necessarily that you'recreating these Power BI reports, but
(06:20):
you're able to know how they work.
If they break, you could fix them, thosetypes of things, because you are right.
That like a lot of us, especiallywhen we want to you know, when we're
new to this, we're like, Oh my gosh,I'm going to go to this company.
I'm going to start doing the coolestthings on planet earth, and I'm going
to save the world and make these coolvisualizations and dashboards and models.
But what it comes down to a lotof the time is we did that a long
(06:41):
time ago and you just need to helpfix stuff if it breaks or just
Jordan Temple (06:44):
Exactly.
Mainly just there to maintainit if something messes up.
Or if you want to create somethingon your own, you know, you would
think is beneficial to yourrole specifically, you know.
Avery Smith (06:53):
yeah.
Okay.
So that's a little bitabout what you do now.
Let's talk about how you got this role.
So what made you interested indata analytics in the first place?
Jordan Temple (07:01):
So, I'm a big baseball guy, a big baseball fan, so analytics
got really big in baseball, Idon't know, 10, 15 years ago, so.
Just that's kind of how I first gotintroduced to data analytics and that
whole train of thought and mindset.
And I've always kind of had it inthe back of my head that it would
(07:21):
be really cool to work in data.
I've got my MBA.
I took a few analyticscourses really enjoyed those.
And whenever I finished my program, I washopeful to get some sort of analyst job.
You know, that didn't work out.
I ended up getting into construction.
And worked in constructionfor several years.
Enjoyed what I did, you know, workingin construction, but knew that I wanted
(07:43):
to get into something a little more,you know, numbers and data driven.
So that's whenever I found your programand attended one of your, and, you
know, informational calls and, youknow, things took off from there.
Avery Smith (07:57):
Yeah.
Okay.
So you were kind oflike a money ball child.
Jordan Temple (08:00):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Very similar.
Avery Smith (08:02):
Yeah.
That's awesome.
I love the movie money ballof the book money ball.
Yeah, I think, analytics and baseball andsports in general is really fascinating.
And, that makes sense.
So you kind of done thisbusiness stuff in the past.
You know, you were hoping out of theMBA to maybe land an analyst job.
What do you think the main differencebetween, you know, coming out of
your MBA versus, you know, thislast time you tried to get into
analytics, what was the biggestdifference that in the end for you?
Jordan Temple (08:24):
I would say just having the hands on experience with the projects
that were done in the program and having aportfolio, you know, none of those things
were really covered in my MBA program.
It was just more or less an introductionto different analytic systems and
more theory based than application.
Avery Smith (08:42):
Yeah.
And there is a difference between thetheory and the application, isn't there?
Jordan Temple (08:46):
yeah, no doubt,
Avery Smith (08:47):
Yeah, that, totally makes sense.
For me, even when I got my master's degreeat Georgia Tech in data analytics, it's
one thing to learn the skills, right?
It's another thing to apply theskills, and then it's a whole other
thing to show off your skills.
And for me, I mean, you cankind of in, the program, I
try to do all three at once.
But if you're not cognitivelythinking through, it's really
(09:08):
easy just to stop at step one oflearning the skills and skipping the
applying and skipping the showing.
Right?
Jordan Temple (09:13):
Mm hmm.
Avery Smith (09:14):
Yeah, I agree.
I think my program did a good jobof teaching me, but didn't do a good
job at helping me make it applied andhelping me , show off those skills.
So, okay.
You joined the program.
We're doing projects forshowing off our skills.
You start doing a little bitmore stuff on LinkedIn as well.
Correct.
Jordan Temple (09:29):
Yeah, yeah.
So started posting a few times a weekutilize the articles function and
would post my module projects on those.
Reach out to different contentcreators on LinkedIn and, you know,
leave comments and engage with,other folks in the industry as well.
And that was kind of howI got my foot in the door.
Avery Smith (09:47):
Yeah.
Okay.
I like that.
Explain that a little bit more,tell the listeners, how did
you get your front of the door?
Jordan Temple (09:51):
Yeah, I mean, just being proactive on LinkedIn.
