A data analyst collects raw and unstructured data through various procedures and strategies to predict future trends. Data analysts provide insightful information to the company’s stakeholders and help make decisions to refine organizational data. They measure and analyze the organization’s performance to compare with competitors and identify ways for improvement.
If you aim to obtain a data analyst job role in an esteemed organization, we are here to aid you in composing an impressive resume. Let us begin with the different resume formats.
See What People are Saying About Us
Job Duties of a Data Analyst
The primary responsibilities of a data analyst include collection, storage, management, and analysis of a company’s data to determine the scope of improvement. A data analyst plays an essential role in many business domains like Retail, Manufacturing, Technology, Finance and Banking. So their data analysis duties are employed to make critical business decisions. The following are the responsibilities of a data analyst:
Applying data mining techniques such as classification, clustering, regression, association, outer detection, sequential patterns, and prediction.
Developing and managing organizational databases.
Interpreting data with the help of predefined processes and statistical tools like Statistical Analysis Software, MATLAB, and Microsoft Excel.
Analyzing data and identifying trends and patterns of company performance.
Providing recommendations and consultations to senior management and stakeholders through active participation in making crucial business decisions.
Guiding software developers in performing data analysis and data management.
Implementing upgrades to the software.
Diagnosing errors in database systems and providing resolution.
Preparing documentation of the reports and data models for the end-users.
Data Analyst Median Salaries
Based on the reports of PayScale, a compensation software that provides reliable data of employee salary in the United States, the median salary of a data analyst as of April 2021 is $61,329 per annum. There may be variations in the compensation based on the experience of the employee.
Top Skills for Data Analysts
Data analysts are responsible for providing accurate, reliable, and accessible business metrics to facilitate data-driven decision-making. The job demands multiple simultaneous projects, including importing, evaluating, mapping, and converting client data. The role mainly entails data analysis, data visualization, and dashboard construction using tools and technologies. Still, it extends to working with various cross-functional partners and stakeholders to successfully organize and distill data, ask appropriate questions to understand hypotheses and demands, and display and communicate complex data to an executive audience.
Let’s take a look at the skills you’ll need to be successful in the role:
- Interpersonal and communication skills: Because the role of a data analyst entails participating in cross-functional teams, meeting with clients to elicit, understand, and document business and process requirements, and translate these into data terms and recommended technical solutions, you will need vital customer service and interpersonal skills, as well as excellent written and verbal communication skills. You must exhibit composure while in the spotlight and convey information eloquently, and the ability to build and maintain working relationships is crucial. Your communication skills will also come in handy when you ask questions to understand the scope of the projects you’ll be working on and to complete the resulting reports.
- Data analysis and management: The primary responsibility of a data analyst is to manage and analyze large data sets to gain insights into a company’s current operations and make data-driven decisions that’ll improve the company’s overall performance. You can expect your daily tasks to involve compiling data to provide analysis and problem-solving for complex issues, manipulating large data sets through object-oriented programming (for example, Python), statistical software (such as R, SAS, or SPSS), or other methods using various tools and technologies.
Data visualization, dashboard development, statistical design and analysis, and data delivery with a strong focus on data quality assurance, styling, and usability are essential functions of this role. You should have the ability to break down and understand complex business problems, define solutions, and implement them using advanced quantitative methods. You’ll implement data management best practices to ensure data integrity within each system, resolve any issues relating to the database information, build new data systems, and validate reports from disparate systems. - Organization skills: To be successful in a data analysis role, you must multitask efficiently, with strong analytical skills and close attention to detail. These skills are necessary to effectively manage and analyze large data sets and develop and manage work estimates, project plans, priorities, deliverables, and coordination of efforts. You need to be able to keep track of all your tasks, reports, and datasets.
- Reporting and documenting skills: You must design, format, gather, summarize and accurately prepare management and administrative information that includes project and request documentation and the processes used in working with the various database systems. You also need to know how to develop and maintain dashboards to visualize data using Tableau or Power BI tools and document all dashboard creations and maintenance.
- Innovation and automatization: Part of the role of a data analyst is to conduct a continuous review of reports and identify opportunities for improvement to minimize redundant reporting and automate data preparation and report creation where possible. This includes developing data capture methods (for example, Qualtrics), providing expertise or support regarding data collection methodology and structure, and facilitating client business process improvement in data collection and flow.
