What does an “ideal candidate” actually look like to a company

[u/shoaib_X17]

I’ve been thinking about this question a lot while looking for my first opportunity in Data Science / Data Analytics.

Is the ideal candidate someone with a perfect degree?

Someone with 3+ years of experience?

Someone who knows every tool listed in a job description?

Or is it someone who can identify a real business problem, build a solution, and explain how that solution can create business value?

I’m genuinely curious to hear what recruiters and hiring managers think.

Because this is what I’ve been trying to do.

Instead of building another basic ML project, I built a Customer Retention Intelligence System focused on a real business problem: customer churn and lost revenue.

The system can:

• Predict customers who are at risk of churning

• Segment customers based on their risk/value

• Estimate potential revenue at risk

• Identify customers worth prioritizing

• Generate personalized retention strategies/offers

My goal wasn't simply to say:

I built a machine-learning model

I wanted to answer:

A customer is likely to leave. Now what should the business actually do about it?

That mindset has pushed me to work beyond just Python, SQL and machine learning — into business thinking, customer analytics, experimentation, visualization, and decision-making.

I’ve also been consistently practicing Python and SQL, learning how to communicate analytical insights, and building projects around problems that companies actually face.

But despite putting in this work, I’m still looking for my opportunity to prove myself professionally.

So I want to ask the recruiters, hiring managers, founders, and experienced professionals here:

What makes someone an ideal entry-level candidate in your company?

• Is it technical skills?

• Problem-solving ability?

• Business understanding?

• Communication?

• Projects?

•Curiosity and willingness to learn?

•Or something else?

And if you were evaluating my profile, what would you want me to improve or demonstrate before considering me for a Data Scientist / Data Analyst opportunity?

I’m not looking for sympathy.

I’m looking for honest feedback, opportunities, and a chance to prove what I can do.

If you’re a recruiter or hiring manager who works with Data Science / Data Analytics / ML roles, I’d genuinely appreciate your perspective.

And if my profile sounds relevant to something you're hiring for, I’d love to connect.

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[u/Classic-Weekend2759]

they want someone who makes their life easier, not someone who needs hand-holding. your churn project is a good start but honestly you buried the lede with that wall of text, most hiring managers will skim right past it if your resume is just a list of tools. focus less on explaining the mindset and more on showing the measurable impact, even if it's simulated data

[u/Aggressive_tako]

For an entry level role, I am far more interested in how you think, how quickly you catch on and how you reason. Am I going to have to handhold you a year into the job? As long as you have basic excel, SQL and math, I can teach you the specific tech stack that we use.  

As with any person making hiring decisions, my past colors what I am looking for. We've had costly hiring mistakes where we focused on technical skill and then had to fire someone when they still lacked knowledge about business processes two years in and couldn't be trusted with any ad hoc request. The people who have flourished on my team are quick to integrate business knowledge and willing to work outside of their skill set. That is what I am trying to ascertain in interviews now. 

[u/shoaib_X17 → u/Aggressive_tako]

The tech stack you are talking about, I already know at intermediate level, but tell me how should I approach a hiring manager to show my skills that I am a right candidate for this role

[u/EmotionalSupportDoll]

Drop the project url, chat!

[u/my_peen_is_clean]

honestly you’re doing the right stuff, you just won’t hear that from recruiters because they skim for dumb checkboxes first tools > thinking, at least at screening stage polish your resume to scream: sql, python, dashboards, ab testing, stakeholder comm and yeah, still crazy hard to get that first role right now

[u/colours_of_earth]

If you’re interested in such aspect of analytics/DS then try looking at roles within RevOps

[u/shoaib_X17 → u/[deleted]]

Can you tell me which specific part of the project u r talking about?

[u/shoaib_X17 → u/[deleted]]

I want to know what strategy get me into my desired role

[u/shoaib_X17 → u/[deleted]]

Can you give in which context you are talking this question?

Like i have interest in analyzing customer behaviour and predict the probability of their upcoming behaviour

[u/shoaib_X17 → u/[deleted]]

Am not getting the context you are talking about 🤔

But as I said earlier i really likes to learn new technology in the relevant field to produce a measurable impact

[u/shoaib_X17 → u/[deleted]]

Now I got your point! I think you are talking in the sense of analytics.

No dude, Apart from work I have very much interest in sports, swimming and travelling cause these things push me to work hard and earn money.

But now a days am very frustrated about career like life is not going well. That's why am discussing here about my career

[u/shoaib_X17 → u/[deleted]]

Naah dude! I am not that guy. I believe in team working and healthy environment

[u/beatryoma]

Just got a job offer for a lead Analyst / associate manager role.

The entire interview process besides the tech portion was business scenario questions to see how i approach problems/questions.

From what they told me after the offer was that I was sound in my approach, and came off confident and concise. Analysis is part of the job, but it appears they really need someone who can own direction and delivery of information to stakeholders. This is a working manager type position from what i could tell.

My main take away compared to last switching jobs 6+ years ago is that companies know a lot of tech side can be done with AI. The speaking portion and presentation is where emphasis might begin to weigh more heavily.

[u/shoaib_X17 → u/beatryoma]

Congratulations for your role! I know every aspect and end goal of the job. But still maybe luck also matters apart from strategy

[u/beatryoma → u/shoaib_X17]

Oh dude, luck for sure lol. This was all unexpected. Still doesn't feel very real.

Keep swinging the bat, and eventually ya get a hit.

[u/shoaib_X17 → u/beatryoma]

If you know any strategy to apply for jobs. Please let me know it would be helpful for me 🙏

[u/beatryoma → u/shoaib_X17]

Something I see missing from some resumes is relationship to stakeholders. What you deliver and to whom you deliver that information. What benefit does these stakeholders derive from your work etc.

[u/shoaib_X17 → u/beatryoma]

Can you roast my resume?

[u/mrsteelsam]

In my experience teaching people who move into analytics, recruiters look for three things in a junior candidate: a solid foundation in the core tools (Python, SQL, basic stats), a clear story of how you used those tools to solve a real business problem, and the ability to explain the impact in plain language. On a resume, surface the business outcome—revenue saved, churn reduced—before the technical details. In an interview, walk through the problem, your approach, the result, and what you learned about the domain.