I mean, anything from posting about,you know, my, weekly goals and steps
within the program interacting withother students in the program, posting
projects asking for feedback on things.
I mean, just trying to beas proactive as possible.
Avery Smith (10:10):
Yeah.
You did a great job.
You have a great looking profile.
You, commented, you know,thoughtful, left good comments
and you also created good posts.
You know, like you mentioned, you createsome articles, you create some posts.
And eventually that got to a point wheresomeone, noticed a recruiter DMD, right?
Jordan Temple (10:27):
Yeah, yeah, that's how I have my current role is someone
DM'd me about the position askedme if I would be interested in it.
They sent over the the job description.
I read through it and did notfeel qualified for it at all.
I felt like it was just way over myhead, , they were pretty insistent that
I would be a good fit for the role.
So I was like, you knowwhat, let's go for it.
(10:47):
I had a call with someone atthe the recruiting agency.
We, spoke for 30 or 45 minutes, I wouldsay just getting more familiar with each
other, my background and things like that.
And they were like, yeah,everything looks good.
We're going to send your profile on tothe company and we'll let you know that
they're interested in moving forward.
And I would say within 30 minutesof the conversation being over, they
(11:10):
reached out and said that the companywanted to set up an interview with me.
So that was really nice.
Avery Smith (11:15):
Yeah.
And, I think there's something reallyimportant here because this was a
third party agency, recruiting agencythat reached out to you via DM on
LinkedIn said, Hey, we saw your profile.
We might think you're agood fit for this role.
And then they presented you tothe company and we're kind of like
backing you like, Hey, this is ourcandidate or one of our candidates.
We feel really strongly about Jordan.
And this is something I liketo call the job hunt reversal.
(11:39):
It takes a lot of factors, youknow, one of it is luck, right?
Because one of the reasons whythis company liked you so much
was, you were in the area thatthey were looking for, right?
They weren't like, they're lookingfor someone in a hybrid role.
We'll talk about this here in a bit.
So that was kind of like, thelocation was a good for you.
You had a great background that's on you.
Cause you had, you know, you have donethe choices you've made have given you the
background and experience that you have.
(12:00):
So that was on you.
You had a great LinkedIn profile.
You know, which is something thatwe've been working together on, like
making sure LinkedIn profile was good.
We were active on it so that we werelike hyping up the LinkedIn algorithm
to like be interested in us and, youknow, have a better chance of attracting
recruiters and stuff like this throughthat whole process, you weren't
going out and applying for that job.
(12:20):
That job was almostapplying for you, right?
Like all of a sudden, instead ofyou contacting a recruiter and
being like, Hey, please hire me.
The recruiter reached out to you andwas like, Hey, please work for us.
Jordan Temple (12:31):
Yeah, that's exactly how it felt.
I mean, it was just like yousaid, almost a reversal of roles.
Avery Smith (12:37):
How did that feel?
Like, was that a way better processthan what you did previously?
Jordan Temple (12:41):
Yeah, I mean, it definitely it was different, but I mean,
in a good way, you know, it definitelyfelt much better than me going to
these different companies websites andhaving to register for their applicant
tracking systems and, you know, massapplying for jobs, you know, it was
it was pretty effortless on my end.
They reached out, like I said,via LinkedIn, asked for my resume.
(13:02):
And if I was interested in having aconversation and that was really all
of the paperwork that I had to do.
Avery Smith (13:09):
Yeah.
And I know we'll talk about yourinterviews here in a second.
You had a few interviews after that,but you said they weren't too bad.
And I just want to emphasize to everyone,you guys can be the same as Jordan.
It really comes down to havinga good LinkedIn profile and a
good resume to rank really well.
And these recruiter algorithmsthat are going on on LinkedIn.
And then one really thing, reallyneat thing about this whole process as
(13:30):
well is if you're open to potentiallyworking in person or hybrid work, the
pool of candidates is a lot smaller.
And so you have a chance to be,I guess, the same size fish in a
different pond, a smaller pond.
And so that worked well for Jordanbecause Jordan works hybrid.
And you might be thinking,Oh, I want to work remote.
Well, Jordan right now, originallyit was one day at home, right?