Educational Requirements for Data Analysts
Degree
To be a data analyst, you must have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in data science, business analytics, accounting, finance, or in a quantitative field such as mathematics, computer science, economics, engineering, statistics, or a related field.
Some of the most targeted degrees you can consider are the bachelor’s degree in Data Science and Analytics from Thomas Edison State University and Yale University or the Data Science degree from Maryville University or the University of San Francisco. Other relevant degrees you can consider are the Applied Mathematics and Statistics degree from Bryant University, Mathematical Sciences degree from the University of Southern Indiana, or Mathematics for Statistics from Arizona State University.
If you’d prefer to go for a Business Data Analytics degree, Arizona State University offers a great program in this major.
Alternatively, suppose you’d prefer a more tech-inclined degree. In that case, you can check out a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University, Cornell University, University of Michigan or New York University.Certifications
While not all employers require you to have a certification, some prefer candidates who do. In either case, it doesn’t hurt to prove your expertise by getting certified. Especially if you get one that’ll certify you as an expert in a particular skill for data analysts.- Online companies: Some of the certifications in private companies are specific for those looking to get a job as a data analyst. You can check out the CCA Data Analyst certification and the SAS® Certified Data Scientist one.
There are also Online Data Analysis classes offered in Skillshare and LinkedIn Learning. You could also check out Udemy’s courses in specific data-analysis-related skills like SQL.
However, it’s important to note that while the skills you’ll learn in Udemy, Skillshare, and LinkedIn Learning are valuable, they are not accredited, and any certificate of completion they send you after finishing a course may not be recognized by a third party.
Data analysis also requires knowledge of a few programming languages. If you are looking to get certified in the most commonly used ones or learn the skills you need to code with them, Coursera offers plenty of options to choose from for Python, R, SAS, and even Data Analytics as a whole. - Colleges and organizations: Most professions have an organization that offers information and certification, and data analytics is no exception. The organization for Certified analytics offers a Certified Analytics Professional (CAP) program you could consider. Some universities offer programs like Berkeley Extension’s Professional Program in Data Analysis and Texas Extended Campus’ Data Analytics Certificate Program.
- Software companies: Data analysts need to be proficient in a few software programs useful for data analysis. Companies like Microsoft offer certifications in the software tools you’ll be using for the role. Employers usually require candidates to be proficient in Excel, Tableau, and PowerBI software. A few of the certifications they offer are the Tableau Certification, the Excel Microsoft Office Specialist Associate, and the Exam DA-100: Analyzing Data with Microsoft Power BI.
Data Analyst Resume-Writing Tips
A recruiter will take only a few seconds to go through your resume and decide if it is worthy of additional consideration. This section gives you some valuable insights on how to shape a resume.
- Enlist your achievements in previous jobs. To draw the recruiter’s attention, you must let them know about your successful accomplishments and innovations in your previous jobs. This will enhance your visibility amongst other resumes and make you a highly competitive candidate.
- Highlight your leadership skills. Data analysts manage subordinates and supervise their database handling. Hence, you must convey your administrative capability since the recruiters look for candidates who can lead.
- Precise details of education and experience. A good resume consists of all the educational and work-related details enlisted in concise and straightforward points. Provide the details of education and work experiences like institution/company name, year of graduation/service completion, and notable certifications you have also completed.
- Express your views on the company. Before you write your resume, explore the website of the company for which you are applying. You may find valuable information to add to your resume to reveal your familiarity with the company.
FAQ
How should I choose my resume format?
You can choose your resume format based on the priority you would like to give to your skills and work experience. If you want to elaborate on your previous jobs, you may use a chronological format. If you’re going to stress your skills more, you may use a functional design. If your skills are more vital and your previous job experiences were also noteworthy, you may give equal weight to both using the combination format.
Can I include my academic project details in the resume?
Yes. If your academic projects were based on your job role’s technologies and responsibilities, it would be a significant part of your resume. Projects on unrelated topics may not be included.
Can I include interests that are not relevant to this job role?
Including irrelevant information about your interests can make your resume too long and might not impact recruiters. Keep your resume simple with relevant details.