8 Tips to Start your Data Analytics Journey
In our last article, we discussed why data analytics is for everyone. I advise you to read it first in case you haven’t. While we ended the article knowing that we could all learn data analytics, you might be asking yourselves already on how to concretely start. A simple search of “where to start data analytics journey” will give you loads of information already. And in this article, I tried to synthesize them into 8 simple actionable tips.
Tip #1: Identify your Focus
Data analytics has a lot of applications and you might get overwhelmed if you don’t have a focus. Like what Dr. Stephen Covey said in his book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, always begin with the end in mind. Knowing where you would like to use your data analytics skill will help you optimize your learning time that’s why we put it as our first. Do you want to use it for knowing profits and business operations? Then, finance and business analytics are for you. Do you plan to use it in addressing transportation or geographical problem? Then geospatial analytics may be for you. And the list goes on. What’s more important is for you to target a specific area (or different chosen areas) so that your learning will be narrowed down to your focus. For one, it enhances specialization. But the most immediate benefit is for you to maximize Search Engine Optimization (SEO), wherein having a more specific topic will definitely lead to faster search results.
Tip #2: Practice your writing skills
If you are planning to pursue data analytics, you must be flexible with both numbers and write-ups. While you would be encountering lots of numbers especially when you’re dealing with finance, it is inevitable that you would need to provide narrative insights for your analyses. To quote what we wrote in the last article, “your ability to interpret your data qualitatively is equally as important as your ability to crunch your numbers.” The good news is that it can be learned.
For writing, I recall a simple exercise I learned from one of the review centers I attended. To improve our writing skills, our instructor told us to open a random page from a random book daily and read either the page’s first sentence or last sentence. Then, in one to two paragraphs, we would have to continue the sentence in however way we wish. It will help improve your organization of thoughts, familiarity with words, and creative thinking in general.
Tip #3: Fun with your 1, 2, 3?
Now that we have discussed how you can improve your writing skills, your mathematical skills of course should not be forgotten! (Ehem #warflashbacks?) While math looks intimidating, you can choose to make it more relatable and easily appreciated. Here are some ways to do it.
Firstly, you might have heard before that logical reasoning is part of mathematics. You may simply enhance logical reasoning by relating it to your everyday problems such as in budgeting. For an oversimplified example, if you want to know your savings for this month, you would simply need to know all your expected income for the month and deduct your different expenses (bills, food, medicines, etc.). What’s left then can be considered your savings. Your system on identifying your logical steps can be considered your logical reasoning already. Not only that, but this budgeting skill could also really be useful for your financial goals! (#fortravelgoals)
For your basic arithmetic skills, one training I learned before is to mentally calculate your expected change from your purchase in stores. Your ultimate goal in this exercise is to always know how much your change is, faster than the cashier registrar. Not only will this make you more comfortable with numbers but will also make sure that the change given to you is correct. Double-purpose, right? :D
Tip #4: Exposure is the Key!
Once you have a focus area on your mind already, you should also start immersing with your focus area as simple as by reading on related articles or news, actively attending relevant activities and events, or subscribing to notable figures from your chosen field. Immersing yourself not only widens your perspective on the field but also equips your critical thinking since you will be able to utilize wider stock knowledge for your analyses.
Tip #5: Maximize ‘Free’ Online Learning
One of the Internet’s great gifts in my opinion is easier access to information. And this applies even to education — specifically online learning. You may simply visit online learning sites such as Coursera or Udemy and choose your course (Searching for a topic should be easier especially if you now have a focus area as discussed on Tip # 1).
Although some courses are paid, these sites will either offer huge discounts or free trials for your lessons. And if these aren’t great enough, they also issue certificates you may put to your Linkedin profiles or even cite to your resumes. Surely, gaining additional knowledge from these courses will also help improve your worth and marketability to your career.
Tip #6: Choose the tool you’re most comfortable with
It is inevitable that you will need a tool to help you in your analyses. And once you start learning data analytics, you will realize that there are myriads of tools out there. A tip to remember is that you should always choose a tool you’re most comfortable with for your specific needs. However, like the reason #3 in our previous article, you must keep in mind that your logic is only as equally important as your tool. To begin with, it is proper thinking that will guide you towards the right results, and consequently on using your tool properly.
Note, however, that not all tools are for free. So it is something to consider when choosing your tool. Some commonly-used tools are Microsoft Excel (which underwent great improvements on features since its first creation), Python, R, SQL, and a lot more. Each of which has its own pros and cons and would require a separate article for discussion (let’s talk about this more in the future). So I’ll just leave you by saying once again that you should always choose the tool you’re most comfortable with.
Tip #7: Apply your Knowledge
To put it simply, knowing will always be different from actually being able to do it. If one day you decide to climb the Mt. Everest, who would you choose as a mentor — somebody who was able to climb the Mt. Everest or somebody who was able to read about Mt. Everest? Obviously, somebody who’s been up there, right? The same principle applies to data analytics. It is through constant practice that you are able to improve your skill (as with any other skill in the first place :D).
For starters, I’ve already mentioned earlier how you could maximize online learning. These online courses usually have lots of sample activities that will gain you actual experiences.
For your programming skills, there are also available exercises online. For example, you can check Practice Python for some Python exercises or R-exercises to train your R skills. For your data visualization/viz skills, you could check Tableau Public and Makeover Monday. There are lots of datasets/vizzes which you could learn from and recreate.
The good news is that since these are often community-type platforms, there will be fellow users who are generous enough to guide you and provide you feedback most of the time. Amazing, right?
Tip #8: Just do it!
Often times, we all suffer from imposter syndrome or that feeling that we’re not good enough to do or talk about something we want. The truth, however, is that you don’t need anybody else’s permission for you to enjoy doing something. Your potential is as wide as the limit you will set.
And to help you maximize your potential, you should also expand your networks. Join communities you can belong to. There is no limit to how many groups you can belong to. Find a community of similar interests and where you think you can grow and learn. There are numerous platforms where you could find one — on Facebook, Linkedin, Medium, and a lot more. A simple search in Google will be able to link you to a certain group/society who will be able to guide you along your data analytics journey.
While there are still lots of other tips we can discuss, I hope you gained some insights already on how to start your data analytics journey. It’s now time for you take the first step.
For our next week’s article, we will expound more on the importance of communities in your data analytics journey. Until then.
