What does a Data Analyst do?

A data analyst helps organizations understand how to make business decisions based on statistical analysis.

The business community, government, and academia have a great need for ICT specialists who can provide insight into the large amounts of data they generate every day. Based on this, they can adjust their strategy and achieve better results.

What does an analyst do?

What a data analyst does depends on the type of organization and the extent to which decision-making processes are data-driven. In general, the role includes the following.

Function content

• design and maintain data systems and databases; fix code errors and other related issues.
• Data mining and organizing data in readable formats.
• Interpreting big data using statistical tools; recognize key trends and patterns for diagnostic and predictive analytics.
• Reporting to management; effectively communicate trends, patterns, and forecasts using relevant data.
• Identify process improvement opportunities, recommend system changes, and develop data governance policies. All this is in collaboration with data scientists, database specialists, business analysts, database marketers, programmers, and executives.
• Document the analysis process; provide stakeholders with insight into a data test.

basic skills

• Analyzing, modeling and interpreting data.
• Excellent mathematical abilities.
• Solve problems in a methodical and logical way.
• Programming languages ​​(SQL, Oracle and Python).
• Schedule work and meet deadlines.
• Attention to detail.
• Interpersonal skills.
• Teamwork.
• Written and verbal communication skills.

How do you become a data analyst?

Data analyst training

A bachelor’s degree in data analyst is necessary to be able to work in this field, regardless of your specific interests. You can start a career in this field as a junior data analyst with a degree in mathematics, statistics, or economics, but dedicated big data training is becoming more common. For example, Tilburg University and TU/e ​​offer joint learning trajectories:

• Bachelor’s degree in Data Science: elective packages: algorithms, web technology, statistics, technological entrepreneurship, Minor Business Analytics, and Minor Data Science & Entrepreneurship.
• Masters Degrees in Data Science: Data Science and Society, Data Science and Entrepreneurship, Business Analytics & Operations Research, and Marketing Analysis.

Check bachelorsportal.com and/or mastersportal.com for a complete overview of studies in the Netherlands and abroad. Looking for a data analysis course or other big data training? Check springest.nl.

Data analyst traineeship

A junior data analyst can gain extensive practical experience during a traineeship of 1 or 2 years. Proficiency with data analysis, statistics, and operations research undeniably provides networking and career opportunities.

What does a data analyst earn?

• The average salary of a data analyst is $ 4,285 gross.
• An information analyst at the HBO level earns $ 4219 per month.
• A data engineer at the university level receives a salary of $ 4427.

Where do data analysts work?

Banks, pharmaceutical companies, companies, agencies and recruitment agencies such as CareerValue are constantly looking for data experts . Large organizations such as ASML, Deloitte, Essent, KPMG, Philips and Rabobank optimize their products and services on the basis of data analysis. The role of big data analysts is also indispensable for government institutions such as AFM, Tax Authorities, Defense and municipalities. Webshops such as Blokker, Bol.com, Coolblue, Fonq and Picnic analyze big data in order to respond to the latest trends as early as possible and to realize optimal user experiences.