More and more people are deciding to study data analysis, but many have doubts about which path to choose after graduation.
The truth is there’s a plethora of jobs a data expert can aspire to! Data is everywhere, and all industries are seeing a rising demand for professionals with data skills.
Data analysis is important in business to understand problems facing an organisation, and to explore data in meaningful ways. Data in itself is merely facts and figures. Data analysis organises, interprets, structures and presents the data into useful information that provides context for the data.
Organisations have started to compile, organise, store, and analyse vast volumes of data relevant to their activities, as a result, the demand for data professionals is growing exponentially. Data is a fast growing field with exciting opportunities for professionals in all industries and across the world.
As you delve into the jobs outlined below and start applying for positions in the field of data analysis you’ll notice most of them require similar foundational skills and our Professional Data Analysis course is a great place to start mastering them.
The top four critical skills for any data role include:
- A working knowledge of R programming
- A solid understanding of how to use Python
- Working with data sources using SQL
- Understanding how to communicate and visualise data
In industry, these critical skills are in high demand in a variety of roles. Regardless of the career path you choose, being able to visualise and communicate insights about your company’s services and bottom line is an invaluable skill set that is sought after.
As a data analysis graduate you’re probably thinking about the potential career avenues you could consider as well as the kinds of roles you’ll work alongside.
A typical core data team typically consists of these three roles (although some of the role titles will be used interchangeably):
#1 Data engineer
Data engineers work in a variety of settings to build systems that collect, manage, and convert raw data into usable information for data scientists and business analysts to interpret. Their ultimate goal is to make data accessible so that organisations can use it to evaluate and optimise their performance.
Average base pay in Scotland according to glassdoor.co.uk: £42K
#2 Data analyst
Data Analysts tell stories with stats. They’re fact-focused and communicative. As a Data Analyst, you’ll clean, organise and analyse data. Through analytics, machine learning and statistical methods, you prepare data for use in predictive modelling. Your insights help to solve business problems. And, by the way, you can code.
Average base pay in Scotland according to glassdoor.co.uk: £33K
#3 Data scientist
A data scientist investigates and builds methods and strategies to wrangle large data collections, often from various sources, analyses the knowledge and uses analytical thinking to find ways of implementing it, often by technological solutions such as algorithms or predictive models. Both data analysts and data scientists need excellent communication and visualisation skills.
Average base pay in Scotland according to glassdoor.co.uk: £44K
Other data roles
Data is everywhere, and many other career paths are seeing a rising demand for professionals with data skills. Here are just three:
#4 Product Manager
As a product manager your role is to own the product from conception to execution, every stage requiring an amalgamation of data and insights to inform strategy. At the birth of a product, analysing market trends and utilising predictive analytics to anticipate potential problems is critical. As the product grows, utilising insights from user data helps determine what features should be included and what improvements should be made. Having data analysis skills can propel you to greater heights.
Average base pay in Scotland according to glassdoor.co.uk: £47K
#5 Digital Marketing
From email marketing to social media and even Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) most digital marketers wrangle large amounts of data to refine their strategies. As a serious digital marketing expert, your insights and strategies must be data driven. Understanding what resonates with users by utilising your analytical skills is a crucial process in refining your strategy and communicating with business stakeholders.
Average base pay in Scotland according to glassdoor.co.uk: £29K
#6 Business Analyst
Business analysts help to identify problems, opportunities and solutions for the organisations. They do this by evaluating a company’s current functions and IT structures, reviewing processes and interviewing team members to identify areas for improvement, presenting findings and recommendations to management and other key stakeholders, creating visuals and financial models to support business decisions and training and coaching staff in new systems.
Average base pay in Scotland according to glassdoor.co.uk: £38K
While these are just a few specific examples, data is now an essential part of every business across every industry. Whether you are hoping to level up in your current role or change careers altogether, to be successful in today’s business landscape, you need to learn how to leverage data analysis and data interpretation to make critical decisions.
