Day in the Life of a Data Analyst

You’ve heard the job title “data analyst” floating around lately and it sounds like an intriguing career. The idea of working with data and technology has piqued your curiosity, but what does a data analyst do all day?

Data analysts spend their workdays digging into big data and making it useable for the company they work for. This includes tasks like analyzing data systems, automating information retrieval and preparing reports that show managers how this data could be applied to their business model.

A day in the life of a data analyst

Generally speaking, a data analyst will retrieve and gather data, organize it and use it to reach meaningful conclusions. “Data analysts’ work varies depending on their industry and the type of data that they’re working with (sales, social media, inventory, etc.) as well as the specific client project.

Regardless of which industry they work in, data analysts can expect to spend their time developing systems for collecting data and compiling their findings into reports that can help improve their company.

The development of the relational database gave a new breath to data analysts, which allowed analysts to use SQL to retrieve data from databases. A data analyst collects, processes and performs statistical analyses on large datasets.

Analysts can be involved in any part of the analysis process. In a data analyst role, you could be included in everything from setting up an analytics system to providing insights based on the data you collect — you may even be asked to train others in your data-collection system.

Data analysts generally work with IT teams, management and/or data scientists to determine organizational goals. They mine and clean data from primary and secondary sources then analyze and interpret results using standard statistical tools and techniques.

Data analysts may be responsible for designing dashboards, monitoring KPI’s, and maintaining relationship databases. They also evaluate systems for different departments throughout their organization using business intelligence software, visualization software, and computer programming.

Most jobs in data analytics involve gathering and cleaning complex data sets to uncover trends/correlations/patterns and business insights and identify new opportunities for process improvement. Data analysts must also create reports on their findings and communicate next steps to key stakeholders.

Some data analysts don’t use programming languages and prefer statistical software and Excel. Depending on the problems they are trying to solve, some analysts perform regression analysis or create data visualizations.

Data Analyst’s roles are increasingly becoming more complex. Experienced analysts use modeling and predictive analytics techniques to generate useful insights and actions. Then they have to explain what they’ve discovered — and why the information is useful — to rooms of non-technical stakeholders. In other words, they are the bridge between business analysts and data scientists.

Salaries for Data Analysts:

Average salary for entry-level data analysts: $83,750

Average salary for data analysts: $100,250

Average salary for senior data analysts: $118,750-$142,500

Data that is collected without proper examination is worthless. A data analyst’s true job is to add value to their client/company.

Now that you know what’s really behind the data analyst job description, you might be thinking that digging into data sounds like the perfect career for you.

Check out this next post that has resources for getting started as an analyst.