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HOW TO BECOME A DATA ANALYST

Table of Contents
Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 3

Summary ............................................................................................................................................................... 4

Why Data Analytics? .............................................................................................................................................. 5

What to Learn? ...................................................................................................................................................... 7

Where To Learn ................................................................................................................................................... 10

Projects ............................................................................................................................................................... 11

Portfolio .............................................................................................................................................................. 13

Resume ............................................................................................................................................................... 14

Applying to Jobs .................................................................................................................................................. 16

Interview Prep ..................................................................................................................................................... 18

Networking.......................................................................................................................................................... 21

Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................... 22

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 HOW TO BECOME A DATA ANALYST

Introduction

W
ho am I? I’m a professional Data Analyst that got into the field with no
prior tech experience and no college degree. I dedicated myself to honing
my skillset during my off hours. As if it wasn’t challenging enough
prepping myself to get into the data field while working 12-hour shifts,
many 60-hour weeks, and taking care of regular life tasks, I also became a first-time
father to an awesome little human while doing so.

If I can do it, so can you!

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Summary

I spent about a year researching and learning how to become a Data Analyst. I found
that there wasn’t a detailed roadmap on how to get started out there for me to
follow. I created this guide to give others the roadmap that I wish I had when I was
trying to enter the data field. I’ve condensed what I’ve learned through trial and
error as well as what I believe to be the most helpful resources from multiple
platforms into one easily digestible format. I will walk you through the exact steps
that lead me to my very first entry-level Data Analyst job and explain how I
expedited the entire process without any unnecessary fluff. This eBook will give you
detailed steps from what to learn to how to create your resume, and everything in
between. My hope is that this eBook will help you find the tools to feel confident
that you have the knowledge and skills to break into data analytics and do it quickly.

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Why Data Analytics?

The amount of data that is being generated and collected is ever increasing. With more and more
companies and individuals gathering data every day, the need for Data Analysts is on the rise.
Since the demand for skilled Data Analysts is higher than the supply of people who can truly do
this job well, this profession has the potential to command large salaries and excellent perks even
at entry-level.

The potential for growth is often one of the main reasons people seek this career path. Not only
are there different skill levels to advance through (entry-level, mid-level, senior level), but there
are also a vast number of subcategories within the data analytics field to choose from. Each
subcategory has a basis in data analytics, but will have different data types, programs, and unique
focuses. For example, Health care Analyst, Marketing Analyst, Business Analyst, Business
Intelligence Analyst, and Operations Analyst. There are so many career paths within data
analytics, these examples are just the tip of the iceberg!

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Let’s be honest money is one of, if not the biggest, motivator for anyone to work harder in their
career. In fact, it’s probably the only reason most of us work every day. That potential for growth
in data analytics brings along increased salaries as you progress within your career. As of writing
this, the average entry-level Data Analyst salary is $62,000, mid-level at $80,000, and of course
senior level is pushing $100,000+ a year. That’s roughly a $20,000 increase in salary every time
you make an advance in your career. Many people in other fields would be lucky to make that
much of an increase just once within the lifetime of their career. On top of great salaries, most
tech jobs offer fantastic benefit packages that often include 8-11% annual bonuses. Most Data
Analyst jobs also offer remote work which might just be the cherry on top for many people
entering the field.

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What to Learn?

Everyone has a different pre-existing skill set, so I am going to base this information on my
experience of having no prior data or tech experience at all. Here is the tech stack that I learned
before landing my first Data Analysist role: Python, PowerBI, SQL, and Excel. I did learn them in
that exact order which I do not recommend doing. Having no experience, a quick Google search
on what to learn lead me to doing them in that order, but when I actually started applying for
jobs it quickly became apparent that I had learned them in the opposite order than what I would
recommend now. Learn Excel, then SQL, then PowerBI, and finally Python if you’re feeling fancy.
I will go into detail on why learning each one of these is important, but I do want to note that in
order to fast-track yourself for an entry-level position, you only really need to learn Excel and SQL.

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Excel
Knowing either Excel and/or Google Sheets is an absolute must. Whether you join a small business
or FAANG, you will most likely be in one of these spreadsheets every day as a Data Analyst. These
spreadsheets are so useful for completing everything from ad hoc requests to full reports. Keep
in mind that which program is used is purely preference of the company. While it can be helpful
to know both, once you master one, the other is pretty easy to pick up on. One of the downsides
to these programs is that they can be SLOW. When working with large datasets or even using a
lot of formulas, your spreadsheet will get slower and slower. That’s where the second most
important skill to know comes in handy.

