Data analysts are essential when it comes to the success of a business. How important is this role? According to IBM research, data analyst responsibilities have grown by 60% in the last few years. As a result, organizations have hired more data analysts than ever before — and many of those analysts will be unprepared for the job. What pmo mean in text? Read on for our list of tips that all aspiring data analysts should know!
What’s it like to be a data analyst? One day you could be crunching numbers on marketing campaigns and the next you could be presenting your findings at an executive meeting. It’s not for everyone: You’ll need patience, attention to detail, and a love for problem-solving just to get started.
1. Product Management
A data analyst could be involved in the product management process or not. It depends on how the business works. If a data analyst is involved, part of their job would be to look at things like customer behavior and create reports to inform the development team what needs to be fixed or changed in future releases.
2. Presenting Data
Data analysts are often called on to present their findings in a compelling way to senior management. This is especially true when you cover a topic that isn’t familiar to your peers. If you don’t explain yourself well you could be lost in translation and your point may not be clear to a less-technical audience.
3. Data Exploration
Data analysts have a broad range of responsibilities that all stem from the data they find. One big responsibility is data exploration, which means investigating and finding new insights in the data set you’ve been given. This could mean finding new ways to analyze the data or performing an audit of the existing methods to make sure they’re correct.
4. Data Modeling
A data analyst will often need to create different models based on the requirements of their job. There are two main types of modeling — descriptive and predictive — and both require a specific set of skills.
5. Data Mining
Data mining is important in areas such as marketing and customer service, but it’s also important in scientific research. Data mining involves finding patterns in data sets that might not be obvious to the human eye. It’s a crucial skill for data analysts because the patterns they uncover can lead to valuable discoveries that have a positive impact on business.
6. Jumping Between Tools
One of the most important skills a data analyst needs is the ability to work with different tools. You’ll probably use SQL, R, and Python (or another programming language) on a daily basis, while Excel and Tableau are also common choices. It’s important to master the fundamentals of each tool even if one tool is used more often than the others.
7. Correlation vs Causation
There’s no substitute for data when it comes to making predictions. But that doesn’t mean your findings are accurate and true. For example, you may find a correlation between cancer risk and tobacco consumption in males but that doesn’t mean nicotine causes cancer risk (or vice versa). It would be better to perform a causal analysis rather than just a correlation.
8. Time Management
Time is money, but it’s also valuable. You should choose tasks carefully and focus on the big picture — if you spend all your time crunching numbers, for example, it’ll make your conclusions less accurate. On the other hand, if you spend too little time on these tasks, you’ll end up with incomplete results that won’t be as useful in making decisions.
9. Creating Reports
Data reporting is a critical aspect of data analytics. It’s not enough to just bring you information; it’s about creating a report that allows you to share that data with others. If it’s too much work for the data analyst, it might mean that he/she doesn’t have enough authority within the company or they aren’t very good at communicating their findings effectively.
10. Reporting
Data analysts can use their expertise in reporting to help business leaders make decisions by providing them with the information they need. They could be sharing detailed KPI reports or providing a one-pager in order to summarize what they found in a concise and simple way.
Data analysts are essential when it comes to the success of a business. How important is this role? According to IBM research, data analyst responsibilities have grown by 60% in the last few years. As a result, organizations have hired more data analysts than ever before — and many of those analysts will be unprepared for the job.
What’s it like to be a data analyst? One day you could be crunching numbers on marketing campaigns and the next you could be presenting your findings at an executive meeting. It’s not for everyone: You’ll need patience, attention to detail, and a love for problem-solving just to get started.
