How to Become a Data Analyst? only In 3-Simple Steps

When you look at a survey or a table, where do you think the statistics and the content are coming from? Who are the people who provide us with this information 🤔?

Well, these people are known as data analysts whose job is to gather information and present it in a way that is understandable to the masses. 📊 They have to learn a lot of data-taking methods to become better at the job and earn up to $76,398 per year.

The job is not an easy one, and you will have to work a lot. 😟 But if you have the determination and want to become one, this article I have written is the right choice for you.

Question and Answer

If you have any questions in mind that make you feel unsure about becoming a data analyst for life, then it’s completely alright. Everyone gets worried about their career.

I am here to help you out with a few questions. Answer them very honestly.

Do you know enough about the job?
Are you comfortable working with data?
Do you want a good working environment?
Do you have a field you want to specialize in?
Do you want to make an impact through your work as a data analyst?

Step1: Knowledge

Who is a Data Analyst?

These are people who collect data, then clean it to make it more understandable, and then use methods to present it in a way that is clearly and better interpretable. Isn’t this a lot to do? They do so just to answer specific questions and provide statistics that will help solve a problem.

You will find data analysts everywhere, from industries 🧑‍🏭 to schools 🎒 and governments. Anyone can hire a data analyst if they want some specific questions answered.

For example, a business owner might want to know about the most popular kind of business right now. Another question can be – What type of products do people want to buy the most?

As soon as you give this question to a data analyst, they will start taking surveys and collecting more information to answer this question to the best of their abilities. So I think it is clear that you will have to build a very, very good skill set if you want to earn more in this field. 🤑

Types of Data Analysts

Data analysts can be of different types depending on the type of work that they do.

Quantitative analysts

Who they are: Analysts who learn how to code and use statistical and computer programs to analyze the data.

What they do: They also use mathematics models ➕ to make it easier to represent their data. They are divided into further types depending on the type of industry that they work in.

Business analyst

Who they are: People who try to research the operations of a company that can be improved and how to improve them.

What they do: they collect data in the form of surveys, reports, internal records, and interviews 🎤. Whatever output they get is analyzed to understand what exactly is lacking and what can be improved.

Market research analyst

Who they are: Analysts who research consumers’ preferences and buying habits. 🛒

What they do: They do so to understand the behavior of consumers so that the companies can focus on what type of products they have to create.

This also helps in understanding how to create and develop market strategies that will be more appealing to the masses.

IT systems analysts

Who they are: People who research the kind of software and computers 💻 that are in use in companies.

What they do: They do so to understand exactly how the maintenance work on such systems is going on and what new updates to bring about.

They are important members of any organization because of the excessive use of IT systems in today’s age and time.

Medical and Healthcare Analysts

Who they are: These are people who research how things are going on in healthcare systems.

What they do: They collect data through surveys to understand how to help doctors and other professionals. This is helpful because we can understand what can be improved in a healthcare system by asking the doctors as well as the patients.

Roles and Responsibility

There are certain rules and regulations as well as responsibilities that a data analyst has to take care of.

Data collection

What they do: They collect data by extracting it from appropriate resources such as spreadsheets, external data sets, APIs, and databases.
Why: They do so to develop the data that is going to be used in their work.

Data processing

What they do: Data processing is done to clean the data, which is transformed into a more suitable format for analysis and visualization.
Why: They remove duplicates and handle missing values to ensure the data quality.

Data Visualization

What they do: Data is then visualized by utilizing tools like Power BI, python libraries, and Tableau.
Why: Visualization helps in communication when it comes to showing the findings and all of the data to nontechnical audiences who might not understand it otherwise.

Expert Skill Sets to be a Data Analyst

Data analysts need to be good at the following skills in order to be successful.

Statistical analysis – They have to be good at understanding concepts and techniques while understanding and working on concepts related to statistical analysis.
Data visualization – They need to know how to come up with methods of data visualization to engage with the audience.
Data management – Data management is also important to know when you are handling so much.
Critical thinking – knowing how to tackle problems and solve them is also a beneficial skill.

How much can a Data Analyst expert earn?

As we talked about before, the paycheck of a Data Analyst in the United States is very good. It can help you with sustenance as well as savings quite easily.

You can earn an average of $99,337 per year in the United States as a Data Analyst. These statistics 📊 we are going to talk about are up to date and have been updated recently in August 2023. They have been provided by the trusted job platform Indeed.

What’s even better is that if you have more than 6 or 7 years of experience in this field, your pay increases a lot.

We have found that according to stats, an experienced Data Analyst can earn up to $138,080 per year. This pay raises 📈 with more experience and skill.

The places that pay the most right now in the United States are Washington DC, New York, and Los Angeles. Some skills that can help you earn more are market research 🔍and asset management.

