We live in a world ruled by big data where 1.7 megabytes worth of information is created daily.
A whopping 5 billion human beings are regularly involved in creating this raw data, and data analytics deal with turning these pieces of information into meaningful insights.
From corporations, e.g., Google and Facebook, to your average small-sized business – everyone’s trying to wash their hands in the big data stream today.
No wonder the World Economic Forum claims that four out of five companies will use it by 2025. It means that data analysts will become even more sought-after than before.
So, what are the benefits of starting your career as a data analyst in 2023? Let’s discuss some fine points.
What does data analytics mean?
How do we define the subject of data analytics? Some experts describe it as the science of turning some randomly-collected data into insightful information for better decision-making.
You know about DDDM (data-driven decision-making), in which data analysts discover meaningful data patterns, interpret these patterns into understandable formats, and communicate this information to business leaders.
In simpler terms, data analytics deals with findings, trends, and drawing results from their information.
Data analysts explain big data patterns and make them available for human consumption. So, how does this analysis help policymakers in your organization?
Business managers can leverage data analytics to streamline business operations and bolster their companies’ efficiency by removing the guesswork from the equation.
Organizations can reduce risks, deliver in-demand products, and personalize a customer’s experience. Now, let’s talk about the duties of a data analyst in a company and their responsibilities.
What duties do data analysts have?
So, what do data analysts do, and what duties do they have? It’s estimated that data analysts spend 70% of their time formatting the collected information and 30% of their time evaluating it to attain meaningful conclusions.
A data analyst’s progress can be divided into five parts, i.e., collecting lots of data, formatting (cleaning) it, organizing (modeling) it, interpreting (evaluating) it, and presenting a final picture before the stakeholders. Here are some key duties performed by data analysts for startups:
- Streamline the data-collecting process
- Helping business leaders visualize raw data
- Developing KPIs (key performance indicators)
- Finding data patterns to observe meaningful insights
- Collaborating with data scientists and other researchers
Why choose data analytics as a career?
Students often ask, “What’s in it for us to become data analysts?” Well, data analytics – as we’ve stated – has become a popular subject recently.
Business managers have abandoned the use of “gut feelings” in decision-making. For instance, a survey shows that over 40% of firms today make data-backed decisions. This percentage is expected to keep rising in the future.
Here, we have discussed only a few reasons, but the most important ones, to explain why data analytics is the right career for you:
- An in-demand career
The introductory paragraphs have helped you realize how data analytics has become an in-demand career worldwide. For instance, departments such as BLS expect jobs such as market research analysis to grow by over 20% this decade.
One can conclude that employers are treating data analysts as the most sought-after experts shortly.
As the corporate sector’s reliance on data analytics continues to increase, data analysis shall remain a popular vocation for students.
- Get paid handsomely
Now, let’s get to the “money” part. How much money will you make as a data analyst? Surveys have shown that average data experts earn over $70,000 annually. However, starters may not make that much money! But it’s all about experience in the end and your diligence too.
So, experienced data experts can make almost $90,000 a year in this career. Moreover, your salary depends on your location as well. For instance, Californian data analysts make a lot more than other residents. That’s why you must choose a firm for which you will work as a data scientist.
- Get a leadership role
We’ve discussed how data analysts must collaborate with other professionals because the job duties involve communicating the results to business managers. You are turning scattered insights into actionable policies. This collaboration can turn you into an industry leader and gain promotions.
Just keep harnessing your skills and adopt the necessary “tech skills” for this career. Let’s explain what sort of tech skills” employers want you to attain.
- Learn tech skills
Professionals must harness their “tech skills” to become efficient in their careers. And data analytics can help you develop these qualities.
So, what tech skills will you learn when working as a data analyst? Your employers expect you to become proficient in programming, data visualization, machine learning, and using tech tools such as SQL. You must have more than basic know-how of using software programs such as Tableau, MS Excel, and Google Sheets.
Moreover, certain languages such as R and Python can also make your education far superior to your colleagues, making you a valuable addition to the industry.
- Get job security
As we’ve explained how big data has made analytical careers highly in demand today, and this popularity directly translates to employment security for relevant professionals.
Data experts won’t become not-needed in the future with the corporate sector’s rising reliance on their expertise. Some surveys indicate that millions of job openings are expected in this field this decade. At the same time, data science/analytics shall become the top-most growing career in the world by 2026, hopefully.
It means ample career advancement options are available to data analytics students today. You can find different secure employment opportunities in this sector, e.g., data engineering, market research, operational analysis, and other options. Prepare yourself for this growing profession.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we’ve established that big data has made data analytics a priority for organizations. Now, business operations have become unthinkable without data-driven decision-making. So, more students should pursue this career because of the handsome paychecks it promises as well as its different career advancement opportunities.
As a data analyst, you can have job security, respect in the industry, and an ample chance to become a future leader. Prepare to start your career in the subject of data analytics.
