Data has changed the face of the world over the last decade. The numerous text messages, emails, and YouTube videos are all part of the data generated daily. Organisations with large volumes of data depend on their ability to get meaningful insights from it. So if you’ve been wondering what a data analyst does, this is it.

Data analysts integrate statistical data, turning it into useful information that can be used for critical decision-making. Organisations are increasingly turning to data to make critical business decisions. This helps them to know which products to make, which markets to enter, and what investments to make, including the customers to target.

As a result, data analyst jobs are highly in demand. The demand for these jobs is also reflected in data analyst salaries and perks. This demand is likely to keep growing in leaps and bounds in the years to come. 

Data Analyst Job Titles

Are you an aspiring data analyst looking for job opportunities? Or could it be that you’re looking to hire a data analyst? 

Whatever the case, navigating the data analytics job market isn’t easy. That’s especially when you throw data science into the mix and realise that people often confuse one for the other.

Data science is the broader term referring to the study of data to extract meaningful insights meant to benefit organisations. This multidisciplinary approach combines principles and practices from various fields such as artificial intelligence, statistics, and computer engineering to analyse data.

Data analytics is a more focused approach that comes under the umbrella of data science. Analytics is devoted to arriving at actionable insights based on the given business queries. 

1. Operations Analyst

Apart from working as consultants, operations analysts work internally in large organisations. These professionals focus on the internal processes of a business, including:

• Internal reporting systems
• General business operations
• Product manufacturing and distribution

Operations analysts need to be business savvy and possess technical knowledge of the system that they work with. These data analysts can work in any kind of organisation – from large grocery chains to postal service providers and even in the military.

According to listings from Only Data Jobs – the online data and analytics jobs platform that is devoted to data jobs across the UK, a Sales Operations Analyst can earn an average of £ 24,000.00. Remember that, prominent organisations are now increasingly resorting to filling data analyst positions in their company through such online marketplaces. 

However, note that this data analyst’s salary can vary widely. That’s because of the versatility of this data analytics job and the various sectors that you may be employed in. 

2. Transportation Logistics Analysts

A transportation logistics specialist optimises the transportation of physical goods. This is usually in large shipping companies like Amazon, airlines, city planning offices, and naval transport companies.

Transportation specialists are required to identify the most efficient delivery paths for products and services. They’re supposed to analyse large amounts of data and get rid of bottlenecks, whether on land, air, or in the sea.

A data analyst’s salary for this position is around $53,000 annually. This makes transportation logistics an appealing career path for detail-oriented and forward-thinking data analysts. 

3. Customer Data Analyst

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This is another role that’s increasingly sought after by big data analytics professionals.

Customer analysis is about understanding customer demographics, needs, and satisfaction. It involves creating customer segmentations to determine trends. You’re supposed to:

• Tailor-market campaigns
• Make customer recommendations
• Come up with new sales strategies
• Inform the creation of new products

Often, the customer data analyst’s role tends to support sales and marketing. It is varied and involves working with different aspects of a business. Due to this, customer data analysts are well-placed to follow a career path in different directions.

This is also a highly sought-after role by big data analytics experts, with organisations such as Facebook and Amazon always looking to hire new people. 

4. Sports Data Analyst

Sports is a sector where performance is everything and data has revolutionised its landscape.

Data is informing everything in professional sports, from individual athletes’ performance to teams’ performance. Then there’s also sports medicine and marketing.

In this largely varied role, sports data analysts gather and analyse data from various sources. Such data can include:

• Viewer numbers on television
• Online broadcasts viewership
• Weather data, and 
• Data from wearable devices that are worn by athletes.

The sports data analyst role can benefit almost any sport and your expert insight would help create new training schedules. Your expertise can also be used in supporting commentators during a live broadcast or simply to find new trends in sports.

This is an extremely varied and fascinating field. All you need to do is master the fundamental skills in data analytics and you’ll have a chance in a range of different industries. You just need to figure out where your interest in sports lies. 

5. Business Analyst

This role is for you if you enjoy getting into the details and creating improved systems and processes.

While there’s a lot of crossover with the operations analyst, a business analyst focuses on improving the internal workings of an organisation. This can involve the use of data to optimise an organisation’s structure, reporting, or project methodologies.

The crucial part of a business analyst’s role isn’t just to make recommendations. You’re also supposed to ensure that implementation happens. It’s for this reason that the role is highly strategic and involves working at a high-level.

A Senior Business Analyst can earn up to £ 50,000 – £ 70,000.00 annually. 

Conclusion

Specialising in data analytics opens doors to many other career opportunities. Some people begin as data analysts and end up working as data scientists. Like data analytics, data science uses statistics, computer science, and even mathematics to analyse data. A data scientist may also use advanced techniques to build models and other tools to provide insights.

If you want to become an effective data analyst, start by building your foundation with the right degree and certifications. Then take on data analyst apprenticeships to gain hands-on experience. This will land you that well-paying data analyst job that you’ve worked hard for.