SQL
This happens to be my favorite to work with. SQL stands for Structured Query Language. It makes
getting data from databases so much faster! It is also very easy to learn when you are just starting
out. Knowing SQL is important when working in the real world because not all your data lives
within one table or spreadsheet, so you need to know a way to connect separate tables (with
JOINS) to each other. Then if you are eventually exporting data to Excel, you can use it to filter
down the data to a manageable amount as well.

With the two skills listed above, you will have enough skills to dive right into applying for jobs.
The next two are completely optional but can help you build your resume and enable you to cast
a wider net when applying for jobs.

BI Tool
There are two powerhouses when it comes to BI tools: PowerBI and Tableau. Personally, I enjoy
PowerBI more, but Tableau is nice to know as well. There are pros and cons to both, but a quick
Google search can help you pick which one is best for you. BI tools pull data from multiple sources
into a data warehouse and then analyze the data according to use queries, drag-and-drop reports,
and dashboards. Using either of the mentioned BI tools will make life a lot easier and the
dashboards you create will look amazing.

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Python
Look at learning Python as a long-term goal. It might take just as long to learn as it does to learn
the other 3 skills I mentioned combined. There are full careers as a Python Developer that make
$100,000+ a year, so this is a whole separate beast to tackle. Adding Python to your skillset can
help you stand out and will help you transition to a more senior level position as you gain
experience. Knowing and using Python would allow you to automate a lot of tasks and be more
versatile in how you analyze data. It’s also extremely fast which makes processing quicker, saving
the company time and money.

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Where To Learn

There are plenty of places online to learn all the skills mentioned above but not all of them are
created equal in content, quality, or price. I’ll cover both paid and free resources. The paid way
might even be more inexpensive than you think!

Free Resources
When you are on a budget it can be difficult to find good resources to learn from, but thankfully
there is plenty of content on YouTube! While YouTube is free and there is a lot you can learn from
different channels, the downside is that you will need to search video by video and it can feel like
trying to learn without a sense of direction.

Luckily, there are a few channels that offer their content for free in a nice course-like fashion.

• Excel - freecodecamp, Intellipaat

• SQL - freecodecamp, Intellipaat, Simplilearn
• PowerBI – Simplilearn, Edureka
• Python – freecodecamp, Edureka, Simplilearn

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These are some of my favorite YouTube channels to learn from. Of course, there are more out
there but that should get you started!

Paid Resources
I would highly recommend buying a course if you have a few dollars to do so. Think of it as
investing in yourself. Paid courses have in depth, quality content, and a huge community behind
each platform to further your learning experience.

Udemy – This is my all-time favorite platform to learn from. Lectures are chunked down into bite-
sized videos that are easier to digest and understand. Lectures also give you to option to ask a
question and get help from the vast community involved. Some of the more popular lecturers
have virtual assistants that help answer questions and often other students might chime in as
well! Something to keep in mind with Udemy is that it’s easy to get a good discount on courses.
If you create a new account, you will have a discount of 90% off all the courses I am about to
mention. I never pay full price for a course as you can find many different courses on sale from
time to time as well. The most expensive course listed below is $16.99 at the time of writing this.
Besides getting great courses at an inexpensive cost, another reason I recommend Udemy is that
you will have access to these courses forever and can refer back to them as needed in your
learning journey. Here are the EXACT courses I took and can personally recommend to help you
become a Data Analyst.

• Excel – https://bit.ly/3TuCQ5t
• SQL – https://bit.ly/3PwtPru
• Tableau - https://bit.ly/4aoOTsc
• Python – https://bit.ly/3VPMDFL

Don’t want Udemy? There are other places like DataCamp, Coursera, Maven Analytics, but these
places charge a monthly rate. The pro to these sites is that you have access to all their courses
and can take as many as you want, but the con is that you lose access to all of it when you stop
paying the monthly rate.

Projects
Projects are the absolute best way to put all your skills to the test! You will find pretty quickly that
you need hands on practice before you start doing interviews. Most courses or videos are meant

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to teach you the fundamentals and doing projects is good way to solidify that knowledge by
putting it to use. I recommend starting hands on projects as soon as possible.

Where to find projects?

