Who is a Data Analyst? Salary, Skills & Career

In today’s technology-driven world, data collection, analysis and interpretation are widely applied to solve a broad range of business concerns. So, what exactly is data? Data is a form of information that can be translated into a format or pattern for efficient movement and processing of information.
A company, be it small or large, deals with huge data volumes every day. And a lot of the company’s outcomes depend on its proficiency in obtaining meaningful insights from the data. This is what a data analyst does.
Let’s learn and explore more about the data analyst profile, the required skills and the career scope.

Who is a Data Analyst?

Any organisation, be it from any sector and at any level (beginner or established), constantly deals with questions like;

• What type of markets to enter?
• What sort of investments to drive?
• Which products to create?
• What range of customers to target?

The answers to all the above questions would be data-driven, and companies need expert data analysts to draw more informed conclusions from the data.

A data analyst analyses statistical data using different tools to find useful information that businesses can use for critical decision-making and further help design insights and strategies.

What Does a Data Analyst Do?

From the definition of a data analyst mentioned above, it can be understood that the role and responsibility of a data analyst revolves around turning raw data into meaningful information. Other key responsibilities of data analysts are;

• Designing and executing a well-defined database for data collection from the systems.
• Collecting and categorising data as per the defined database.
• Filtering and cleaning the data employing different tools, techniques, software, and algorithms to remove errors, unwanted, and duplicate data.
• Analysing the data to understand the characteristics of the dataset and picking an appropriate type of revaluation method.
• As per the analysis, choosing a suitable course of action using technologies like Big Data and machine learning.

Skills Required to Become a Data Analyst

A professional data analyst must possess mathematical, statistical, and communications skills to design and visualise the data. Some of the key skills for a data analyst are listed below:

• Analytical skills to accumulate, view and interpret information and understand the cause and effect of the data.
• Numerical and mathematical skills for the statistical computation of data.
• Technical and software skills, including software languages, and knowledge of database platforms to organise and present data.
• Knowledge of programming languages (MATLAB, Python, SQL, R, SAS) and data processing platforms (Hadoop, Apache Spark, etc.)
• Knowledge of spreadsheet tools (Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets) and data visualisation software (Tableau, Qlik, Jupyter Notebook, etc.).
• Good verbal, written and communication skills for better problem-solving and teamwork.

Data Analyst Salary Pattern

In addition to monitoring the scattered information as per the organisation’s mission and goal, a data analyst also uses data to determine weak areas in the industry that must be addressed for commercial growth, evolution, and increased profit margin.
As a result, they are in high demand across numerous industries and domains as data has evolved as an essential component of every business.

A data analyst’s salary in India for freshers ranges between ₹ 2 to ₹ 3 Lakhs and goes up to ₹ 11 to ₹ 12 Lakhs [Source]. The average annual salary lies somewhere around ₹ 4. to ₹ 6 Lakhs [Source].

Data Analyst Career Scope

Data analysts are in great demand across various specialised fields like finance, healthcare, marketing, business, and the e-commerce sector as they play a decisive part in an organisation’s growth, development, and success.

Amazon, Google, Apple, Netflix, Facebook, CISCO, PayPal, and Barclays are some of the top multinational companies hiring data analysts.

Now that you know every detail about a data analyst’s profile, skills, and job role, let us look at the career progression path.

• The onset of the career starts with an entry-level role, i.e., a junior analyst.
• In various professions and depending on the experience and size of the organisation, the next stage in the data analyst profession is to progress to a mid-level or senior-level data analyst position.
• Hereafter, most data analysts, either head to senior management positions or step towards focusing on a company’s overall data plan and handling other junior analysts.
• Another favoured route for data analysts is to move into a data science expert role.

There are plenty of job options available in the data analytics industry. But, to avail of lucrative opportunities and earn a competitive pay package, it is important to upskill yourself from time to time.

You can undertake Emeritus India’s certification courses or executive programmes in your preferred field. We offer some of the best data analytics courses online and in person in collaboration with reputed Indian and International universities. These courses can help you understand the growing importance of data and its benefit to businesses.