A Carteret County man recently published his first book, the “Data Analytics Career Playbook,” with a goal to help early career analysts and career changers enter the tech job market.
Albert Bellamy is a military veteran turned data analyst and career coach. After 24 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, he took a job with Alteryx, a software company.
Upon entering the tech field, in data analytics, he realized many people are equipped to start a career in data analytics, although it may seem like a tricky field to enter.
“I think people kind of see the barriers to entry and they think that it requires some big lead up or a college degree or something and they get a little intimidated,” he said. “Having helped people into the industry, I know that it’s easier than it looks.”
Bellamy said he wants to break down those barriers to entry and help people who are searching for a career change take the easiest path possible into the field.
As a military veteran, Bellamy is passionate about helping other veterans translate their military experience into data analytics and find a career in the civilian world.
He understands the difficulty of translating job experience in the military into civilian life and navigating the civilian workforce in general.
“We do all of these things, we work super hard and we grind away,” Bellamy said. “Then, at the end of your career, whether that’s four years or 40 years, you’re kind of looking at things going, not only does this not have a direct equivalent in the civilian workforce, I don’t even know how to make sense of it for a non-military audience.”
When Bellamy retired from the Marine Corps, he looked back at his career and found ways to translate his military career into data analytics experience and land a job in the tech field.
Now, he does that for other veterans. Bellamy said veterans who worked in logistics or broke down problem sets in a combat zone to achieve mission success have experience solving analytical problems.
“Once you frame it for veterans like that, they start realizing there’s a whole realm of possibilities for them professionally that maybe they didn’t consider otherwise,” Bellamy said.
In his book, the “Data Analytics Career Playbook,” which earned a top spot on Amazon for data analytics, readers will find a fast-hiring roadmap, templates, interview storytelling tips and a 90-day job plan.
Data analytics is the process of examining raw data to discover trends, uncover patterns and draw meaningful conclusions.
“It’s taking an ocean of junk data that is useless and synthesizing it down into something that can be interpreted,” Bellamy said.
For instance, data collected by smart watches, such as tracking steps, would be data collected that is almost useless in its raw form.
At the end of a walk, the user could be presented with a spreadsheet that depicts one row for every step walked, but it would be difficult to decipher.
Instead, smart watch users receive a breakdown of the distance traveled, how many calories were burned, average speed and other statistics. Bellamy said this is data analysis in a simple form, but it’s done by a simple machine.
“Most data analysis requires a person to figure out the insights,” he said. “The watch can tell you that you walked faster today than you did yesterday, but you need a person to figure out what that means.
“It’s the insights and interpretation that requires a human perspective.”
Bellamy has been coaching people on how to enter the data analytics field for years, but in 2025 he joined a challenge to write a book in a few months.
Although he has coached and written about how to break into the field on social media and blogs, this was the first time he pulled various topics together, like how to write a resume and the importance of networking in one place.
He started writing the “Data Analytics Career Playbook” in August and officially launched the book on Amazon in October.
“Before this challenge, I don’t think I’d really considered writing this book,” he Bellamy said. “But I think I always knew I would write a book or maybe several books at some point.”
Bellamy said he plans to publish more books, having already finished a draft for a companion book on resume writing.
When Bellamy isn’t working, writing or coaching, he likes to engage in community events and clubs.
He has been part of Craven County’s March for the 22 Hike for veteran suicide awareness since its inception and volunteers with the American Legion.
He originally joined the American Legion Post 539 in New Bern, but is now part of the American Legion Post 78 in Swansboro and is involved with the Knights of Columbus at St. Mildred’s Catholic Church in Swansboro.
Bellamy and his wife are also vice presidents of the Morehead City Toastmasters Club, which coaches people on effective communication and public speaking.
Bellamy said these links to the local community furthers his passion to help people find remote opportunities in the data analytics field.