I get asked this question a lot and it couldn’t be any easier to get started. You can start by going
to Kaggle.com. Search through their free datasets and start performing some data exploration.
They also hold contests in which you could land a good amount of money if you win! The only
problem with creating projects from these datasets is just that, you must create the project. A
Data Analyst solves problems and if you have trouble creating a problem for yourself to solve, you
might want to try something else. This is where Maven Analytics comes into play. They offer a
free dataset every single month along with real-world problems to solve! I highly recommend
following them on LinkedIn because they run a monthly contest to win a 1-Year subscription to
their site. You can also see other people’s entries to get inspiration!

Building amazing dashboards is a project I highly recommend working on. It shows off your skills
and provides a bit of eye-candy for hiring managers. I’ll go over ways to showcase your projects
in the next section.

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Portfolio

In every article or video about becoming a Data Analyst you will see that having a portfolio is
required. I will go over how I set myself up to showcase my skills and projects, but I want to
mention that not a single hiring manager looked at my portfolio. I recommend having a way to
showcase your skills, but it is not necessary to have this built out completely before you start
applying for jobs.

Tableau – Creating dashboards on Tableau Public is fantastic (and free!) because you also have
access to a public link for your portfolio that you can put right on your resume if you’d like.

GitHub pages – You can also host a portfolio website right from your GitHub account (also free!).
This is where you can put projects that showcase your SQL knowledge or any other repository
you have. This is great if you do more than just Tableau like I did. Head over to
https://pages.github.com/ to check it out. There are plenty of resources out there if you need
help setting it up. Check out YouTube for “How to set up GitHub Pages” and you’ll have a full
walkthrough.

OR you can watch a video of where I walk you through how to create a free one to host all of
your projects for in one place - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HipPIvJk8zI

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Resume

I have seen hundreds of resumes and let me tell you, a lot of them stink. More than 80% of them
needed a full overhaul. A resume is the first thing a Hiring Manager sees, so having one that
stands out is just as important, if not more, than the technical abilities you have listed on it.

You should start with a design that is completely ATS compliant and looks great with pops of color.
Most resume building websites out there are ATS compliant and can yield you the results you
want. For the exact website I used to land my Data Analyst job, head over to
https://bit.ly/39CV4PH . Keep in mind that you want to keep your resume length to one page. If
you must, you can push it to 1.5 pages, but I wouldn’t recommend any more than that. Hiring
managers or vetting agents have so many resumes to go through, especially in this field, that they
do not have time to review 4 pages of work history that are irrelevant to the job you are applying
for.

Once you choose a design, you will need to fill in all your information and make sure that what is
on it is relevant information. It might be easier to just show you the exact resume that landed me
my first Data Analyst role.

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As you can see, you can fit a lot onto one page. I highly recommend using my resume as a guide.
Even if you do not use this exact design, please highlight points of interest with color and use
bold where it adds value to the layout.

When plugging in your information, if you do not use the right keywords, you are less likely to get
your resume seen. For example, I was applying to a Data Analyst role that deals with a lot of
marketing data. You will see I used words like “digital marketing”, “technical”, “CTR”, “Excel”, “data
quality”, “troubleshooting”, “prioritize”, and “attention to detail”. Many companies have vetting
agents or programs that skim resumes for particular keywords and those without relevant
keywords do not get seen by hiring managers. When using your own information, you need to
use relevant keywords for the field of analytics you are applying for. The more keywords, the more
likely it is that your resume will be seen. Not only will you get more calls to schedule interviews,
but you will also be contacted more often by recruiters.

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Applying to Jobs

This part is one of the most crucial areas where you need to be consistent. There are hundreds of
Data Analyst jobs posted every day with tons of competition. A job can be posted and taken down
in the same day so if you weren’t on the job board for a day, you could have missed out on
applying for a position that you may have gotten.

There are two places that are perfect to apply for jobs in this field. They are also what I used to
apply for Data Analyst jobs and where recruiters found my resume and reached out to me. Indeed
is great for local job opportunities and LinkedIn for both remote work as well as more local jobs.
Indeed search results are heavily based on where you live so LinkedIn is probably better suited
for the majority of people, especially those looking for remote work.

Now, I mentioned that you need to be consistent about the applying process. If you are
consistently on the job boards, you will be able to apply for a position right when they are posted.
The sooner you can get your application in, the better chances you have of getting eyes on your
resume. I always filtered my job listings to show the most recent and only up to 3 days old.

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Anything after 3 days is most likely going to be flooded with applications. Feel free to apply to
them anyways, but I personally didn’t want to waste my time. I knew I had less experience than
many others applying for the same positions and that if a listing was already flooded, it would be
less likely that I would win out over the competition. Remember the main goal is to be fast and
get into tech sooner rather than later.

