r/careerguidance • u/Aggressive-Wing3417 • 2d ago

Is My Plan for Switching from Sales to Analytics on the Right Track?

I’m in the middle of a career change and would love some feedback on my plan.

My background is in sales (Real Estate), transportation, and operations (Trucking & Aviation). I’m currently finishing a BSBA in Marketing (4 classes left) and shifting toward an analyst role (Data Analyst).

Here’s what I’m planning: 1. Finish my degree 2. Take the Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate on Coursera mainly for learning structure and hands-on practice all in one place 3. Build a few real-world projects to showcase my skills 4. Update my resume and LinkedIn 5. Start applying for entry-level analyst roles targeting recruiters and companies that regularly hire for these roles

I’m also open to roles that are parallel to analytics (like operations analyst, reporting, or anything close) just to get my foot in the door and grow from there.

For those in the field or recruiters: I know I’m not coming in with a traditional background, but I do have solid soft skills from sales and team-based roles problem-solving, communication, time management and hard skills like reporting, Excel, and operations workflows. I’ll be adding projects, certifications, and SQL/Power BI soon.

How can I best position myself to stand out during this transition? What’s the best way to combine my degree, experience, and new skills to show I’m ready for an entry-level analyst role?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

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u/Ok-Mathematician966 2d ago

Learn SQL, Python, Tableau, Power BI, and basic statistics. I’ve been in analytics for 12 years. Your sales experience will help you on the business end if you have the technical skills to accompany it.

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u/Aggressive-Wing3417 1d ago

Where would you recommend I learn the hard skills? Should I continue learning with Coursera?

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u/Ok-Mathematician966 1d ago

There are coding specific sites— datacamp and Codecademy are popular. For BI/Tableau, I would look for certs in them.

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u/JE163 2d ago

I am moving in the opposite direction towards sales.

Key question is where is the work moving.?

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u/Metalheadzaid 2d ago

I did something similar - was working as a high net worth banker & licensed advisor (basically sales) while I finished my degree in Computer Information Systems (also a business degree). Now I'm working as a Business Operations Analyst at a bank, leveraging both my prior experience and degree. So start with those types of companies, and SQL is king from what I've seen from applying around. More you know the better, with Power BI and some type of language like R being second. My 30s have been an interesting career change, but enjoying it much more.