What is a Data Analyst? An Overview and Job Description

All businesses typically deal with huge amounts of data. They rely on this information in order to grow and succeed, and with the amount of big data available in this day and age, those in data analyst roles are highly sought-after for their expertise.

The role of a data analyst

Data analysts have the important job of gathering, cleaning, and interpreting sets of data to help solve problems and inform business strategies. They help companies identify patterns and inefficacies to drive constant growth and make critical business decisions. 

With data analysis being important across all business sectors, data analysts can potentially find work in a wide range of industries, including technology, finance, government, and healthcare.

Data analyst job duties & responsibilities - What does a data analyst do?

The key responsibility of any data analyst is to collect, organise, and analyse data to provide businesses with valuable insights that support informed decision-making. Exact day-to-day duties will vary depending on the company; however, data analysts will generally be expected to perform the following tasks:

• Identify and collect data: A data analyst collects necessary data through various sources. These could include databases, surveys, website tracking, data available on websites, reports, or social media platforms, and third-party data providers. 
• Clean and prepare data: After the raw data is collected, data analysts need to go through and clean the data to ensure no inconsistencies or misinterpretations.
• Data analysis: For a data analyst, there are multiple ways of analysing data via statistical and data visualisation techniques. A data analyst may undergo descriptive, exploratory, inferential, predictive, and statistical analysis in order to extract meaningful insights from data.
• Generate data reports: After a data analyst gathers, cleans, and analyses data, it is time to create a report or presentation to best communicate their findings to stakeholders.
• Interpret data for presentations: A big part of a data analyst's job is to interpret their findings in a clear, concise manner to convey their insights to others in the company.
• Monitor and analyse data: As data is constantly changing, data analysts should monitor and analyse any fluctuations over time to identify trends and opportunities.
• Data management: Data analysts must ensure the accuracy, consistency, and security of their data findings whilst also adhering to regulatory requirements to keep the company safe.

What qualities are needed to be a successful data analyst?

In order to succeed, a data analyst should possess a number of essential qualities, such as high-quality analytical skills, problem-solving skills, technical skills, and communication skills for presenting data findings coherently. The nature of the data analyst job also requires strong attention to detail when finding and analysing data. It would also be helpful to have a healthy amount of curiosity as a data analyst, as this role is very focused on discovering new trends for analysis.

What qualifications and technical skills are needed to become a data analyst?

The path to becoming a data analyst involves necessary technical skill sets , such as being proficient in certain database analysis tools and software, data visualisation tools, and database systems. Having a strong grasp of programming languages such as SQL, Python, or R is also crucial. It can also be beneficial to have a solid knowledge of statistics and mathematics, allowing for quicker problem-solving and- identifying any errors in the data. As well as these data analyst skills, one should consider acquiring a university bachelor's degree in a related field such as statistics, mathematics, or computer science.

Budding data analysts can also consider obtaining a professional certification in data analysis or related fields such as data science, data mining, business analytics, and data management. These course certifications can be obtained from universities or professional organisations.

Career development - What is the next step after becoming a data analyst?

The potential career path of a data analyst is very promising and can lead to many other exciting opportunities. As a data analytics professional climbs up the career ladder, they can move into more senior roles such as Senior Data Analyst or Business Analyst. Those in data analyst roles can even go on to become Data Scientists if they pursue further education in data science.

Salary and remuneration - How much does a data analyst make?

Those in data analyst jobs can expect excellent salaries and competitive benefits packages, especially those in more senior roles. If one were to progress with their career in data analytics, Data Scientists also have very high earning potential.