Scope of Data Analyst

There are currently 93,471 data analysts employed in the United States. 49% of them are women, while 50% are men.

This is a good statistic, which means that this field is very beneficial for both women and men. This information is provided by Zippia.

More surveys and reports published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics tell us that the employment of data analysts is predicted to grow by about 35% from 2022 to 2032. About 17,700 new jobs are created for date analysts every year on average.

Step 2: Skill

Top Global Programs

Getting a degree is very important no matter which type of job and field you decide to pursue. It helps a lot because employers are then assured that you have the basic skills to work efficiently.

University of California, Irvine (UCI)

What it provides: UCI has a course named the Predictive Analytics Certificate Program, and another called the Business Intelligence Certificate Program.

What you will learn: It is famous for teaching students to apply the concepts of data science and analytics to their businesses and startups via analyzing, visualization of data, and many other data science tools.

University of Michigan

What it provides: One course is the Master of Applied Data Science (MADS) from the School of Information; another is the Data Science for Public Policy Program provided by the Ford School of Public Policy.

What you will learn: Both of these programs are focused on future data analysts and teach them how to address data-related problems. They cover topics related to causal inference, data ethics, analysis, and ensuring the security of data. 📝

University of Chicago

What it provides: The University of Chicago provides both online and offline courses related to data analytics and data sciences for students according to their distance from their respective schools. 🏫

What you will learn: The Data Analytics Boot Camp of this university is organized online, where topics such as data analytics, including programming, data visualization, and statistical analysis, are taught to students.

Johns Hopkins University

What it provides: Johns Hopkins University provides courses for aspiring data analysts via the Whiting School of Engineering and Carey Business School.

Students can even pursue Advanced Academic Programs and a Master of Science in Data Science (MSDS).

What you will learn: The students can get knowledge about R programming, machine learning, manipulation, and statistical analysis of data along with predictive modeling, which is focused on medical 💉 and business 🧑‍💼 applications, respectively.

University of Pennsylvania

What it provides: The University of Pennsylvania has three major renowned courses related to data analytics 3️⃣, the first of which is Master of Science in Engineering in Data Science (MSE in Data Science), which is provided by the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Another course named Wharton Customer Analytics Initiative (WCAI) taught by the Wharton School offers programs related to customer analytics.

What you will learn: It enables students to understand concepts of data sciences at a very detailed level and helps establish a strong technical foundation in the field of data science.

Students 🧑‍🎓learn via projects, assignments, tests, seminars, and events.

Free Resources

Google Data Analytics (Using the audit option)

What it offers: Let’s talk about the course Google gives first and foremost, shall we? They have a hands-on practice theme planned in which they are going to teach both theory and practice properly. 🙌

The syllabus is up-to-date and includes all of the topics that a data analyst should know as of now.

What you will learn: You can expect to learn more about topics such as how to make data-driven decisions, R programming, and data visualization.

Data Analytics short course

What it offers: Five free tutorial courses with Dr. Humera Noor, who is the director of engineering at Eyeo. The course is an ideal introduction to data analytics for beginners.

What you will learn: The course includes an introduction to the very fundamental concepts, more about tools you can use, and an in-depth summary of the skills required.

Learn to code for data analysis.

What it offers: This course is provided by the open university of the UK and is a solid eight-week coding course to get a head start on coding in this field. You also get a participation certificate at the end.

What you will learn: You will be taught about basic programming and how to utilize your coding skills in data analysis.

Step 3: Job

You will have a lot of offline resources to sort out when you start looking for jobs as a data analyst. As for online resources, you have three️⃣ main options.

Overview – This website will serve as a bridge between you and all of the other people in the data science field. 🌐
Highlight – You would be able to build networks and connect with more people, which will increase your visibility in the field. This means that you would be able to get job offers from people directly.
Website – LinkedIn

FlexJobs

Overview – This is a site that is going to help you filter out jobs according to your preferences and apply according to your convenience. 🔎
Highlight – All it will take is an account, which will help you access everything on the site.
Website – FlexJobs

Upwork

Overview – Freelancing offers refuge to people who want to work according to their terms and conditions. You would be able to work independently and free of any sort of pressure. Not to mention, you will also be able to switch between companies if you feel like your paycheck 💲 or working conditions are not good enough.
Highlight – You will primarily work on just one project at a time when you are freelancing, after which you can look for jobs in other places.
Website – Upwork

In conclusion

With this, we have come to an end to this article after looking at all of the possible questions that might pop into your head when you think of becoming a data analyst. 🤔

You need to work hard a lot, but I hope this article was helpful and you become a successful data analyst in the future.

If you ever have any more questions in mind, feel free to ask in the comments down below. I will answer as soon as I can. 😉