Don't sound like a data newb!

how to not sound like a junior data analyst!!

Jul 24, 2025

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How the Right Stakeholder Questions affect Relationships:

We’ve all done it before… you ask something utterly stupid at work and instantly regret it! 🤮

Sometimes, even if you’re not confident, you have to bullsh*t it and fake it until you make it. Asking the right questions as a data analyst is a great way to build trust with your stakeholders and manager by positioning yourself as a leader in the company.

And the wrong questions can scream DATA NEWBIE! and hurt your reputation and leadership. Which will make it harder to get promoted… 😭

Work politics and relationship building starts with stakeholder relationships and how well you can position yourself as a leader in the company. And you have to position your work as something they need to meet their goals (and look good in front of their bosses!).

Yes, it’s all about politics unfortunately... If you go to stakeholders and ask for directions and input, you’re adding extra work and responsibility on them which will make you seem more junior. If you align with THEIR business goals, present solutions, and help them look good in front of their bosses, it will in turn help you.

Reframing the Questions to Sound Senior:

Instead of framing your questions as “what should I do” and “how should I do it” expecting explicit responses from your stakeholders, ask more open-ended questions about their goals and the business impact they have. Not only does this show a deeper level of thinking, but it’ll also position yourself as more senior in their minds which could get you a better review later on.

Junior vs. Senior Stakeholder Questions:

Yes, here’s the difference between sounding like a newb and sounding like you know what you’re talking about. Plus, it’ll make you a better data analyst by thinking deeper and considering the business impact— not just the numbers!

Junior Data Analyst:

❌ What events do you want to track?
❌ What metrics do you care about?
❌ What time period should I look at?
❌ Which users should I look at?
❌ How many visuals do you want in the dashboard?

Senior Data Analyst:

✅ What business question are you hoping to answer?
✅ What would signal to you that this was a huge success?
✅ What would signal to you that we should roll this back?
✅ Is there anything you're worried about with launching this? Risk?
✅ What does leadership ask about this project?

Then a Senior Data Analyst crafts events, metrics, and a story around these answers. A Senior DA is able to align questions with data, make experiment and product recommendations, and then translate the results into actions that leadership cares about.

This is how you can really stand out. It all starts with good stakeholder and leadership relationships + asking the right questions to guide the analysis to their goals… and make them look good in front of their bosses 😉

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💁🏽‍♀️ Who Am I?

I’m Jess Ramos, the founder of Big Data Energy and the creator of the BEST SQL course and community: Big SQL Energy⚡️. Check me out on socials: 🔗LinkedIn, 🔗Instagram, 🔗YouTube, and 🔗TikTok. And of course subscribe to my 🔗newsletter here for all my upcoming lessons and updates— all for free!