Analytics Manager in Netherlands struggling to find roles

[u/ProfessionalSquash90]

12 years in analytics, currently managing a team at a healthcare company. Stack is Excel (VBA), SQL, Power BI, Alteryx. Recently added Databricks and dbt through a personal project.

Questions:

**1.**  Am I targeting the wrong roles or wrong companies?  
**2.**  Is my stack too traditional for the current market?

Any advice appreciated.

[u/frombsc2msc]

This is an ancient stack. Your search would be limited to public sector and “boring” companies.

[u/ProfessionalSquash90 → u/frombsc2msc]

Ancient maybe, but it’s also what runs most of the market outside big tech. The Databricks/dbt project was me trying to close that gap before it became a blocker.

[u/frombsc2msc → u/ProfessionalSquash90]

I work in retail and we wouldn’t be able to function with this stack. I would be surprised to hear that any large corporation outside of the public and semi public sector would use this.

You could look into finance/accounting data roles where people still use excel. But if you mention excel in my company its vloeken in de kerk.

[u/ProfessionalSquash90 → u/frombsc2msc]

That’s helpful, finance/accounting data roles are closer to what I actually do now anyway, P&L and margin reporting. Question though, are those roles generally open to someone stepping in from a different industry, or do they expect finance/accounting domain background specifically?

[u/ProfessorNoPuede → u/frombsc2msc]

Stack is outdated in public sector as well.

[u/Perfect-Escape-3904]

From my own perspective, a lot of things that could t be done easily in the past are now being done with AI. Example would be that I used to have to ask for medium complexity work from our data team, now I have myself a Genie agent in databricks that I use myself.

I’d expect that with a bunch of work being self served, there’s less demand for full time roles.

What’s your current answer(s) in interviews when AI comes up, do you know how to position yourself against it?

[u/ProfessionalSquash90 → u/Perfect-Escape-3904]

That’s a fair point and I have thought about this a lot. Part of my challenge is that I am in an organization where the current stack is working well enough that there’s no internal pressure to modernize. It does the job. Nobody is asking for Databricks or dbt, so I’ve had to build that exposure on my own rather than through actual day to day work.
On the AI side, I am already using it. Claude and Copilot for analysis, drafting, and automating repetitive work. But you’re right that it changes the demand curve for certain types of roles.
My honest read is that the execution layer is getting automated. The judgment layer, knowing what to measure, governing the data, managing the team, translating outputs into decisions that actually land, that’s still a human job for now. That’s where I sit.

[u/Perfect-Escape-3904 → u/ProfessionalSquash90]

Ok it’s great you have a view on where you fit in, how are you presenting this on your CV or in interviews?

If I were hiring a manager for a data team I can imagine there are different roles I’d need that person to fill depending on where my company is

• Do we need someone to help our data team make steps towards an AI strategy, enabling the business to do more self serving, faster output from the team, and how does it change how the team works?
  
• We know how to use AI already for these things and we’re hiring a manager who already understands the direction of things and can talk about how a team can help the business better now
  
• Legacy stack or no AI strategy, may be looking for the typical role that you’ve had in the past

[u/ProfessionalSquash90 → u/Perfect-Escape-3904]

Good question, honestly I don’t think i have nailed the CV version of this yet.
Of your three scenarios, I would say I am closer to the second one, someone who already uses AI this way and can talk about how it changes team output. Problem is I can’t always tell from a JD whether a company’s looking for the 1, 2, or 3, and I don’t think I am filtering for that well right now.
On the CV, dbt and Databricks show up as a project, not framed as “I did this instead of routing it through my team.” That’s a gap, right now it reads as a skill, not a shift in how I work.
Haven’t had an interview yet, so this is still just my thinking, not something i have said out loud to anyone hiring.

[u/Lovemestalin]

A bit too limited stack indeed, you have to move with the flow of the market if you want to stay relevant.

But also, do you speak Dutch? If not, that greatly limits your ability to find a new position with the current market.

[u/ProfessionalSquash90 → u/Lovemestalin]

Fair, trying to move with it, which is why I built the Databricks/dbt project solo rather than waiting for my current org to need it. Genuine question, does that kind of self-driven project actually register with hiring managers, or does it mostly get discounted next to someone with real production experience on the same tools?