What is a Data Analyst?

What is a Data Analyst?

Data is the new “blonde cheerleader” of companies nowadays if they were in high school.

 

It has become impossible for businesses to become successful without utilizing data. Through the interpretation of data for business, it is easier to come up with real solutions. And because this career has only recently emerged in the market, skills needed for this job is limited. Given that, the demand for data professionals has also skyrocketed.

 

Two of the most prominent roles in the data science world are data scientists and data analysts. Let’s talk about the day in the life of the latter.

 

Job Description

In a nutshell, a data analyst acquires data, polishes it, creates algorithms, predicts possible outcomes, and organizes them together to know which algorithm will provide a more practical data based on a company’s vision. Additionally, they use gathered data from internal sources like marketing, sales, human resources or external sources like websites or social media.

 

Daily Activities

The daily activities of data analysts may sometimes vary depending on their expertise or company requirements. Notwithstanding, here are the things data analysts generally do. 

 

  1. Data analysts maintain analytics systems. They make sure that the end result would be a perfect system that would deliver an excellent performance for the business.
  2. Data analysts do storytelling. Of course, not everyone can read data like data scientists do, so they carefully curate the data and present it in the simplest and most interesting way possible.
  3. Data analysts guide you on your decisions. Based on the data that they’ve explored and structured, they can predict what the next step should be for your campaign.
  4. Data analysts work across all departments. As a data analyst, you are required to work closely with every department – be it sales, web development, or operations, in order to make the data more harmonious.

 

Skills

Because data science and data analysis are new and evolving careers, the skill set and characteristics required for the job are not that common yet. If you are thinking about taking a new career path or perhaps you’re still planning what to study in college, here’s an overview of the skills required to be a data analyst.

 

  1. Holistic approach to business. Make sure that you have a wide understanding on how a business operates – from branding to operations. 
  2. Moderate math ability. Of course, the job involves a lot of statistics and computations which is why an above average skills in math is a basic requirement to be a data analyst.
  3. Passion in coding. Think you don’t need to code to do data analysis? That’s where you’re wrong. Although data analysts are not necessarily required to have extensive coding skills like data science, it is still crucial. You can start with programming languages like Python or R.
  4. Creativity in storytelling. As a data analyst, it is your responsibility to not just gather data but you also need to interpret it in a way that can help each department reach their goals.

 

One thing’s for sure, if you truly want to become a data analyst, you can do it no matter what others may say. All you need is passion, dedication, and the will to do what you think is the right thing for you.

 

At LegalMatch Philippines (LMPH), we encourage our software engineers, QA specialists, data scientists, data analysts, and the team as a whole to reach their full potential and be the leaders of IT in the future. Together, we create solutions that would help top US lawyers in finding the right clients. At the same time, the clients can also find the perfect attorney to resolve their case and help them lead quality life.

 

Join LegalMatch Philippines (LMPH) now!

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

− 4 = 2