(13:50):
Jordan.
Jordan Temple (13:52):
Yeah, originally it was only one day remote.
That's how it started.
Avery Smith (13:55):
But now,
Jordan Temple (13:57):
Yeah, now I work remote two days a week Monday and
Friday, so I only go into the officeduring the middle of the week,
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Avery Smith (14:05):
so basically if you reframe the word hybrid as I got to work remotely
40 percent of the time or 40 percentremote Or I had one thing that Jordan
mentioned when we were talking earlier.
I mean, Jordan, you're working on Mondayand Friday, but it's almost as if you
have an extended weekend in those cases,of course, you're still working, we're
not dogging it at work, but like, ifyou want to go somewhere, for example,
(14:27):
maybe, you want to go, I don't know,visit some family member in, you know,
one state over or go to some event.
So maybe like an NFL footballgame or an MLB baseball game.
You could leave Thursdaynight after work, right?
Work remotely on Friday and then youhave the rest of the weekend where
you're already in your location.
You know, maybe you, leave Mondaynight and you get back to work on
Tuesday or something like that.
(14:48):
Like it just really opens up alot of flexibility in my mind.
Jordan Temple (14:51):
Yeah, it definitely does, and that's one of my
favorite things about the role.
Avery Smith (14:54):
Yeah.
That's, awesome.
So I think those are the things,I mean, you obviously had the
great construction experience.
You had the data projectsdisplayed on your LinkedIn
and displayed on your resume.
Like you are a qualified candidate,but you're also, we're prepping
your prime in the pump, the LinkedInalgorithm to make sure that like,
okay, my profile is optimized.
I'm putting stuff out there.
And opening up chances, did,did the recruiting company
(15:15):
ever say how they found you?
Or is it just like, they just foundyou via LinkedIn, open to work.
Jordan Temple (15:20):
hmm.
They didn't really go into specifics,but with the company being located
in the city that I work in, they,just relocated from Chicago to
North Texas, and we're looking to...
I guess backfill some roles of peoplethat they had let go that didn't
want to relocate and , that's kindof how they stumbled across my name.
Avery Smith (15:39):
Perfect.
That's such a cool story.
Yeah.
I'm sure that was the LinkedIn algorithm.
So all that work you're puttingin ended up being worth it.
so you have this recruiter whoDMs you, you talk to the recruiter
on the phone for like 45 minutes.
They're talking about, I guess, experiencemostly, like what type of experience you
have in construction, what experience youhave in data analytics, is that right?
Jordan Temple (15:57):
Yeah, pretty much.
They just, you know, wanted me to gothrough my education background, my
construction experience kind of discussmy my portfolio projects that I had
done, tools that I had worked with, andwhat I was looking for in my next role.
Avery Smith (16:11):
So they had seen your portfolio.
Jordan Temple (16:14):
Yeah, they saw it and they were, I mean, they thought
that it looked really nice, had ahad a good mix of projects using
different, you know, analytic tools,Excel, SQL, Tableau, I think I had
some Power BI in there, or Python.
So, I mean, it was well rounded.
Avery Smith (16:30):
So yeah, they were more asking about like the, whole
portfolio or did they like dive intoone specific project, one or two
Jordan Temple (16:35):
I don't think they looked at all of the specific projects.
They looked at the Power BI one thatI had on there and they looked at
The projects that I used dealingwith Excel because the role is,
you know, Power BI and Excel heavy.
Avery Smith (16:49):
Yeah.
Yeah.
That makes sense because theywere hiring for someone who, who
needed Excel and Power BI skills.
So yeah, that's, I mean, that's one ofthe reasons why we do at least one project
with each one of the technical skills thata data analyst should know is so you at
least have one project for every skill,no matter, what they're asking for,
you at least have something, hopefully.
So.
Okay.
That's awesome.
And then they submit yourinformation to the company.
(17:09):
The company responds back within like anhour that they're interested in with you.
And then do you haveinterviews from there?
Jordan Temple (17:15):
Yeah.
I had an interview the next day withthe gentleman who's my now boss.
