There are five steps you need to focus if you are interested in pursuing a career in data analysis
- First, you have to earn a bachelor’s degree in the field with knowledge in statistical and analytical parts, such as maths, computer science, or statistics.
- You have to learn important data analytics skills
- Consider certification
- Get your first entry-level data analyst job
- Earn a master’s degree in data analytics
The job of a data analyst is to collect, process, and perform statistical analyses on a large dataset. Their work is to discover how data can be used to answer questions and solve problems. Over the years, with the development of computers and increasing technological intertwinement, the data scientist field has evolved. The development of a relational database gave a new life to data analysts that allowed analysts to use SQL to retrieve data from the database.
Job Description
The data analyst job is one of the most important jobs in an organization. Most of the jobs in data analytics involve gatherings and cleaning data to uncover trends and business. The data analyst jobs vary depending on the industry or the type of data analytics you are interested in. Data analysts are responsible for creating dashboards, designing, and maintaining relationship databases and systems for different departments throughout their organization using business intelligence and programming. Most of the data analysts work with IT teams, management to achieve organizational goals. Data scientists must create their reports on their research and communicate the next steps to key stakeholders.
Skills Required to be a Data Analyst
Programming Languages (R/SAS)- Data analysts use programming languages such as R and SAS for data gathering, data cleaning, statistical analysis, and data visualization.
Creative and Analytical Thinking- curiosity and creativity are the key elements of a good data analyst. It is very important to have good knowledge of statistical methods but even more critical to think through problems with a creative and analytical lens
Strong and Effective Communication: strong communication is the key to success, and there is no doubt about it. So, a data analyst must clearly convey their findings
Data Visualization: A good data analyst understands what types of graphs to use, how to scale visualizations, and know which charts to use depending on their viewer.
Data Warehousing: Some data analysts work on the back-end to connect databases from multiple sources to create a data warehouse and use querying languages to find and manage data.
SQL Databases: Relational databases with structured data called SQL databases. Data is stored in tables, and a data analyst pulls information from different tables to perform analysis.
Database Querying Languages: The most common querying language data analysts use is SQL, and many variations of this language exist, including PostgreSQL, T-SQL, PL/SQL.
Data Mining, Cleaning, and Munging: Data analysts must use other tools to gather unstructured data in case the data isn’t neatly stored in a database.
Advanced Microsoft Excel- Data analysts must know how to use excel properly, and they should understand advanced modelling and analytics techniques.
Today’s data analysts must be prepared for a change. The analyst’s role is becoming more complex day by day. Experienced data analysts use modelling and predictive analytics techniques to generate useful insights. According to recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, market research analyst positions are expected to grow by 20%, and management analyst positions are all expected to grow by 14%, which is much faster than the average job growth.
Data analyst salary- Salary of a data analyst, depends on job responsibilities. A senior data analyst gets a package of $118,750-$142,500, whereas the average salary for entry-level data analysts is $83,750.
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