Data Analyst Career Path | A Comprehensive Guide

In this article, we will discuss extensively the data analyst career path & how to get into data analytics. It is indeed a respectable job with specialized skill sets.

Data analyst career path

Data analysis is one of the happening jobs in the world. it’s no wonder that data analysts are high in demand drawing a handsome salary.

What does a data analyst do?

Gathering, cleansing, analyzing, and interpreting data is the answer to what does a data analyst do. The main objective is to act as a guard for the company’s data and leverage it for arriving at strategic business decisions. These points are essential to remember while pursuing a data analyst career path.

What is a data analyst job description?

A data analyst job description involves the following:

1. Gathering data through surveys, questionnaires, or purchasing datasets 
2. Cleansing the data by eliminating duplicates, errors, and outliers for improving the data quality
3. Creating a data structure and model to create relationships and categories
4. Analyzing and interpreting the data to derive trends and patterns using various tools and software
5. Communicating and presenting the data through graphs, charts, and reports

Also read: How to find the best remote data analyst jobs? Insights on top salaries, qualifications

How to become a data analyst

In this section, we will focus on how to become a data analyst. The following sub-sections will deal with the key criteria behind pursuing a data analyst career path like qualifications, skills, and related jobs. A data analyst needs to be conversant on both technical and analytical skills.

Data analyst qualifications

Data analyst qualifications include:

1. Bachelor’s in statistics, maths or computer science
2. Appear for certain professional certifications which preferably do not require prior experience
3. Check for learning courses and training programs for data analyst career path and enroll in them
4. Self-study of data analysis related concepts for acquiring additional knowledge other than the curriculum in colleges and universities
5. Join any small firm as a trainee or a junior data analyst to acquire hands-on knowledge

Data analyst skills

The different data analysts skills are as follows; crucial for a data analyst career path

1. Competent in programming languages like Python, R
2. Knowledge of visualization tools like Tableau, Jupyter Notebook, and Excel
3. Expertise in maths and statistics
4. Proficient in usage of database tools
5. Excellent problem-solving capability
6. Sound industry knowledge
7. Good in both verbal and written communication

Entry level data analyst jobs

Entry level data analysts jobs involve gathering, managing, and interpreting the data using various statistical tools and data analysis software. They perform research on improving the performance of a company by focusing on data analytics and defining the trends in the particular industrial sector. You need to possess critical thinking capability, presentation skills, and the concepts of machine learning.

Also read: Guide to conducting & attending Remote Interviews

Data analyst portfolio

To create or build a data analyst portfolio, you need to

1. Host your credentials on a professional platform like LinkedIn, and participate in communities like GitHub
2. Include about me, and the projects you have been involved in
3. Interact and collaborate with experts for gaining knowledge and exposure
4. Share your ideas and thoughts on data analysis in the forums for better visibility
5. Write blog posts on data analysis to share your knowledge and thesis

Sample resume data analyst

A sample resume data analyst for your reference:

Name & Contact

Education

Skills

• PL/SQL
• Tableau
• Python
• Google Sheets

Work Experience

Data Analyst in XYZ Company (From – to Year)

• List out roles and responsibilities

Data Analyst in ABC Company (From – to Year)

• List out roles and responsibilities

Remote data analyst jobs

There are plenty of remote data analyst jobs available all over the world. Data analysts are in high demand and companies are willing to hire them to work remotely. This enables harnessing skills and talents from different regions in the world. You can also work as a part-time data analyst or as a contractor. Thus you can pursue a data analyst career path by being present within your comfort location and working remotely.

Data analyst certification for beginners

Here is the list of top data analyst certifications for beginners; reliable learning courses for a data analyst career path

1. Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate – There are 8 courses for a duration of 6 months
2. Data Analyst with Python by Datacamp – Time for completion is 62 hours
3. IBM Data Analyst Professional Certificate – It also has 8 courses for a duration of 11 months
4. Beginner Statistics for Data Analytics from Udemy – It is a 3-hour course for beginners
5. Intro to Data Analysis by Udacity – The duration of the course is 6 weeks
6. Excel to MySQL: Analytic Techniques for Business Specialization – A 7 months course including 5 learning programs

Also read: Best resume software | Give the finest first impression

Data analyst career – Mid-level to senior

Various roles can be taken up in a data analyst career progression. In this section, we will share the key roles that one can take up from mid-level to senior in a data analyst career path. We will briefly discuss their roles and responsibilities.

Data analytics manager

• Data analytics manager leads a team of data analysts, guiding and coordinating their jobs and activities. 
• They plan and monitor to develop processes for ensuring effectiveness and efficiency in data analysis and reporting. 
• They also need to ensure accuracy in the analysis and interpretation of data by the team.