It was only supposed to be about a 30minute interview, but it turned into
a 55 minute or an hour discussion.
We hit it off great.
I mean, it went really well.
So after I finished that interview,I reached out to the recruiter,
told them how it went on myend after I spoke with them.
(17:37):
I guess they got with the guy thatI interviewed with and just kind of
debriefed and called me right back andthey were like, yeah, I mean, they loved
you, you know, they want to have you doanother interview, but with one of someone
who would be one of your teammates.
I was like, okay, well,yeah, that sounds great.
They wanted me to do the interviewthe following week, but I was going
out of town on a family vacation.
(17:59):
So I told them that.
they gave the company a heads upand the the company was more than
willing to, you know, wait forme to get back from vacation to
continue the interview process.
So that felt really nice.
Avery Smith (18:11):
Yeah.
That's, awesome.
And do you remember what theyasked you in those interviews?
What, were thoseinterviews focused around?
Jordan Temple (18:17):
So the first interview was really just getting to know me just as a
person just asking about my background.
I'm from Louisiana.
My boss is also from Louisiana.
We're from different parts of thestate, but we really just kind of
talked about that for a little while.
Just we, you know, we had that in commonand Really played into that and just
(18:38):
got to know each other really well.
And then was just asking mainlyabout my analytics experience.
You know, he asked about my MBAprogram, asked about the bootcamp,
what type of stuff we did.
And, you know, I was justtransparent about all of that.
And we had a really good conversation.
Avery Smith (18:56):
Yeah.
So no, like hard questions.
You felt like, like they
Jordan Temple (18:59):
No, not really.
Avery Smith (19:00):
No technical questions.
It even sounds like,
Jordan Temple (19:02):
no, no, I mean, I didn't have any technical questions in any of the
interviews that I did with the company.
Avery Smith (19:07):
yeah.
And I think, first off, I thinkthat's a factor of this company.
It sounds like, like a good companythat, you know, they want to take care
of their, people, but also I think it'sa factor of just the broad experience
you already had in construction andalso the portfolio stuff you have there.
Cause I mean, it reallydepends on the company.
Like for instance, Facebook, nomatter what you really do, they're
going to give you a technicalinterview, like no matter what.
(19:30):
Right.
So some companies have their certainthings, but really what these
companies are testing for is canyou actually do data analytics?
They're looking for some sort of proofthat you can actually do something.
And if you provide that proofin advance, you know, a lot
of the time that's helpful.
If you say, Hey, here's my portfolio.
They're like, all right, this guyseems like he knows what he's doing.
So like, we don't have tostress test them too much.
Jordan Temple (19:50):
Yeah, and I think that was the case with me.
You know, I mean, they, sawmy experience on my resume.
They saw the portfolio, the fewquestions that I was asked about
data analytics and things like that.
You know, I mean, I nailed those.
So I think the, biggest thingwas making sure that I was going
to be a good, I guess, culturalfit, you know, for the company.
(20:12):
Am I easy to get along with, youknow, I mean, how, am I going to fit
with everyone else from a culturalaspect, you know, because the company's
really big on culture and they'vegot several different organizations
within the company and that's theiremphasis, you know, is making sure that
employees are happy and comfortableand like coming to work every day.
(20:35):
So that's really big.
Avery Smith (20:37):
Yeah.
Okay.
That, makes sense.
Then you got the job offerand perks about the job offer.
what were some of thebiggest perks for you?
Like what, made youexcited about this job?
Jordan Temple (20:47):
So one of the biggest things, like I said, was
the being able to work remotely.
You know, it started out as oneday and his girl and said, you
know, working two days remote.
So that's nice.
Five weeks of PTO starting out.
That's pretty awesome.
and, you know, It's, I mean, in myexperience is unheard of the places
that I've been, you know, typicallystarting out, you don't, get that much.
(21:09):
So that both of those were, you know,really, really nice selling points.
Avery Smith (21:13):
Yeah, that's, super nice.
So yeah, better PTO, more flexible, likethose, are awesome, perks for sure.
Jordan Temple (21:19):
And I forgot about this one proximity to my home.
It's like 12 or 13 minutes from,where I live to my work, to my office.
