Hire Data Analysts
If your business is growing at a rapid pace, hiring a data analyst would be beneficial. A data analyst is a professional who can carry out scientific analysis of data to provide and interpret relevant information that aids in timely decisions for your business. But how do you hire the right candidate as a data analyst? Let us find out.
Who is a data analyst?
A data analyst is a professional who has the ability to make sense of large amounts of data. He can interpret data and convert it into information that you can use to make improvements in your business.
Basic skills required
Most of the data analysts have strong skills in the following fields
- Statistics / mathematics / machine learning
- Software engineering / coding
- An in-depth understanding of their specialized industry
In addition, a candidate applying for the job of a data analyst has skills in scientific research to easily fit in this role in an organization. One skill that makes a candidate highly desirable in all industries is strong communication skills. It helps the data analyst to convey the results of data analysis in a meaningful manner to the business manager.
Most applicants have strong skills in 2 of the three fields mentioned above. The data analyst having strong skills in all three fields is referred to as a unicorn and regarded as an ideal candidate for the job of data analyst in a given organization.
Most important responsibilities of data analyst
- Ability to identify sources of data
- Gather data including data that is missing
- Organizing large quantities of data into categories
- Analyzing data to get answers to specific questions
- Developing a database and carrying out its maintenance
- Evaluation of data from the point of view of quality
- Cleaning and purging data
- Identifying patterns and trends from data
- Creating useful information for business
- Making data reports for the use of different project teams and executives
Desired qualifications of a data analyst
- Bachelor level degree in math, science, economics, computers, or statistics
- 2-3 year experience of data mining as a data analyst
- Proven skills of data analysis including mining and visualization with the ability to work on visualization tools like Tableau, PowerBI, and Business Objects
- Expertise in technical writing to be able to produce presentations and reports
- Hands-on experience in Excel and SQL with a readiness to learn other analytical tools as required by the company
Preferred and desirable skills of a data analyst
- Strong programming skills in technologies like XML, Java, and ETL
- Good knowledge of statistical analysis and the ability to work on SAS, SPSS, and Excel
- Skills to work as a team member in a collaborative environment
- Proven skills of working with databases such as SAP, Oracle, and SQL server
- Good interpersonal skills with excellent oral and written communication
- Good understanding of website scripts like JSON, Javascript, and XML
- Understanding of marketing tools like Google Analytics, Adobe Marketing Suite, Google Tag Manager, and Google 360
Today, a data analyst is needed in all fields and industries from healthcare to finance to education and entertainment. It is imperative that you choose your data analyst with utmost care, keeping in mind some of the above considerations.
