All You Need To Know To Excel As A Data Analyst
Data analysts all over the world have the task of examining data to discover insights that help businesses make better decisions.
The role of a data analyst is very crucial for every business, and attracts a highly competitive salary.
To excel in a data analyst career, there are important skills one has to possess. These skills are what employers always look out for. I’ll share 6 of them with you in this Article.
1. Mastery of Data Analysis Tools
Analysis tools are are softwares and programs that are used to examine data and give meaningful insights. They play different roles and are all necessary requirements for the day-to-day analysis of data.
Here are some examples:
• Microsoft Excel: This is the most common data analysis tool used to manipulate and explore data in spreadsheets for insights.
• Power BI and Tableau: These are business intelligence tools used to retrieve, transform, analyze and report data. Proficiency in either of them is accepted.
• Structured Query Language: This is a programming language used to manage data in relational databases.
• Python and R: These are programming languages for scientific and statistical computing. Just as in Power BI and Tableau, proficiency in either of these programming languages is accepted.
In addition to these, a data analyst should have a good background in Mathematics and Statistics.
2. Attention to Details
A data analyst needs to pay great attention to details in order to excel. This is important because significant details in data can affect the end result of analysis.
For example, let's assume that the population of a city is collected to determine the spending habit of it's inhabitants. If there are 14,000 people in the city and just 500 people are between 30 and 55 years of age, the result of the analysis might not be efficient. It takes attention to details to identify this challenge in age distribution that can affect the final analytical result.
3. Problem Solving Skills
This means that a data analyst should not only be attentive enough to find problems, he should be able to brainstorm and derive answers to them, as well as implement best solutions to challenges encountered during analysis.
4. Research Capability
A data analyst must be passionate enough to seek advanced methods and answers to issues beyond his scope. Research also enables a data analyst to be acquainted with latest industry trends, as well as explore new and useful tools to improve on analytical methods.
5. Team Work
Working with a team is part of the requirements of being a data analyst. This means that a data analyst should be able to work with teams and analyse the processes they use, helping them identify and eliminate pitfalls. A Data Analyst also helps a team to optimize their performance and monitor their progress.
6. Communication
This is one of the most important skills of a data analyst. A data analyst should be able to communicate his findings to both his employers and the team he is working with, in written, verbal and visual formats in a manner that can be easily understood. This helps everyone to quickly grasp his analytical information and the basis of his expert advice.
Are there other skills you recommend for data analysts to help them excel? Feel free to share them with me in the comment section. I write a lot about data analysis and tech, so follow me as I will keep exploring more topics.