So that's really nice as well.
Avery Smith (21:27):
That's, so awesome.
And I know one of the things we talkedabout with like the hybrid or, or remote
work Previously is like, obviouslyit's great that like we talked about
like the, I don't know, maybe youcan go see an LSU baseball game on
the weekend or something like that.
Right.
When you're on your fourday ish hybrid weekend.
But like the, good news is when you'rein the office, you're in the office,
which means you can get trainingfrom like your supervisor or, or the
(21:50):
person above you, you know, you getmore face to face time with bosses,
which is really good for promotions.
I know when during the pandemic and I wasworking at ExxonMobil, I kind of stopped
going to the office and I think it reallyhurt my progression in my career there.
So that's something I thinkthat's really beneficial.
And also it's just like, itscratches your social itch, right?
Like you get to get out of the house.
(22:11):
Jordan, do you have kids?
I can't remember.
Jordan Temple (22:13):
No kids.
Avery Smith (22:13):
Well, I have a kid.
I know sometimes I love toget out of the house now.
It's just like, all right,I got to go to work.
I got to go to work.
So but like it gets you out of thehouse, get you with some people, right?
Do you enjoy those things?
Jordan Temple (22:23):
Oh yeah.
I mean, it's, it's reallythe best of both worlds.
I mean, I enjoy it.
I mean, you know, during COVIDwhenever I was working fully remote.
I mean, it was nice, don't get mewrong, but I started to go stir
crazy being at home all the time.
So, the hybrid workmodels is perfect for me.
You know, there's Monday and Friday,whenever there's things that I
(22:44):
need to get done, I can do that.
I can You know, plan to do thosethings at home where I'm not
going to have any distractions.
And middle of the week, whenever I'min the office, if there are things
that I'm working on that I havequestions on or need to collaborate
with my team on, you know, I mean,that's what those days are for.
So, I mean, it works out perfectly for me.
Avery Smith (23:02):
Yeah, that, makes sense.
Now I want to ask you a question.
If you can go back, I'm pullingup your LinkedIn profile here.
If you can go back and you can gotalk to Jordan, you know, Jordan, just
after he finished his MBA you know,trying to hope to land an analyst job.
What would be some things you'd give him?
What would be some adviceyou'd tell him to do?
Jordan Temple (23:20):
Try to find a program similar to the one that I did and
work on applying the concepts that Ilearned in my MBA program, you know,
put together a portfolio, you know, useExcel at an advanced level SQL, some
sort of data visualization tool, be itTableau or Power BI, get more familiar
(23:42):
with those and how to apply those.
Don't just understand how they work,but apply those tools and be able
to I guess be able to back that up.
Avery Smith (23:54):
I love it.
So basically do projectsand build a portfolio.
Jordan Temple (23:58):
Yeah.
I mean that's really what it is.
I mean, , that's what it's all about.
I mean, you need to be able to provideproof that you understand how to use these
tools and be able to show that you can,and that I feel like that's the best way.
If you don't have like a work portfolio,you know, you can have something
like this where you've got projectsthat you've done on your own time.
Avery Smith (24:18):
Yeah I give this analogy a lot.
So sorry, Jordan, if you've heard it orif someone else on the call has heard it,
but it's like, if I think the Fast andthe Furious 10 movies literally coming out
sooner rather than later, although withthe strikes now, you never know, like all
these movie dates have been pushed back.
But regardless, like if you'rehiring, if you're hiring a stunt For
the fast and the furious 10 movie,which is an action movie with cars.
(24:38):
I've never seen any ofthe fast and furious.
I've actually never seenany of the fast and furious.
But like, if you're hiring a stuntdouble that has to jump over a car, who
are you going to hire the person thatsends in a resume and says, yep, I can
jump over a car or the person B thatlike sends in a resume that says, yeah,
I could jump over a car and then likesends in some sort of like, maybe some
sort of video of them jumping over a carin a movie or jumping over the car on
(25:00):
their own time or something like that.
It's like, you're going to go with personB because hiring, this is something
that you and I, you know, people whoare employed don't think about a lot.
