Data Analyst - are you one? Do you know of any?

amother

Thu, Aug 13 2020, 5:19 pm

I see tons of ads for Data Analysts - boot camps, 6-month courses, masters programs, etc. Is anyone actually a data analyst? If you are, can you tell me about it?

The first time I heard of it was from my brother. A woman in his neighborhood took a bootcamp course and then found a good job with a bank. This was 5 years ago. I looked into it but was pregnant so didn't follow through.

Now I'm really ready to refocus on my career. It sounds interesting but I would love to speak to someone "IRL" (yes, in this case Imamother counts).

So if you know anything about it....advice?

Bluepink

Thu, Aug 13 2020, 5:22 pm

Following... my husband is starting a master’s program this year in data science but we don’t know too much about it

sequoia

Thu, Aug 13 2020, 5:30 pm

I know several people who work as data scientists but that is not their primary education.

amother

Copper

Thu, Aug 13 2020, 5:36 pm

I'm a software engineer and work with data scientists and data analysts. Happy to help if I can.

In general, I find it you need good analytical skills (to understand the data and what you can do with it), technical skills (to use the tools for manipulating the data), and communication skills (to share your findings and work as part of a team, especially with people who aren't trained in your discipline). It doesn't involve heavy math but you need to be ok with numbers.

amother

Thu, Aug 13 2020, 5:46 pm

Wow great. So my main questions are
1) what kind of data do they analyze?
2) is it a fulfilling job?
3) what program would suffice? Ie is a "boot camp" enough?

amother

Navy

Thu, Aug 13 2020, 6:45 pm

I'm a data analyst with a background and graduate degree in statistics. I second Copper's comments, and have a few more to add.

Make sure you research your programs thoroughly. There are a ton of data science programs out there and the quality varies widely. Google your programs, seek out reviews, go to virtual open houses if you can. Talk to people who have graduated. Ask about placement rates, and ask how they define "employed in the field" - some programs will hire their grads to do administrative tasks or teach the next year's class, so they're technically employed in data science but it's probably not what they were hoping for (and the money isn't great).

As far as whether boot camp is enough, it really depends on your background prior to camp. If you're coming in strong with statistics, technical writing, or coding skills, than boot camp may be all you need. If you're starting from scratch on all of this, it's doubtful a boot camp would be enough. We don't usually hire people straight from boot camp unless they have additional background skills.

Data analysts can look at all kinds of data, it just depends on the industry. I'm in public health, but know people who work in higher ed research, social media, advertising, politics, government.

And for fulfilling - well, I'm sure this depends on the person too. But I like my job! Smile

I'm happy to answer other questions if you have them. If you haven't already, I'd also recommend checking out some of the free or low-cost classes on datacamp, data quest, or udacity to get a feel for what this is.

dancingqueen

Thu, Aug 13 2020, 6:51 pm

I did a bunch of data analysis in grad school, though it’s not what I do full time. Agree with everyone that you need to be really comfortable with math, statistics, and tech savvy.

amother

Copper

Thu, Aug 13 2020, 8:11 pm

There's also a difference between data analyst and data scientist, but not all programs will define them the same way. In my line of work (finance), a data analyst tends to work hands-on with the data, running it through different calculations to come up with various conclusions which they present to the business-side. A data scientist would use similar and more advanced software to create 'models' which provide a deeper analysis of the data and even make some predictions for future cases.

Data analyst might use Excel, R, Python (like pandas), SQL
Data scientist might use the above, as well as scikit-learn, tensor flow.

In general, like amother above, I would recommend pursuing data science alongside another discipline (like coding).

amother

Lavender

Sat, Aug 29 2020, 11:32 pm

OP, if you are still interested, I am looking into this (or a similar) career and have spoken to a number of people IRL. I can answer some questions.

amother

Sun, Aug 30 2020, 1:39 am

amother [ Lavender ] wrote:

OP, if you are still interested, I am looking into this (or a similar) career and have spoken to a number of people IRL. I can answer some questions.

Yes, still interested!

Have you researched any programs, or do you have one to recommend?

I have an undergrad in Economics from 10+ years ago, so I'm not a total stranger to statistics and math, but I would definitely need further training.

My biggest questions now are:
1) how to choose a training program
2) how to find a job after

I really am looking for a career change, but I want to find something I can excel in. Something I can be really good at and feel good about myself for doing.

I'm good at math but not great at programming.

amother

Lavender

Mon, Aug 31 2020, 9:44 pm

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Last edited by amother on Thu, May 06 2021, 7:32 pm; edited 1 time in total

areal

Wed, Apr 14 2021, 4:01 pm

Op & lavender, here's your next clubmate, also looking for info, can you pm me pls? I also have some of my own advice to share, as well as an interesting offer for anyone interested specifically in boro park.. hope to hear from you!