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The data analyst career is one of the popular IT career tracks available today. In some workplaces, the term data analyst is loosely used to refer to business analysts, systems analysts, database developers, reporting specialists, data researchers, statisticians and marketing analysts who work with data!
However, in this article, I will explain what the data analyst does and define the career roadmap or plan for becoming a data analyst.
Who Is A Data Analyst?
The term data analyst refers to someone who works with data to make sense of the information buried in raw data or draw inferences and conclusions from it.
A data analyst is someone who performs data analysis on the job.
According to Wikipedia, data analysis is the process of looking at and summarizing data with the intent to extract useful information and develop conclusions.
What Is The Job Outlook For Data Analysts?
There is an increasing trend with businesses to aggregate information in databases and analyze, research or query it for business meaning, clues, trends or insight that will help them do better business or become more competitive in their marketplace.
The growing trend to store and analyze vast quantities of data at every level of business has spawned the "Analytics" industry. For example, when you visit a website at Amazon.com or NetFlix or Ebay, your visit history is stored and analyzed by a group of people known as web analysts who specialize in analyzing web visitor data.
This is just one example of how the job of the data analyst is growing in importance because of the trend to store and analyze increasing amounts of business data by organizations who want to compete in the marketplace based on data, information and facts.
Data Analyst Roles and Responsibilities
Here are some of the common, typical roles, responsibilities and duties of data analysts. If you are looking for a data analyst job or position, make sure you can demonstrate that you have these skills when you apply for the data analyst position:
1. You must demonstrate the ability to analyze large data sets
2. You must show an expert ability to analyze, research or query data using SQL
3. You must have the ability to report on data using enterprise, industry standard reporting tools like SQL Server Reporting Services, Crystal Reports and Business Objects
4. You must have logical, problem solving skills.
5. You must have strong analytical skills
6. You must be able to present, interpret, discuss or write about your conclusions, inferences and results gained from researching your data
7. You need to be able to analyze data in Excel and prepare Excel spreadsheets or PowerPoint presentation to explain your results.
8. You must be able to research concepts and issues on the Internet using search engines and other web based research tools
Data Analyst Job Interviews
You need to expect your job interviews to cover all aspects of your resume. So, if you present a resume to an employer, you must be able to talk intelligently about the positions, skills and responsibilities on your resume.
In addition, you need to expect a technical interview that will drill down to the level of database design interview questions, database development interview questions, and SQL interview questions. So you will need SQL coding and SQL programming skills.
You also need to have a strong mastery of a variant of SQL like T-SQL and database development on a specific enterprise database platform like Microsoft SQL Server 2005.
Here is a link you can use to get all the rdbms study material (relational database study material), RDBMS training and SQL development training you will need to fulfill your data analyst roles and responsibilities. Click here for more information on online SQL training.
Finally, you need to understand trend analysis . For example, given a SQL Server 2005 marketing database, you need to be able to search for patterns or identify trends using SQL queries or T-SQL queries to be exact.
How Do Data Analyst Jobs Compare To Business Analyst Jobs Or Computer Programmer Jobs?
1. How does a data analyst job compare to a business analyst job?
One way of comparing the data analyst's job to the business analyst's job is to say that the data analyst majors on database analysis or data analysis while the business analyst focuses on business process analysis.
The data analyst is expected to be an expert with analyzing databases using SQL, writing reports in Crystal Reports, Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services or Business Objects and analyzing or presenting data in Microsoft Excel. On the other hand, the business analyst focuses on requirements analysis, UML, Use Cases and business process improvement.
2. How does a data analyst job compare to a computer programmer job?
Computer programmers focus more on the design and development of database applications and software applications.
Computer programmers need to master all aspects of the software development life cycle, database design, database development, web and windows application development and data reporting. Data analysts focus on database analysis, database design, data preparation, data quality and data reporting.
Online Data Analyst Training Opportunities
The technical skill that is most in demand for data analyst positions is the ability to research data stored in relational databases like Oracle, MySQL, Microsoft Access (MS Access), Microsoft SQL Server using SQL. The beginner to advanced online SQL training offered on SQL Boot Camp covers all the SQL training needed for data analyst positions.
Be sure to register at SQL Boot Camp for more information on data analyst online training opportunities.
About The Author
My name is Kingsley Tagbo and I?m a technical expert living in Saint Louis, Missouri. I write about the training, coaching, mentoring and personal development of software development professionals including business analysts, computer programmers, testers, project managers, web designers, data analysts, report writers, software developers and other information technology professionals
My firm, Exacticity, performs software development consulting and training for clients throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. If you are in need of software development consultants or training, click here to get in touch with me
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