Introduction
Data analytics is a field filled with promise. Corporations across all industries have invested significantly in big data, establishing analytics departments, particularly in telecommunications, insurance, advertising, financial services, healthcare, and technology.
That growth is projected to continue in the future since industries that have been slow to adopt big data analytics, such as education, government, and industry, have committed to boosting their big data analytics activity in the future.
If you wish to work as a data analyst, there are five significant steps you must take:
In this article, we’ll go over each aspect in greater depth, providing you with all you need to know to start your career as a data analyst.
Why Should You Start a Career as a Data Analyst?
In recent years, there has been a surge in the number of people looking for information on becoming data analysts. The role has grown in popularity, which is not surprising given the vast data we generate today.
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Companies in all industries want professionals who can collect data, evaluate it, derive valuable data-driven insights from it, and use those insights to help them address critical business challenges. As a result, there are several reasons why you would choose to work as a data analyst:
Roles are in high demand. The data analyst employment market is flourishing and shows no indications of slowing down anytime soon. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of analysts employed is predicted to increase by 23% between 2021 and 2031. This could be it if you’re seeking a profession that will last.
The Salary. Data analyst positions are often well-paid, with average wages in the United States hovering around $63,632.
Job satisfaction. According to PayScale data, data analysts are generally satisfied with their jobs, with an average rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars.
What are the Skills to Become a Data Analyst?
There has never been a better moment to start a career in data analysis. And in this essay, I’ll walk you through the entire process of becoming a Data Analyst in 2023. You must master the following skills:
- Storytelling with Data
- Programming
- Exploratory Data Analysis
- Basic Statistics
Apart from these technical skills, you also need to work on your soft skills:
- Structured Thinking,
- Analytical Skills &
- Communication Skills (that further includes: Spoken & Presentation Skills)
Source: Springboard
Are you feeling overwhelmed? Don’t worry. We’ve put together a 6-month plan to help you learn these abilities. To make things easier, we’ve separated the roadmap into two quarters. This path is based on the assumption that you will study for at least 4 hours per day, 5 days per week. If you stick to this strategy, you should be able to:
- Begin applying for entry-level Data Analyst roles after the first quarter and
- full-fledged Data Analyst roles after the second quarter.
Quarter 1: Straighten Out the Basics
During the first quarter, devote your entire attention to learning: Microsoft Excel, Data Storytelling, and SQL Programming Language.
It is widely assumed that to begin learning data analysis. One must be proficient in mathematics, statistics, or programming. While a background in these subjects gives a solid technical foundation, it does not rule out a future in data analysis for persons with different educational and professional experiences.
Learning to analyze data will necessitate extensive study, effort, and practice. You must retain a certain amount of optimism even when you are stuck, fatigued, disappointed, or don’t perceive any progress.
A prospective data analyst should be creative and curious about data, have an investigative attitude, be able to think analytically, operate individually or in a team, and be prepared to put in the time and effort required. All of these characteristics will contribute to your success.
You should begin by learning essential data analysis skills, such as the principles of statistics, such as measures of centre and spread, probability distributions, and hypothesis testing.
To create an outline for you, this is the list of things you can complete in quarter 1 and progress toward becoming a data analyst.
Quarter 2: Learning the Essential Data Analysis Skills
In the second quarter, devote your entire attention to learning: exploratory data analysis, basic statistics, and a general-purpose programming language. You could start looking for full-time Data Analyst jobs in the industry this quarter.
This quarter, you can begin with data analysis in spreadsheets to gain a sense of data collection and manipulation and learn how exploratory data analysis in Power BI and other tools works.
Additionally, data analysts typically work with multiple computer languages. Thus, there is no right or wrong answer. Essentially, you will need to learn SQL to query and manipulate databases, but then you’ll have to select between R and Python for your programming language.
You will learn how to import, clean, alter and visualize data with your favourite programming language. You’ll learn about some libraries that can assist you with various chores and help you improve your programming skills.
To create an outline for you, this is the list of things you can complete in quarter 1 and progress toward becoming a data analyst.
Conclusion
After following the upskilling and learning process for the first 2 quarters, you should be well on your way to becoming a data analyst. When satisfied with your skills and portfolio, it’s time to get into the industry and apply for the roles you are well-fitted for as a data analyst. However, if you lack essential skills, don’t forget to upskill yourself according to the job description.
Hence, keep applying for jobs and keep upskilling yourself. Also, if you are looking for a step-by-step guide to becoming a data scientist, click here. Also, don’t forget to mention how you liked reading this article, and drop your comments and feedback in the comment below.
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- Source: https://www.analyticsvidhya.com/blog/2023/01/step-by-step-guide-to-becoming-a-data-analyst-in-2023/
