For years now, business experts and analysts have all been united in seeing data – or more accurately, the leveraging of data for business insights – as the future of the industry. It’s a field that continues to grow at pace, with more and more AI and machine learning applications placed on top of existing solutions designed to help businesses run better. In this short article, we’ll look at why a Career Analyzing Data can be so profitable and interesting, and how you can find your way into your first job in the field.
Training
Before you set out to build a career analyzing data, you’ll first need to be aware of the skills that should be learned and the aptitudes to be honed to make for a successful data analyst. Data analysis usually requires two key skills: data analysts need to be able to problem solve, and they need to know how to manipulate data to solve problems. The first is a skill you’ll have inbuilt naturally, while the second is the answer to the question: why get a degree in data science? That degree will give you all the knowledge you need to use numbers to get to the bottom of problems, solving them for your employer.
Data is the Future
The use of digital systems has enabled businesses to gather data like never before. That data could be in the form of productivity data, analyzing internal work trends to see where work systems could be improved.
It might be in the form of consumer data to inform marketing spend and strategy. Or it could be in the form of financial and sales data, which can help businesses adjust their business models to new and pressing trends. As you can see, there are so many fields that require smart data analysts to crunch the numbers and produce insights. These are well-paid, highly skilled jobs — and they’re set to grow in the future.
Specialization
In the field of data science and data analysis, it’s best to start as broad as possible. Try to pick up the skills you might need for any data challenge, and then find the exercises that most interest you — whatever the topic may be. You might wish to pursue a more academic angle to your work, or maybe work commercially. You may wish to work in a specialist agency, or to work in-house at a large company that requires several data analysts. You’ll only know which path suits you if you start with broad skills-building.
Trends
Data is changing. New systems are constantly being built in order to process and analyze data more efficiently, which means that your training as a data scientist will never truly end. You’ll always need to keep on top of emerging platforms, data analysis trends, and the latest breakthroughs in the field.
That way, you’ll always be ahead of the curve, and therefore highly employable and sought-after by some of the world’s very largest firms. There you have it: the four things you need to know about building a career in data analysis in the coming years.
