How to Build a Successful Data Analyst Career

Who is a good Data Analyst?

The short answer to this question is "A good data analyst is the one who turns data into information, information into an insight and insight into a business decision."

But if you are looking to make a career in Big Data then I am sure that this was not the answer you are looking for. So for now lets just forget about "Good Data Analyst" and concentrate on "Data Analyst". I know you can manage the "Good" part on your own.

Who is a Data Analyst?

A data analyst is the one who collects, organizes and analyzes large sets of data (known as Big Data) to discover patterns and some other useful information. Data mining and Data auditing are a must have skills to become a Data Analyst.

Big Data analytics is the process of gathering, organizing and analyzing large sets of data to discover new patterns and assist the organization to identify the data which is important to their business. The one who mashes up and analyses several data resources to evaluate company's technical performance and provides recommendations on system enhancements is preferably called as a data analyst.

Now, if you’re the one who can convert numbers into everyday English or figure out new prices for the product you are at the exact place, mate. But, if you are willing to make it as your career you are expected to have certain skills. So, here we go.

Data Analyst Skills:

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:

• Technical and 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.
• Data Mining and Auditing: A data analyst must have data mining and auditing skills. Data mining is the process of sorting the 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 company's data is appropriate for a given purpose.
• Testing Skills: A data analyst must have testing skills as the tests are done based on the different hypothesis that impacts the key performance indicators in one way or the other.
• Statistical Skills: A data analyst must have a grounding in statistics as it helps in understanding algorithms deeply.
• Communication Skills: A data analyst is expected to work with different people. So, one should be able to communicate the technical findings to other non-technical findings to solve business problems.

Data Analyst Job Description:

As a data analyst, you will need to:

• Identify, analyze, and interpret trends or patterns in complex data sets that help in boosting the business.
• Importing data from various external data sources to bring meaningful insights into the business.
• Creating data visualisations to effectively convey findings to the management that helps in a decision-making process.
• Filter and clean data by examining computer reports and performance indicators.
• Work with management, IT teams, data scientists to determine organizational goals.
• Collect customer requirements, determine technical issues, and design reports to meet data analysis needs.
• Identify new sources of data and methods to improve data collection, analysis, and reporting.
• Collect, understand and document detailed business requirements using appropriate tools and techniques
• Locate and define new process improvement opportunities

Data Analyst Qualification: A first degree in streams such as computers, statistics, economics etcetera is often required. Irrespective of your degree to succeed as a data analyst, you must be able the possess the relevant skills as mentioned above.

Data Analyst Salary: Salary of a data analyst usually is dependent on the organization and job responsibilities. But it varies due to the niches one specialized in. However, according to payscale, an average data analyst can earn 3,10,000 /- per annum in India.

Data analytics is a posthaste growing field and highly skilled analysts have demand in all sectors. This signifies that there are a plethora of opportunities to crack down. But, you have to be outstanding and exhibit data analytics skills to stand out from the cluster. So, what are you waiting for? EduPristine offers a top-notch big data source that gives your career a much-needed boost.

Data Mining and Data Auditing Skills

As mentioned above, data mining and data auditing are a 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.

Testing Skills

Testing skills are required by 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

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 on a particular situation.

Machine Learning

Again like Statistical Skills, machine learning is something that mostly data scientists work on but if you are working in a large organization then there are chances that you will need know about the machine learning methods like Decision Tress, K-Means etc.

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 the management.

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