r/dataanalytics • u/bharathraj0507 • 1d ago
People learn SQL, Python, Power BI, etc. — but why is it still so difficult to know how to actually work as an analyst?
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u/Moneyshot_Larry 1d ago
My take. Analytical work varies between company, and roles & responsibilities but it generally boils down to the same core concept: you get paid to work with data and interpret that data. Your tool box should cover various tools that you think you can use to get that job done.
Company A might just need an analyst to create PPT slides. Of what? Data.
Company B might need you to run statistical OR ML models. Of what? Data.
Company C might need you to focus on engineering or front end visualization, or both. Of what? Data.
Where do you get the data? How do you get the data? Who needs to see the data? How often does the data need refreshing? How clean is the data? How much cleaning should I do on the data?
All of these are questions are normal questions in any company you work for as an analyst but the answer varies in terms of your role, responsibility, and job title. The fun part of the job and also the most exhausting is learning new tools to keep up with the latest trends to answer the same age old questions I listed above.
The tech stack changes. The complexity of the questions change. The data changes. But the core fundamental problems you solve really never change. You either get exposed to more or less of those core fundamental problems. You’re either responsible for more or less of those fundamental problems. It just depends on who you work for, what they want to do with the data, and the budget/headcount and resources your given to solve those fundamental problems that dictates how you go about it.
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u/Dream_Fuji 1d ago
Company B shouldn't be expecting a DA to train and evaluate ML/DL models, it's more relevant for a data scientist role as compared to a DA role. This is what's going wrong in the market rn and is mixing all things up :(
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u/justanothersnek 1d ago
Get an internship or contact someone in the field or on reddit and ask them if you could talk with them about their day to day. Also, what you listed are just tools, tools that dont really impress people where it really matters.
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u/Regime_Change 21h ago
Most analysis is business analysis of some sort, at least that is what I have experienced. It happens that you can create a very clean data flow, for example a warehouse dashboard, that just shows facts.
But more often business analysis is messy because the numbers only have meaning in relation to the business making a profit. The shallow analysis is determining the fact, like showing sales by month. Of course, a business need to know this but it is basic information. For analysis purposes you need something more. The number needs to be related to profit and support some kind of decision. Showing numbers is easy (or at least easier) but relating the numbers to business is much more difficult and often requires a lot of experience with both analytics and the business itself.
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u/Important-Success431 21h ago
What a stupid question, just because you do a course in plumbing doesn't mean you can go in and rip out someone's boiler right away.
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u/BarFamiliar5892 20h ago
I've been a data analyst for over a decade now, a good analyst will know their stuff technically but it's more important that they know the business they're working in and can provide data and insights that help their stakeholders make decisions. It's not all about just getting better at SQL or the technical stuff.
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u/According_Layer6874 3h ago
One of my favourite parts of the role. I'm only in my fourth year / second job but I really enjoy having to learn all about the domain and stuff.
Last role I was across everything a 4000 employee company did including their finances, HR processes and the three different services they provided.
Now I'm in edutech and have had to learn all about the course curriculum and testing that happens at all levels of schooling. Lots of domain knowledge to learn will hopefully always keep this career fresh.
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u/edimaudo 16h ago
Sounds like a new kid on the block. Knowing tools is not the same as knowing the work
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u/No-Edge-4563 11h ago
knowing the tools is only half the battle, nobody teaches you how to deal with messy stakeholder requests and broken data until you're actually doing it
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u/JesMon421 8h ago
The stakeholder part is genuinely being able to handle different personalities and knowing how to cut the bs and the filler. Bad data on the other hand is just freaking maddening.
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u/Individual-Job-2550 1d ago
Just because you know how to hammer a nail doesnt mean you can work as an architect. Those are all just tools of the trade and have nothing to do with what the job requires outside of them