Traditionally, people used to note down things that they wished to track or refer to in the future. Today, you don’t need to save any of your web activity; just open your apps, click on a few options, and get all the details. How many views you had on your post, how many products did you buy online, when did you travel to different places, to whom did you transfer money in the past three months – you can get all the answers in accurate numbers. But what made this possible? Well, companies are regularly capturing, storing, and analyzing massive amounts of qualitative and quantitative data on their customer base. Businesses use this information to better understand their daily operations, what customers seek, and finally make more informed decisions for their products and services offered.
Many advanced tools and technologies have been developed to collect and analyze big data. As such, some companies have started to create an entire business model around customer data. For effective analysis, companies need skilled data specialists who can unlock the real value from raw data. One of the popular job roles associated with developing an effective analytics strategy and delivering actionable insights is that of a data analyst. A role whose demand is making headlines time and again, a data analyst has become ubiquitous across industries like pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, Information Technology, retail, marketing, banking and financial services, aviation, and even the travel industry.
Companies look for the right blend of skills while shortlisting candidates for a data analyst post. The hiring managers tend to trust those candidates who back their skill set with a data analyst course certificate. Since the role is relatively new, professionals don’t have enough experience or qualification in data analysis, and upskilling through a data analyst training program takes them ahead of the competitors during interviews.
Data Analyst – a Rewarding Career
A data analyst is technically defined as an individual who interprets raw data and transforms it into meaningful insights to help businesses make more informed decisions. The data is collected from different sources and maybe in a structured, semi-structured, or unstructured format. Next, those large datasets are processed and analysis is performed and finally the hidden trends are found and reported. They work closely with business leaders and other stakeholders to guide them in making data-driven decisions.
Aspirants who are looking for entry-level data analyst positions should have a clear understanding of data analysis basics like working with MS Excel, MySQL, and Python language. An appropriate candidate would be the one who has good analytical skills, knowledge of common data analysis tools, command over programming languages like SAS or R (apart from Python), and familiarity with Hadoop and ETL data management tools.
A data analyst working in different industries may have different designations like an operations analyst, business intelligence analyst, financial analyst, customer data analyst, functional business analyst, commercial analyst, or a healthcare analyst. Experienced data analysts command high salaries across the world. Their average base pay in the US stands at $67K per year and can increase as high as $84K for senior-level positions, according to Payscale.
Many renowned firms who have started taking digital initiatives hire data analysts every year like Amazon, Accenture, Oracle Corporation, Microsoft, Google, Apple, and Facebook. As companies are embracing emerging technologies and embark on ambitious digital transformation, data analysts are expected to remain in high demand in the near future.
Data Analyst Job Description
Companies assign varied responsibilities to data analysts and it may be difficult to ascertain exactly what tasks they perform on a daily basis. However, a common data analyst job description may contain the following points:
- Depending on the industry they work in, data analysts first need to understand the business goals, identify the problems, assess the available resources, and collect the right data.
- To develop and implement data analyses and data collection systems that optimize statistical efficiency and quality.
- Gather customer data and transform it into business advantage by providing insights for operational efficiencies or revenue growth.
- Define the data analysis best practices and collaborate with stakeholders to determine key performance indicators for the organization.
- Gather, store, manipulate, and retrieve data from relational databases by writing complex SQL queries.
- Locate and rectify code problems by reviewing computer reports and performance indicators and filter and clean data.
- Use different packages and libraries to uncover trends and correlations from complex datasets and then prepare summary reports using data visualization tools.
Apart from the mentioned responsibilities, companies may have different expectations from data analysts and the exact requirements may be found on the job portals where they mention all the details.
Over to You
We hope that now you have understood what companies seek in a data analyst job. With higher compensation and growing demand, data analysts would continue to remain a popular career choice among professionals. New tools and technologies will continue to change the required data analyst skills and mastering them on your own may be difficult. This makes a data analyst course all the more important for professionals willing to step into this field. The instructors of online data analyst courses are often highly qualified and know the industry best practices and the latest trends. So gaining knowledge from them would help your data analyst career in the long run.
