Want to become a data analyst? Here's a guide for you.

The word data analyst has become eminent today with the increase in data and big data generation. As every organization has to deal with huge amounts of data, they hire more data analysts. Everyone is looking forward to becoming a data analyst. Now, how to become a data analyst? What are the steps? Who is a data analyst? What is its role? You must be thinking of all these questions before opting for a data analyst, right? This article will give a detailed understanding of a data analyst and provide steps on how to become a data analyst.

Here are five steps to consider if you're interested in becoming a data analyst.

1. Obtain a bachelor's degree in a field with an emphasis on statistical and analytical skills, such as math or computer science.

2. Grasp important data analytics skills.

3. Consider certification related to data analysis.

4. Get your first entry-level data analyst job or data analyst internships to gain practical knowledge.

5. Earn a master's degree in data analytics.

Boom, you are ready to serve your job as a data analyst.

Now, for an in-depth understanding of what data analysts do, you have to learn about data analytics. Data analytics can be defined as the process in which significant insights are extracted from raw data by analyzing it. Such insights can be business information, product innovations, market trends, etc.

As a data analyst, you have to scrutinize data collected from several sources, clean it, and then transmute it into information that humans can comprehend.

What does a Data Analyst do?

A data analyst collects, processes, and performs analysis of large datasets. Every business, be it small or big, produces, and collects data. This data can be in the form of customer feedback, accounts, logistics, marketing research, etc.

A data analyst is a professional who takes this data and figures out various measures, such as how to enhance customer experience, price new materials, and how to reduce transportation costs, etc. A data analyst deals with data handling, data modeling, and reporting.

Responsibilities of a Data Analyst

The first step to becoming a data analyst is understanding the following responsibilities.

Understanding the Goal

Firstly, a data analyst must identify the organization's goal. They must evaluate the available resources, understand the business problem, and collect the right data.

Querying and Scripting

Data analysts write complex SQL queries and scripts to collect, store, control, and redeem information from relational databases such as MS SQL Server, Oracle DB, and MySQL.

Data Extracting

Data is extracted from a deluge of sources and organized to acquire new details from it. By doing so, data models are created to increase the efficiency of the system.

Data Cleaning

Cleaning data is an important duty of a data analyst. The data collected initially will often be complex and have missing values. Hence, it's crucial to clean the collected data to make it ready for analysis purposes.

Data Examining

Data analysts use analytical and statistical tools, including programming languages, for carrying out a logical evaluation of data.

Interpreting Data Trends

Data analysts use various packages and libraries to mark trends and patterns from complex datasets, thereby locating unseen business insights.

Assembling Summary Reports

Data analysts assemble summary reports with the help of data visualization tools. These reports usher the leadership team to make timely decisions.

Cooperation and Collaboration

Data analysts interact with the management team, development team, and data scientists to establish proper enactment of business requirements and figure out process enhancement opportunities.

Skills Required for Data Analysts

• Programming Languages (R/SAS)
• Creative and Analytical Thinking
• Strong and Effective Communication
• Data Visualization
• Data Warehousing
• SQL Databases
• Database Querying Languages
• Data Mining, Cleaning, and Munging
• Advanced Microsoft Excel
• Machine Learning

What are the Tools that a Data Analyst Uses?

Google Analytics: It helps analysts gain an understanding of customer data, including trends and areas of customer experience that need development on landing pages or calls to action (CTAs)

Tableau: Analysts use Tableau to collect and analyze data. They can create and share dashboards with different team members and create visualizations.

Jupyter Notebook system: It makes it simple for data analysts to test code.

Github: It is a platform for sharing and building technical projects. This is a must for data analysts who use object-oriented programming.

AWS S3: It is a cloud storage system. Data analysts can use it to store and redeem large datasets.

What is the Salary of a Data Analyst?

This is a thing that motivates you and pushes you forward to become a data analyst.

Salary in the US

A data analyst in the United States can earn a minimum salary of $43K to a maximum of $95K per annum.

Salary in India

In India, a data analyst can earn an average salary of 500K per annum.

Salary in the UK

In the United Kingdom, a data analyst earns an average salary of £30K per annum.

In today's times, data analysts have a lot of opportunities. As every company deals with huge amounts of data, they look for professionals who can efficiently and effectively manage that data.