Data Analytics Courses
Nowadays, there are a lot of opportunities for you to receive any kind of education that you want and then pursue a career that you like. A Data analytics specialist is one of the most sought-after professionals that also receive quite high salaries, which is why it would only be logical for you to consider a path in this career!
In this article, we are going to discuss what types of people would be a good fit for this high-demand career, as well as the subjects you would study and the perspectives that data analysis can bring to you!
Hence, if you are interested in learning more about data analytics, please continue to read this article!
Who Should Try Out Themselves in Data Analysis?
Data analysis is a field close to soft engineering, but it is much easier to study it. What is more, the amount of learning time necessary before the possibility of employment is also lower.
However, it is still better to learn something that you like and that you are good at, which is why data analysis would be a perfect profession for those who like to analyze information, work with complicated math and formulas, and visualize and interpret the results received.
Many times the work of data analytics pros includes long and boring processes of data preparation and filtering before there is even a chance to analyze or visualize the results, which is why perseverance would also be a good trait.
Hence, those of you who do not like to sit in one place for a long time, need to receive results fast or want to change your tasks quickly probably would not like to study a data analytics program, and other courses should be considered.
What Will You Study?
There are a lot of different data analysis tools and methods these days, which is why it is normal for any data analytics program length to be quite big and for the materials to be complicated.
All in all, data analysis courses should teach you about all currently used methods to manipulate data, both simple and complicated, give you a general understanding of Mathematical Statistics and Probability Theory that lies underneath all the methods, as well as provide you with an opportunity to try out as many available tools as possible on the real world examples of data problems, so that you could form your opinion about them and choose the ones that you like the most.
Here is a general overview of the key topics that students should expect to receive from an applied data analytics program or its elective courses:
- Mathematical Statistics;
- Probability Theory;
- Data collection and data processing;
- Advanced Data Management and Data Quality;
- Data visualization;
- 101 on Databases and Data Warehouses;
- Statistical Methods, Predictive Analytics, and Data Modeling;
- Big Data and Data Mining;
- Machine Learning Methods and Advanced Analytics;
- Employment of Artificial Intelligence Models in Business Intelligence.
As for the tools that will be used in data analytics courses, you should choose the ones that teach you how to work with the newest software. An excellent advanced data science program will include subjects that would allow you to work with MySQL, R, and Python.
Sometimes you could also receive the skills necessary to work with Tableau, and courses that include that possibility are the ones that you should try to get into, as it is common for organizations to search for students that know not only about the ways to analyze the collected data but also about the methods to visualize the results in a manner that is understandable to the higher management that only have the basic knowledge of data analytics and probably no knowledge about Business Intelligence and AI.
Your Future Career Opportunities
In general, after the successful completion of data analytics courses, you would have a chance to work in a great variety of spheres and businesses, as data analytics is needed in all types of organizations these days!
Finance, Medicine, Marketing & Management, Law, Education, Data Science — you name it, and business analysts, web analytics, or big data analytics professionals would be in demand there!
Depending on the focus that your data analytics course will have, you can end up as one or more than one specialist from the following list:
- Big Data Analyst;
- Statistical Analyst;
- Database Analyst;
- Product Analyst;
- Business Analyst;
- Finance Analyst;
- System Analyst;
- Marketing Analyst, and so on.
What is more, there is always a chance for you to develop your career both vertically and horizontally. It is possible for data science specialists to move from one field of study to another, as well as increase their level of expertise and become professionals in more than one type of data analytics.
And even without a horizontal shift, you will always have a possibility to become a better specialist in the job position that you have, as it is common for data analytics pros to have a division similar to that of software engineers: thus, being among junior big data analysts, you can later become a middle or senior specialist.
Online versus Offline Data Analytics Courses
There is usually a debate in any educational sphere regarding the format of studying that should be chosen. However, in data analytics and data science, the choice is often much simpler!
As in the case with software engineers, data analytics courses could be as effective online as they are offline: you would need to use your own devices, such as a laptop or computer, most of the time as all the materials and tools are located there, which is why there is usually no need for the physical presence of students in order to learn. And as it is quite easy to study data analysis online, great opportunities are also created for international students!
Yes, group projects might take place in your data analytics program, as they help the students effectively communicate with other people and develop their project management skills. Still, now we all can complete group projects just as effectively online as we do them offline.
All in all, data analytics courses could be easily taken online, which allows you to waste less of your time on the road, as well as do the homework whenever it is convenient for you. And, depending on the level of knowledge provided to you on the data analytics course, you can even combine your education with work!
Frequently Asked Questions - FAQ
What is data analytics?
It is a field of math and information systems that uses mathematical methods and evidence-based decision-making to analyze big chunks of raw data for a particular purpose. Depending on the company that you are working in, you can solve multiple tasks that would help company management to receive meaningful insights into the business problems that they have.
Why is it valuable to learn data analytics?
By knowing any field of data analytics, you can help your employer to make more informed decisions about the company's performance management and business processes. Almost any business problem would benefit from having a quantitative analyst on its side, allowing the management to weigh the risks of all possible solutions or receive the answers to questions that they could not solve on their own.
What are typical career opportunities that use data analytics?
After receiving a bachelor's degree or finishing required courses related to data analysis, students can develop their careers as data scientists and machine learning specialists, project managers, or business consultants in various industries. And once the path is chosen, it will not be hard for the students with data analysis skills to change their occupation path to another one.
How can taking online courses help me learn data analytics?
Nowadays, online data analysis courses can be just as informative as a degree in a university, especially for those who already have some experience with data analytics. Depending on the goals that you have, you can either learn prescriptive analytics from scratch or deepen your knowledge in data governance, performance measurement, or machine learning by selecting an online program that suits your needs.