Welcome to Opportunities in Data Analysis. After watching this video, you will be able to: Describe what data analysts do and differentiate them from other data professionals Compare different working styles at small, medium, and large companies And identify the current and predicted job opportunities in data analysis. First, let’s look at what a data analyst does in an organization. Data analysts: Gather and filter data from a variety of sources Write complex SQL queries and scripts Generate reports and visualizations And identify trends from complex data sets. Data analysts require knowledge of statistics and probability, a fair understanding of data management, report generation with visualization software like Tableau, and programming with SQL and Python. Data analysts work closely with other data professionals in the data ecosystem. Roles may overlap and combine to provide different opportunities, so it’s useful to take a quick look at what some data professional roles do. Data analysts translate data and numbers into plain language so organizations can make decisions. Data analysts identify correlations, find patterns, and apply statistical methods to analyze and mine data. They also visualize data to interpret and present their findings. Data scientists analyze data for actionable insights and build machine learning or deep learning models that can train on past data and create predictive models. Data engineers extract and organize data from different sources, clean and prepare it, and then store and manage it in data repositories so that other data professionals can access it. And there are other data professionals in the ecosystem too, such as business analysts and business intelligence analysts, who make decisions based on the data results. Again, roles often overlap, and each role plays its part in creating valuable results. Data analysis is now used in many industries for many purposes, so the opportunities are broad-ranging. Manufacturing, shipping, medical research, entertainment, travel, law, finance, government—these are only a few of the fields that use data analysts to reach their goals. A large percentage of data analysis positions are offered by businesses within the technology and information industry. Understandably, a company’s size will affect the nature of its data-related positions. Many data analyst positions entail working within the huge multinational companies known as “Big Tech.” Here are some of the Big Tech companies known worldwide. You may recognize IBM, Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon, as well as other major names in the industry. Many of them are part of our daily lives in the modern world. Each of these and other data giants is different in the information it collects, its company culture, and its structure, as well as its product or goal, of course. Big Tech companies aren’t the only ones hiring data analysts. Smaller companies also hire for many data analysis roles, and startups can be very exciting to work for. They may offer different opportunities to grow skills and create something new, but may also be less stable, demand long hours, and provide a less predictable advancement path. Each has benefits and drawbacks that you can weigh according to your goals. Between the extremes of startups and Big Techs, there are also medium-sized companies. They may offer more stability than a startup, but more agility than a large company. Medium-size companies come in many styles, so you can assess positions in them on a case-by-case basis. It’s impossible to draw hard distinctions between the opportunities of large and small companies. However, there are some general patterns. Large companies may offer a higher entry-level salary and benefits, but policies may limit how your salary will grow. Small companies may offer a wider range of challenges, since you may need to fill several roles, but they may have less stability and a less predictable advancement track. Large companies may require regular work times, and smaller companies may require longer or irregular hours. Smaller companies often have a “flatter” organization, while larger companies have stricter channels of hierarchy. Each of these is a factor to consider in looking for your ideal role. Although data analysis is still a relatively new field, it is among the fastest-growing occupations in the world today. Until recently, jobs in data analysis were commonly associated with the tech and information industries. However, data-based business demands have grown exponentially among many types of private companies and public agencies as well. Because of this, the number of data analyst jobs is growing rapidly. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates 31% growth in data-related jobs over the next 10 years, which is “much faster than average.” The median wage for data analysts is about $98,000, with a starting salary of about $60,000, varying by local area and company. Wages for data analysts rise significantly as they gain experience, up to about 9 years. Salaries also vary widely according to geographic area and industry. The World Economic Forum ranked data analysts and data scientists first among the top 20 job roles increasing in demand and Burning Glass estimates 14.3 percent job growth. This is no surprise, as according to a recent survey from Sisense, 49% of companies are using data analytics “more or much more” than before the pandemic. Data analysts are in demand around the world, especially in the United States, but also in Europe, Asia, and Africa where there are growing economies producing and relying on huge amounts of data. This trend is only expected to grow over the next several years. In this video, you learned that: Data analysts bring a particular expertise to the data ecosystem The role and working style of a data analyst can vary according to the size of the company And demand for data analysts in the US and worldwide is growing, across nearly all industries.