Senior data analyst

• A senior data analyst provides better insights into the business operations by expertise in data analysis
• Suggests best practices for resolving the business issues
• Performs advanced data analysis and interpretation by leveraging data mining, machine learning techniques, predictive data modeling, and so on 

Data analytics consultant

• A data analytics consultant provides guidance on data governance and management
• Carve out data models for business strategic predictions
• Creating reports, dashboards, and visualization tools using the data gathered
• Examine the data and the related business processes for evaluation of the potential problems and other business issues

Data specialist

• A data specialist collects the necessary information and collates them electronically
• Converts the data into a format and shares the findings to the relevant stakeholders in the business
• They bring in innovative ideas and the latest technologies to analyze and interpret data

Also read: How to accept a job offer? 10 things to note before accepting a job offer! 

Data analyst career path: Different Industries

A data analyst career path varies with different industries, depending on the type of data being leveraged for the proper functioning of the business. In this section, we will discuss the roles played by data analysts in various industries; good for deciding the data analyst career path to select from.

Financial analyst

A financial analyst is responsible for preparing the financial reports by churning in the relevant data. The reports are circulated to the management for providing financial insights and analytical information, allowing the company to adopt accurate and appropriate business decisions.

Business analyst

A business analyst evaluates and analyzes current and past data related to a company’s business. The main objective is to improve the decision-making capability of the organization. They apply the data science methods to interpret and analyze the data to ascertain the effectiveness of the data.

Big data analyst

The key role of a big data analyst is to assist businesses to realize and understand the potential of big data and how they can influence business decisions positively. They collect data from various sources for analysis and prepare reports, charts, graphs, etc. that are beneficial to the business.

Healthcare data analyst

A healthcare data analyst or a clinical data specialist is responsible for gathering data from various sources like electronic health records, cost reports, etc., and interpreting the same. They maintain the database where the healthcare data is collected and stored. The data is retrieved to prepare dashboards and reports for the different stakeholders in the healthcare sector.

Tech data careers

Tech data careers are mainly about using technical skills to analyze and interpret data. The analysis is used to report insights and information that is critical for the smooth running of business operations. They use SQL skills to pull up the data and programming skills for data analysis and interpretation.

Marketing data analyst

A marketing data analyst essentially helps companies and businesses to understand and finalize which products and services to sell. They utilize the qualitative and quantitative market analysis methods to determine the market statistics and report the findings. Their analysis help to find out the impact of the marketing strategies.

Product analyst

A product analyst helps in evaluating and determining if a product is able to cater to a company’s future and current needs. They provide ratings and review the products. They compare the company’s products with others and analyze the industry trends to ensure the products are profitable and appropriate for the business.

Sales data analyst

A sales data analyst analyzes industrial data to evaluate and identify trends in sales. Their responsibilities include gathering and analyzing the data to prepare intelligent reports and dashboards for the management and the teams. They have a good understanding of the sales funnel and help in providing good customer insights.

Also read: Top 30 technical Interview Questions

Data analyst salary for different Levels

The average data analyst salary is approximately USD 66K per annum; a very crucial piece of information to note in a data analyst career path.

So how much do data analysts make as per their experience level?

For less than 1 year, a data analyst or a data scientist salary is near to USD 62K per year. For an experience between 3 to 5 years, the salary is almost USD 69K per year. If the experience is more than 10 years, the annual salary is USD 77K.

If you are a master in data analytics salary offered may be a bit higher than the rest.

Also read: 50+ High income skills | Most profitable skills to learn in 2022

Data analyst career path: Frequently asked questions

Let us now check out some of the frequently asked questions, related to the data analyst career path. These will assist in understanding the data analyst job outlook.

Is data analyst a good career?

If you are eager to know is data analyst a good career, the answer is Yes. It’s one of the highly demanding jobs and highest-paid compared to other IT professionals. Thus if you want to pursue a data analyst career path, then you are assured of a promising career.

How to become a data analyst without a degree?

There are certain things to remember if you want to understand how to become a data analyst without a degree. You need to learn data science through learning courses and training programs. Next, you may be thinking is data science hard? With proper training and certifications, you can succeed. Besides, without a data analysis degree, you must try to participate in hackathons and build a convincing portfolio.

Business analyst vs data analyst

While discussing business analyst vs data analyst, the main difference is in the way they use the data. Business analysts leverage the data gathered to arrive at strategic business decisions. Data analysts collect the data and analyze it to extract useful information and insights.