Who Is a Data Analyst?
A data analyst is an artist, someone who collects (Sometimes not collect but just receives collected data), organizes, and analyzes large sets of data to identify some hidden facts that cannot be ignored, he identifies patterns, defects, possibilities, opportunities and other useful information to make the data-driven future. Data mining and data auditing are must have skills to become a Data Analyst. If you intend to become a successful data analyst, you must start by ensuring a good knowledge in technology, business intelligence, data mining, data auditing, mathematics, statistics and another bunch of analytics skills which include:
1. Programming Languages
You need to be familiar with some computer software and scripting languages like Matlab and Python to find significant insights, statistical languages like R, SAS, and other computer skills include JavaScript, XML, and so on.
2. Data Mining and Auditing
A data analyst must have data mining and auditing skills. Data mining is the process of sorting through large sets of data to classify patterns and establish relationships through data analysis. Data auditing is the process of conducting a data audit to assess how a company's data can be used for a given purpose.
3. Testing Skills
A data analyst must have testing skills, most of the test is designed by a data Analyst with his ability to create tests which can carry out based on different hypotheses (But the hypotheses are based on the real need and data nature) that impact the key performance indicators in one way or another.
4. Statistical Skills
Any analytics tool is based out of statistical algorithms and one cannot be in the hold of such tool until and unless s/he has the good grip over the statistics. A data analyst must have a grounding in statistics as it helps in understanding algorithms and put the tool and data in the right use.
5. Communication Skills
Analyzing is something you know, now reporting and communicating the information analyzed is something very important as that only can complete the loop. A data analyst should be expected to work with different people, some technical, some non-technical, and most of the time business users. So, one should be able to communicate technical findings to non-technical co-workers to solve business problems.
Data Analyst Job Description:
As a data analyst, your main roles can be described as follow, however, below list could be an indicative and not compete, as the business analyst has many important roles.
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Identify, analyze, and interpret trends or patterns in complex data sets that help in boosting business.
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Import data from various external data sources to bring meaningful insights to the business.
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Create data visualizations to effectively convey findings to management that helps in the decision-making process.
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Filter and clean data by examining computer reports and performance indicators.
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Work with management, IT teams, and data scientists to determine organizational goals.
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Collect customer requirements, determine technical issues, and design reports to meet data analysis needs.
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Identify new sources of data and methods to improve data collection, analysis, and reporting.
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Collect, understand, and document detailed business requirements using appropriate tools and techniques.
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Locate and define new process improvement opportunities.
Data Analyst Qualification
A degree in fields such as computers, statistics, economics, etc. is often required. Irrespective of your degree, to succeed as a data analyst you must be able, one must master the relevant skills mentioned above.
1. Data Analyst Salary
The salary of a data analyst usually is dependent on the organization and job responsibilities. But it varies due to the niche(s) one specializes in. But, suffice it say, the market for data scientists is good right now. Data analytics is a quickly growing field and highly skilled analysts have demand in all sectors. But, you have to be outstanding and exhibit data analytics skills to stand out from the crowd. So, what are you waiting for?
2. Data Mining and Data Auditing Skills
As mentioned above, data mining and data auditing are must-have skills for any data analyst. Data mining is the practice of examining large, pre-existing databases in order to generate new information, whereas data auditing involves profiling the data and assessing the impact of poor quality data on the organization’s performance and profits. So make sure to brush on these skills.
3. Testing Skills
Testing skills are required to be a big data analyst, as he/she will be carrying out A/B testing based on different hypotheses that directly and indirectly impact different Key Performance Indicators.
4. Basic Statistical Skills
Usually, it is the Data Scientist that works on the statistical part but even as a data analyst you should have basic statistical knowledge as it will help you to select the right approach while dealing with a particular situation.
5. Machine Learning
Again like statistical skills, machine learning is something that most data scientists work on but if you are working in a large organization then there is a chance that you will need to know about machine learning methods like Decision Trees, K-Means, etc.
6. Data Visualization and Communication
This is one of the most important skills that a data analyst must possess. Data visualization is the presentation of data in a pictorial or graphical format. This helps the management to understand the data easily and quick. The success of data visualization depends on how well you can communicate it to management.
How to Start with Analytics Career?
As per the current scenario, a number of companies are struggling to find the right talent for business analytics. This clearly shows that in the future, demand for business analytics talent would grow even further while the supply is still limited. Great news for people already working in the field and even a better news for those thinking to join in.
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IBM
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Microsoft
All of the above are the market leader and holding very good market share in term of the analytics software and the companies having their tool, needs person handle them.
All the very best!