How Hot is Your Skill Set?

Everyone in the digital measurement community knows that web analytics and related skills are in high demand. But how high?

Before we start I have to throw out a few important disclaimers:

1. Do NOT run out and pick up these skills just to move up the "hotness" meter. You should complement your skill set in areas that make sense for your employer, in areas that you are personally interested and based on your long-term career goals.
2. This is thoroughly unscientific. It is intended to be a bit of fun and to give you a rough idea of how certain combinations of skills are currently being viewed in the marketplace.
3. This is a snapshot of the moment… as we all know, this space is evolving quickly and this post will likely be irrelevant in just one year.
4. We are referring to "hotness" to OUR typical client. We have a very narrow view of the world: our clients are looking for digital measurement professionals. Many of these skill sets are red hot in and of themselves… just not to OUR clients. For example, if you are an expert in SEM, you are a hot commodity. Yet in our survey you only get up to 3 points… bc in OUR world this is the limit of the impact on your overall market value. Capisce?

Enough disclaimers… here is the "How Hot is Your Skill Set??" Survey:

• Enterprise web analytics tool (Omniture, Coremetrics, Webtrends, etc.) experience in a professional setting
  • 6-18 months – 1 point
  • 18 months to 3 years – 3 points
  • 3+ years – 5 points
• Optimization / testing tool (Test & Target, Sitespect, etc.) experience in a professional setting
  • For 6 months – 1 year – 2 point
  • For 1 to 2 years – 3 points
  • For 2+ years – 4 points
• Javascript / Tagging
  • You are proficient – 3 points
  • You are a guru ninja animal – 5 points
• Digital media analytics tool (dart, atlas, etc.) in a professional setting
  • 1-2 years – 1 point
  • 2-5 years – 2 points
  • 5+ years – 3 points
• SAS or SPSS in a professional setting
  • 6 months to 1 year – 1 point
  • 1 -3 years – 3 points
  • 3+ years – 5 points
• You have experience with social media measurement tools (Radian6, Trendrr, etc.)
  • Beginner – 1 point
  • Intermediate – 2 points
  • Advanced – 3 points
• Database / datawarehouse (especially SQL) experience in a professional setting
  • For 6 months – 1 year – 2 point
  • For 1 to 2 years – 3 points
  • For 2+ years – 4 points
• You have experience with mobile measurement
  • Beginner – 1 point
  • Intermediate – 2 points
  • Advanced – 3 points
• You have experience with statistical analysis
  • Beginner – 3 points
  • Intermediate – 4 points
  • Advanced – 5 points
• You have experience with multi-channel customer analysis
  • 6 months to 1 year – 3 points
  • 1 -3 years – 6 points
  • 3+ years – 8 points
• Personal Brand Score
  • Avinash and Eric – 10 points
  • Brand Master – 7 points
  • Brand Leader – 5 points
  • Brand Neutral – 2 points
  • Work In Progress – 1 point
  • Brand Liability – Subtract 2 points
  • Brand Disaster – Subtract 4 points
• Vendor Certification – 1 Point ea
• WAA Certification – 5 Points
• You have experience with BI tools like Microstrategy, Business Objects, Cognos, etc.
  • Beginner – 3 points
  • Intermediate – 4 points
  • Advanced – 5 points
• You have experience with CRM
  • Beginner – 1 points
  • Intermediate – 2 points
  • Advanced – 3 points
• You have experience with Search Engine Marketing
  • Beginner – 1 point
  • Intermediate+ – 3 points
• You have experience with SEO
  • Beginner – 1 point
  • Intermediate + – 3 points
• You have built and/or managed teams of web analytics professionals
  • 1-2 people – 3 points
  • 2-6 people – 5 points
  • 6+ people – 6 points
• Average tenure with employers
  • 0 – 6 months – subtract 10 points
  • 6-12 months – subtract 7 points
  • 12-18 months – subtract 1 point
  • 18 months – 3 years – 5 points
  • 3 years – 6 years – 8 points
  • 6 years – 10 years – neutral
  • 10+ years – subtract 5 points
• Undergrad Degree in a technical or quant discipline - 2 points
• Masters Degrees
• MBA - 3 points
• Masters in Statistics or related quantitative discipline - 5 points
• Masters in a technical discipline (IT, Engineering, etc.) - 2 Points

You voted for IQ Workforce in the 2011 WAA Awards for Excellence - 100 points. Just kidding.

Scoring Key:

60-75 – You are a freak of nature. A perfect storm.
50-60 – You can pretty much work anywhere you want, assuming there is a job open there and you are not insane.
40-50 – The world is beating a path to your door. If they are not, call me immediately.
30-40 – Total stud(ette?). Highly marketable. Name your price for some companies, open invitation to interview at many companies.
20-30 – You are very marketable. Should be able to move up (either internally or externally) every 18 -24 months if you want.
10-20 – You should not be unemployed for long.
5-10 – Good start.