But like hiring is expensive.
Hiring is terribly expensive becauseit takes a lot of the people's times.
One.
Usually you have to promote it on somejob platform, or in this case, for
instance, they're using a third partyrecruiter that costs money, right?
(25:23):
That costs, you know,thousands of dollars.
And then you have to like pay, havepeople fly out and interview for the job.
There's all the time that you'respent doing the interviews.
And then more importantly,It's like the training that's
going into this new person.
You just don't want to hire a dud andthen train them three months later.
Oh crap.
This person's a dud, you know, haveto let them go or, something, or
like they make some terrible mistake.
(25:44):
Like hiring is really expensive forthese companies and they want to make
sure that they're doing a good job,you know, and so they want low risk and
the, the less risk you can make yourselfappear, you don't even, it doesn't
even have to be that you're less risky.
It's the fact that you have tomake yourself look less risky.
Like that can make all thedifference in the world.
Jordan Temple (26:06):
agree.
I agree totally.
Avery Smith (26:08):
And I'm glad that you ended up, you know, talking to these recruiters
and being like, even though you didn'tfeel like you were a fit, I'm super
glad that you ended up, you know, goingthrough with it because hopefully for
people listening, that's a source ofinspiration that like, yeah, I might not
feel like I'm a good fit for this role.
So I'm not going to apply.
They don't apply, but there's a chancethey could have landed that role.
Jordan Temple (26:26):
Yeah, I mean, absolutely.
I mean, If someone reaches out to you andthey feel like you're a good fit for a
role, you know, don't sell yourself short.
I mean, there's a reasonthat they reached out to you.
I mean, they obviously thinkthat you would be a good fit.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have sentyou a message, DM'd you, and you
know, kept you in mind for the role.
Avery Smith (26:44):
Yeah.
And, and even this is an example onetime Facebook messaged me, actually they
sent me an email and out of nowhere, likea cold email, like, Hey, we'd like, we
think you'd be a great fit for this job.
And I looked at the job description andI was not a good fit for the job at all.
Not a good fit.
And I was like, all right, sounds good.
Let's do an interview.
Right.
Let's go.
(27:05):
It was like a pretty highlevel job, to be honest.
I was like, I don't think I'm a good fit.
So I get on the call with this,like, honestly, it was like this
director of like this team and shewas really nice and we're talking and
I kind of explain everything and, andshe's like, yeah, you're not really
that good of a fit for this role.
And I was like, yeah, I totally agree.
I'm not.
And she's like, but I thinkyou'd be a good fit for Facebook.
(27:26):
So let me like, let me refer you tosomeone else inside of our company.
You know, and so like, I could have justsaid, no, I'm, I'm not a good fit for this
role, or I think you got the wrong guy,but even going into that interview and to
be honest, kind of bombing the interview,because like, I just did not, I just
did not have any experience with what,it wasn't even really like a data role.
It was like a more data engineering role.
And at the time I was far lessexperienced data engineer than I am now.
(27:48):
Although I'm still not that great ofa data engineer, but like, I just was
not a good fit for the role, but thatgave me an opportunity to interview
somewhere else inside the company.
Right.
And so it's just like, I put thispost out on LinkedIn the other
day, but the hiring manager whorejects you the most is yourself.
And that's, hard to take in sometimes.
Jordan Temple (28:04):
Yeah, I mean, it really is.
I mean, and that's obviously whatI was doing whenever they first
reached out about this role.
I mean, I was disqualifying myself from itwithout knowing anything about it, really.
Avery Smith (28:14):
Yep.
So guys be like Jordan, get overthat fear, you know, go from the cost
estimator to the senior financialanalyst, have a strong LinkedIn profile,
have a strong portfolio and withtime, some stuff's going to happen.
I have faith in that.
Jordan, anything else to add?
Jordan Temple (28:32):
Yeah, I mean, if you're in Avery's program, I mean, listen to him.
Just skills, networking, portfolio.
I mean, focus on those threethings and, you know, you'll
get to where you want to go.
Avery Smith (28:42):
Appreciate you, Jordan.
Thank you so much forcoming on the podcast.
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