Data Analyst: A Simple Definition and Mandatory Skills
Data Analyst is the one that conducts Data Analysis tasks. So, before we dive into what a Data Analyst do, let’s describe the task of Data Analysis.
Based on Coursera,
Data analysis is the process of gleaning insights from data to help inform better business decisions.
This process has five iterative phases:
1. Identify the data you want to analyze
2. Collect the data
3. Clean the data in preparation for analysis
4. Analyze the data
5. Interpret the results of the analysis
Also, in the business world, even if we have a small amount of data, data analysis can actually help in order to derive insights from them and make future strategic decisions.
Types of Data Analysis
- Descriptive Analysis informs about the past,
- Diagnostic Analysis informs about the reason that something happened,
- Predictive Analysis tries to guess the future,
- Prescriptive Analysis offers advice about future actions.
Depending on the needs of the company, a Data Analyst can work on all types of Data Analysis, or some of them.
Data Analyst tasks
A Data Analyst is the one that does the following (and probably many more):
- Determines client’s needs by offering the creation of reports and dashboards,
- Has a solid understanding of the business industry he/she works with,
- Communicates with both business and technical people,
- Gathers data for analysis,
- Ensures the quality of the data before analyze them,
- Tries to find patterns in the data which can tell something useful or relevant concerning business operations,
- Creates interesting and relevant KPIs that are useful in the analysis,
- Present the results of his/her findings.
Needed Skills
Soft Skills:
- Excellent communication skills
- Excellent presentation skills
- Problem-solver attitude
- Critical-thinking
- Attention to detail
- Analytical mindset
- Teamwork
Hard Skills:
- SQL
- Python/R
- SAS
- Microsoft Excel/Google Sheets
- Microsoft Power BI/Tableau/Qlik Sense/Amazon Quicksight/etc.
- Cloud technologies: Microsoft Azure/Amazon Web Services (AWS)
General Knowledge:
- Statistics & Probabilities
- Basic Understanding of Databases (Microsoft SQL Server/Oracle/ PostgreSQL/mySQL/ etc.)
What someones needs to become a Data Analyst?
In recent years, having a degree is something that can lead you get the job more easily. However, there are jobs, like being a Data Analyst, where having e.g. a Bachelor Degree in related field is not mandatory. Let’s explore the different ways to get into the field:
- Certificates: Learning SQL and basic statistics & probabilities via certificates offered by Institutions, Companies, or Learning Platforms, while having a personal portfolio with projects, can get you into an entry-level position as a Data Analyst
- Bachelor’s degree: Coursework in Statistics, Math, or Computer Science can also give you the opportunity to start your career as a Data Analyst
- Self-study: Hopefully, there are a lot of resources and guides in order to understand and learn the mandatory hard skills for becoming a Data Analyst
The common part that can really give you the potential to break into the field of Data Analysis, is to have your personal portfolio that showcases your work!
Conclusion
As long as a company has data, Data Analysts can provide a lot of benefits and help the business grow.
A good Data Analyst, in my opinion, is not only the one that has the required hard skills but also the soft skills mentioned like being problem-solver, having critical-thinking and an analytical mindset. The last skills are mandatory so that even if the Data Analyst lacks some technical experience, he/she has the passion to analyze the data and provide useful feedback.
