Must have skills to become a data analyst in India

Are you interested in entering digital world of data? Stick to the given skills to become a data analyst in India.

Emergence of Data

A decade ago, when technology gained new momentum, data recorded an exponential growth and since then it has not slowed down. Whether a company is running over an online platform or managing their business through offline tools, data is an indispensable part of their business structure, and analysis of that data helps companies to gain a better insight of their applied strategies- marketing and financial.

The era we live in thrives on data, technology, and innovation. With the world continuing to experience the fourth industrial revolution, big companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft have also already revealed their plans with investing a fair amount in data analysis.

The growth has not only benefited the companies but it has also given a new perspective to people out there. Data science and analysis is a novel term. Before that, we had statisticians around us who had experience in managing qualitative data. As the IT sector progressed and analysis tools came into action, it resulted in the creation of data science- an umbrella term that covers data analysis, data mining, and machine learning.

A career in data analysis

When IT merged itself with statistics, we got into the field of data science. The emergence of this new field resulted in the growth of many potential employment openings in the sector. The major challenge comes during the storage and processing of this huge amount of data. It is nothing less than finding a needle in a haystack.

While it has definitely created employment, managing and processing data is not everyone’s cup of tea. Having said that, the right skill set is important to enjoy the perks of the sexiest job of the 21st century. This can be achieved with a right data analytics training course.

Along with technical skills, in this article, we’ll be focusing on non-technical skills required to become a proficient player in the sector.

Skills required to become a data analyst

Technical Skill Set

1. Data visualization– Not everyone can understand the data. Thus, it becomes necessary to break it down into a simple form so that everyone can understand it in a better way. Data visualization has become an essential skill to become a data analyst. With this, it becomes important to know that how you can present the raw data in the form of a fascinating story. Analysts use impressive charts and graphs to present their data in a more concise and impactful way. Your data should not look like a chaos of numbers rather must highlight the actual figures.
   • Tableau- Tableau is a popular visualization used by data analysts. Individuals must know how to use this software proficiently to excel in the field. Interactive dashboards and creative charts with graphs make it interesting software to work with.
2. Data cleaning: Data cleaning is another vital and serious skill required if you want to gain a profitable job as a data analyst. Data cleaning comprises the major chunk of analyst’s jobs.  Data cleaning involves managing and segregating the data into different categories, making it ready for analysis. A cleaned dataset helps in generating remarkable insights whereas uncleaned data can result in a wrong conclusion and misinterpretation.
3. Data exploration: It is another skill that people who are serious about becoming data analysts should master. Data exploration consists of understanding the hidden data patterns and bringing out the interesting trends to the table which could benefit the business operations.  Exploration might help you to find a solution that can act as an opportunity for a business to reduce its cost or helps in increasing growth.
4. Strong statistical and mathematical knowledge:  One cannot think of data analysis without statistics and mathematical knowledge. Data analysis is all about loving numbers. You should be extremely good at working with numbers. Now the strong knowledge of mathematics and statistics comes into play.

It sets groundwork for data analysts. Having proper knowledge of stats will help you in making a valid analysis of your data, without missing logical errors.

Apart from stats, one must also be proficient in Linear Algebra, Calculus, and Discrete Math. Understanding of discrete math especially becomes essential as it deals with topics like relations and functions, boolean algebra, set theory, and graph theory. Concepts of probability also play a crucial role in the process of data analysis.

5. Programming skills:  Programming skills is what differentiate a normal statistician from a data analyst. Programming helps in putting statistical knowledge into implementation.
   1. R: R is one of the most persuasive and statistical tools used in programming to solve data-related problems. With R, data analysts can solve complex analysis problems in different fields including astrology, finance, etc. as it is capable of handling large quantities of data.
   2. SQL/NoSQL/MySQL: The ever-increasing demand for the language has given SQL a special status in the analytical sector. The language has made data managing relatively easy.  SQL helps the analysts to deal efficiently with the unstructured form of data. Thus, we can ignore this fact that without SQL it will become challenging job to survive in the industry.
   3. Python: Python is one of the easiest programming languages which is being loved by many programmers these days. Having upper hand knowledge of python will help the data analyst for data creation, data scraping, and creating web applications.
6. Command over Microsoft Excel:  It would be humorous to leave Excel while we talk about data. Microsoft Excel is designed to manage data and a spreadsheet has saved a lot of time required to handle complex data. Formulas, charts, tables, and graphs make it one of the most popular tools in the analytical world.

Non- Technical Skillset

Okay, you can have all the skills on paper but still won’t get a good job, you know what’s the reason behind that? The answer lies in the soft skills.

Technical skills are something which can be gained by anyone and everyone. It is the non-technical skill set that makes you different from the rest of the players in the industry.

1. Curiosity with critical thinking: Data is dynamic in nature. Data analysis requires a lot of management, segregation, and experiment and one who has a zealous personality can only take up this job. Without curiosity to learn at every stage, you might not be able to experiment with new concepts, creating a limit block for yourself.  However, what you need to remember is creativity alone will take you nowhere.

You must combine your creativity with critical analysis and it will produce favourable results for you. By using critical thinking means you must know how to approach a logical reason and have a problem-solving attitude. How you look at the problem will matter a lot here.

2. Writing and storytelling: If used properly, this skill will be one of the most amazing assets for any data analyst.  Explaining your analysis is essential. Data analysts must have the skill to present their analysis of data in written form- in a clear, direct, and concise manner.  Just like a story-teller, you must know how to present your data without confusing the user.
3. Excellent communication: Communication in any form plays a vital role for analysts. If you’re not able to convey your analysis and findings to others, then it does not matter how good your analysis is in the first place.  You must have the ability to convey even highly technical points with ease so that people from non-technical backgrounds can also gain an understanding of the concept.
4. Inclusiveness:  Nobody in the world works alone. Everyone has a team of members behind them and it is with everyone’s combined efforts the company can achieve the desired results. You might have to work with different teams and departments and having prior knowledge of how to act and adjust in the group will be the savior for you. There will be times when you have to work under strict deadlines and you simply cannot afford to have clashes in a group at that particular moment. So you must know how to act in a group, respecting individual personalities at the same time.

These were a few skills that I personally feel are major requirements to become a pro of the data world. Once you will excel in these skills, you will go one step closer to your dream. Data Analysis is for sure a sector that comes up with many lucrative options but it also requires a lot of investment- not only in terms of finance but in terms of your efforts and time also. The sharper skills you will possess, the more chances you will get selected.

Getting started in the field

Being one of the ideal data analytics training institutes in Delhi, ADMEC acts as a vital force in your professional journey. With outstanding and impressive data analytics courses, they help you to learn the skills you will need to work in the data sector. The holistic and inclusive approach will not only help you to gain technical skills but non-technical ones also. You can too start your journey to become a data analyst by checking our data analytics courses.