When it comes to pursuing a career in data analytics, it’s crucial to consider the big picture.
What happens after you qualify as a data analyst? What is the normal career path? Is there one?
In this piece, we will outline some of the most frequent data analyst career pathways.
By the conclusion, you’ll understand how to get started as a data analyst and where your career may lead once you’ve gotten your foot in the door.
So, what’s the usual data analyst job path? Let us find out.
The very start of your data analyst job path is learning the essential skills.
Your data analyst career path begins with learning the relevant skills.
If you’re a total newbie with no prior experience in data analysis, you’ll need to learn the entire process, from preparing and analyzing raw data to developing visualizations and publishing your findings.
You’ll also need to master SQL for database querying, the principles of Python (an analyst’s preferred language), and crucial concepts like data mining and ethics.
At the same time, you’ll need to be adept at industry-standard applications like Excel and Tableau.
Once you’ve developed the requisite skills, you can consider applying for your first data analyst position.
At this point, it’s critical to market yourself as a data analyst by upgrading your online profiles, drafting a résumé tailored to data analytics employment, and developing a professional data analysis portfolio.
We’ve made it sound quick and straightforward, but it takes effort and commitment—especially if you’re beginning from scratch.
A specialized course is a systematic, guided method for gaining all of the necessary abilities.
Finding your first job as a “frontline” data analyst
The next step in your career is to get your first job. As a newly qualified analyst, you might expect to start in a fairly hands-on role—as a junior analyst or, very simply, a data analyst.
You’ll be in charge of obtaining data, cleaning it, conducting all analyses, and reporting your findings.
You’ll collaborate closely with company stakeholders and use your insights to influence their decisions.
So, what determines whether you start as a junior analyst or pursue the data analyst job title? It all depends on your experience and the organization that hires you.
If you have no experience with analytical skills, you should expect to start in a junior job.
If you’ve got any transferable expertise from your prior employment or education, you’ll likely be considered for a data analyst position.
There is no hard-and-fast rule for this one, as it varies considerably across businesses and companies.
The beautiful thing about data analytics is that it requires a diverse set of talents that are frequently transferable from other professions, such as effective communication and problem-solving abilities.
Even if you’ve never worked as a data analyst before, data analyst job descriptions will most likely reflect some of your current abilities and attributes.
To get a sense of the types of employment you’d be qualified for after finishing your data analyst degree, look through sites like Indeed and LinkedIn for both the junior data analyst and data analyst positions and see what the general criteria are.
Whatever job title you wind up with, your initial function should provide you with extensive hands-on experience in all phases of the data analysis process.
Moving up to a mid-level or senior data analyst role
As with many occupations, the next logical step in the data analyst career path is to advance to a more senior position.
The rate at which you climb the corporate ladder is determined by the company’s size and whether you’re moving up within your existing organization or applying for a new position.
It’s crucial to note that the data analyst job path isn’t one-size-fits-all—we can lay out the conventional pathway, but different sectors and organizations will provide different chances.
Still, once you’ve accumulated one or two years of experience as a data analyst, you can start to consider your next move.
More experienced analysts are likely to work as senior data analysts or analytics managers.
In such roles, you will be responsible for your organization’s data processes and may manage a team of analysts.
Your future stages will also be determined by your hobbies and the industry you want to work in.
Instead of going into management, you could choose to specialize as an analyst on a specific subject. Next, we’ll look at job paths for specialist data analysts.
Specialist data analyst career paths
Some data analysts will advance to senior management roles, shifting away from the front lines to supervise the company’s entire data strategy and manage other analysts.
Others will specialize, honing their skills in a particular industry, such as healthcare, finance, or machine learning.
Data analysts are in high demand across a wide range of businesses, so you can pursue a career that blends your analytical talents with your specific area of interest.
If you do, you can wind up with a specialized job title, like:
- Financial analyst
- Product analyst
- Healthcare analyst
- Machine learning engineer
- Social data analyst
- Insurance underwriting analyst
- Data Architect
- Systems analyst
Data Analyst Career Paths and Salaries
As you can see, there are numerous paths to take within the topic of data analytics.
You may be wondering what kind of pay you can expect with each of the many career paths discussed.
To give you an idea, we looked at the typical salaries for several data analytics job titles in the United States.
These figures are based on data from Indeed.com and the salary comparison website Payscale.
- Entry-level data analyst: $58,090
- Data analyst: $75,307
- Senior data analyst: $97,348
- Data analytics manager: $89,287
- Financial analyst: $72,281
- Healthcare analyst: $63,411
- Insurance claims analyst: $51,033
- Marketing analyst: $65,848
- Systems analyst: $78,212
- Data scientist: $122,511
- Machine learning engineer: $146,352
- Data analytics consultant: $77,365
- Chief data officer: $178,606
FAQS
What is the role of a data analyst?
A data analyst examines data to discover critical insights about a company’s consumers and how the data may be used to address problems.
They also share this information with company leaders and other stakeholders.
Conclusion
When it comes to carving out a career in data analytics, there is no one-size-fits-all method.
You can choose to specialize and add more sophisticated abilities to your arsenal, or you can become an all-star in business and strategy—or both!
Once you’ve mastered the principles of data analysis, you may create a career that reflects both your interests and your skills.
Nonetheless, every data analyst’s job path begins with the same steps: learning the essential tools, skills, and processes, as well as developing a professional portfolio.