Data

I have been trained by some great teachers over the years who truly understand data and how to communicate with data sets. Just like my English teachers in high school, when you use someone else’s information, or in this case data, you must cite the source, or at a minimum, provide the listeners with a list of the sources that you borrowed.

The other day, I was in a meeting with a vendor and his presenter. The presenter went on and on about how great their product was and continually provided us with statistics to support his claims. At first, I missed it, but over the course of the presentation, I realized that not one of the data sets that he provided us had a citation. This automatically raised red flags for me.

The take away has nothing to do with me not buying from this vendor. The takeaway is that as the interviewer, it is important you look for the “BS” in the data. The first place to start is with the data source. Knowing the data source, and more importantly, who funds the data source, will allow you to have a better understanding of the data and what it is trying to represent. Knowing where the data came from allows you to research the data gathering techniques, the analytical techniques, and the reporting techniques. These techniques, used properly, can be utilized to misrepresent the data and provide statements that appear to be true to the unknowing observer. Only by gaining a deep understanding of the data can one make an informed decision.

When presented with data, remember that you are interviewing the presenter. If you really want to excel at what you do, if you really want to be as good as you can be, interview the data and interview the data source.

Every day is an interview, even for data.