It’s a bold claim… With how the digital world has become integrated into every facet of our lives, who’s to say that Data Analysts are more valuable than, say, cybersecurity professionals or web designers?
Well, as far as many can tell, most companies are saying so.
With the pandemic causing a significant shift in how customers live their lives and how businesses can safely serve them, the pandemic single-handedly shook most companies to the core, leaving them unsure of how to proceed in increasingly uncertain times. What’s more, these adjustments usually came in the form of migrating to digital spaces, which means that customers are now much more likely to transact business online than in person.
With the way things are still changing (as COVID isn’t done with us yet, unfortunately), according to Nasdaq.com, corporations are heavily relying on data analysts to keep them afloat, tracking these changes and coming up with strategies to meet the ever-evolving needs of consumers.
If you’re looking for a career that will only get more necessary as time goes on, you might want to consider switching to something in data analytics. Let’s break down the profession, examine the extent of their duties, and explore one of the best ways to jump into the trade quickly.
Data Analysis: The Wizards Behind the Curtain
What Do Data Analysts Do?
In short, the job is exactly what it sounds like: the role of a data analyst is to compile and understand large amounts of data, then communicate the trends in that data in clear, concise ways, usually in such a way as to answer corporate questions. In so doing, they help monitor the business’ performance and help their bosses decide if they need to course-correct and discover new ways to reach different customer bases. As such, any successful data analyst will need not just to be able to read different kinds of data but to communicate their findings in various forms of visual media.
Data Analysts, or Data Scientists?
This is an important distinction to make because the two titles get used interchangeably, and while there is a lot of overlap between the two groups, they are NOT the same. While corporations have their own definitions of what the two groups represent, a good rule of thumb to go by is this: data analysts will look at data and attempt to read it to answer a question through statistics, whereas data scientists will look at the same data and use it to draw up a predictive model or construct sets of data. While data analysts and scientists are both oracles attempting to read data, they work in two different ways for two distinct purposes.
Go Straight To Your Job, Do Not Pass Go
If any of this has piqued your interest, or if you think you might have a natural talent for reading data, you might want to take a look at data analytics bootcamps. Like other digital services bootcamps, data analytics bootcamps are educational programs that range in price and duration, with the goal of putting skilled workers into the workforce as soon as possible. Bootcamps take people with no knowledge of the profession they want to learn more about, give them all the tools they need to succeed in that profession, and put them into the workforce faster than most 2 and 4-year degree programs.
There are a ton of data analytics bootcamps out there from a variety of providers, with enough variation between them to account for any lifestyle. If you’re interested in switching to the data analytics field, give them a look: they may provide precisely the thorough, fast-paced education you need.
Join a Workforce Where You Are Appreciated
Data analysts are always needed, and with the way business has been shifting here in the U.S., it’s likely they’ll only become more vital to companies moving forward. If you are naturally skilled at organization and you know how to conjoin disparate bits of information into a cohesive narrative, consider becoming a data analyst – the field could always use you.
