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The No-Experience Playbook

Break into data when every job post says you need experience you cannot get. Six portfolio projects, the templates and AI prompts to build them, and a plan to apply anyway.

  • 6 portfolio projects
  • Build in your browser
  • No experience required
Get the playbook

“What projects should I even do?”

It is the question I get asked more than any other. You finish the courses. You watch the tutorials. And your GitHub still looks like everyone else’s.

Meanwhile every job post wants experience you cannot get without a job. This playbook is my answer: real projects worth building, the templates to make them look professional, and a plan to get hired with them.

6 projects + the plan to get hired

  • 3 data projects built on real datasets, not tutorial toys
  • 3 AI projects, tiered from beginner to advanced
  • Repo templates that make your GitHub look professional
  • Copy-and-paste AI build prompts for each project
  • The plan to apply when the post says "2+ years"

Everything builds free in your browser. No paid tools required.

From a blank GitHub to a portfolio that gets interviews.

  1. Part 01

    The Project Vault

    3 data projects that solve business problems with data that does not come cleaned for you: late deliveries eating an e-commerce marketplace's reviews, a hospital scorecard built on official Medicare data, and your own city's service gaps. Free Codespaces instructions let you build everything in your browser, and the repo template makes your GitHub look professional. Hiring managers skim repos, not resumes.

  2. Part 02

    Upskill in AI

    3 AI projects, tiered by level, each tied to a problem a business would actually pay to solve: a live executive dashboard with an AI briefing button, a chatbot that answers questions from a public company's annual report with citations, and an agent that writes a Monday morning data briefing automatically. Each comes with a Project Builder Prompt that walks you through building it with AI, step by step.

  3. Part 03

    The No-Experience Application Plan

    How to apply when the post says 2+ years required. Lead with your repos as proof. Includes the Rewrite Prompt that tailors your resume and outreach to any job description, plus the exact messages to turn a 15 minute chat into an employee referral.

For aspiring data analysts and data scientists, career changers, and working analysts ready to add AI to what they can already do.

Get the Playbook

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