Keep in mind that applying for Data Analyst positions will be a “numbers game”. It took me
upwards of 100+ applications before I landed my job. I have seen some people try for months
without an interview. I’m going to tell you exactly how not to end up like one of those people.
After you have sent out your first 30 applications, take a step back and look at the data you have
generated. How many companies looked at your resume, how many called you, and how many
interviews did you land?

If you are not happy with the results, you need to adapt. This is where many fail because they see
that their skills are good enough for the position and never look more in depth to see that they
need to change! Adapt by switching up the keywords on your resume. It’s the keywords that get
your resume views and it’s your technical skills that get you an interview. Being personable,
having a well-rounded personality, and a go-getter attitude can also go a long way with the right
recruiter or hiring manager.

Another way to help speed up your applying process is to work with multiple recruiters. Their job
is to hire candidates for companies so utilize them to help you find jobs too! You will need to
reach out to technical recruiters, not just any recruiter. Also, you will need to reach out to multiple
before one even responds, again it’s a numbers game. Have a friendly greeting and a goal for your
first message to recruiters ready to go.

The last recommendation I have is to reach out to hiring managers directly after applying. If you
see who posted the job on LinkedIn, connect with them and send them a message or email with
your resume and ask if they had a chance to look at it yet. I feel like no one does this, but it has
landed me most of my jobs. A follow up to applying makes you stand out that much more! Keep
in mind that not every person you reach out to this way will respond to you and that’s okay. You
don’t want to pester them if you do not hear back.

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Interview Prep

Maybe you feel more confident than I do, but interviews are the most nerve-racking part of the
process for me. To compensate for my nervousness, I researched tech interview questions,
procedures, and methods, then studied my butt off. To condense what I learned from that I’ll talk
about what I believe to be the absolute best way to help with the interview process.

This method is called the STAR method. It stands for Situation, Task, Action, Result. You can use
this technique to prepare for behavioral and situational interview questions. It gave me the ability
answer every single interview question with confidence and precision. Learning this method also
gave me the confidence to answer questions I had not prepared for without hesitation.

Take some time to Google some STAR questions. Pick 10 questions that pertain to you or that you
feel you would be unprepared to answer and literally write out answers to them.

To start, you set the stage for the answer using Situation. It’s best to describe relevant work
situations but depending on transferable experience, it might be best to describe a situation with
a project you have completed.

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Next is Task, you need to describe the task at hand during the situation. Use roughly 1 to 2
sentences for this. What Hiring Managers really want to know is how you handled the situation.

This is where Action takes place. Explain the relevant actions you took to handle the situation.
Use words like “I” instead of team because they are hiring you and not your team.

Lastly, Results. This section solidifies why your actions were the right thing to do. In addition,
discuss what you learned, how you grew, and why it was important. Here are some questions
and answers I personally used…

1. Have you ever had to work under a tight deadline?

Yes. In manufacturing and production tight deadlines happen frequently. One good example is
trial runs of flexo-print jobs. Typically, a customer is set to arrive at the plant to inspect their
sample at 10:00am. Our shift starts at 7:30am to produce the sample before the customer arrives.
With efficiency in mind, I take 10 minutes at the beginning of the shift to meet with my team and
assign each team member proper tasks based on their strengths in order to make sure we have a
high-quality sample completed before 10:00am.

2. Tell me about a time when you had the liberty to be creative with
your work.
When I worked in software sales, I had the liberty to be as creative as I wanted with the data, I
had to show potential clients. I really enjoyed making charts and comparison graphs to show
potential clients what our software could do for them. Although it wasn’t a necessity, I found that
showing the data in more appealing and easier to read visuals helped get them on board and I
made more sales.

3. Do you usually set goals at work? If yes, could you give an example
of a goal you had and how you achieved it?
I set goals for myself all the time, especially when it comes to work. At my current job, they
recently began posting the company wide production records. I made it a goal for my team to
have the highest production record. In order to beat the existing record, our team needed to

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move quickly during maintenance machine cleanings in order to keep our machines running while
maintaining quality. I communicated with my team to ensure that everyone understood the
importance of minimizing downtime so that everyone was on board to achieve this goal. Not only
did we beat the company wide record, but months later my team still maintains this record and I
received employee of the month for my efforts.

After you have written your questions and answers down, make sure to practice them over and
over. Take time to review, revise, and memorize the gist of your answers so that you feel prepared
to answer similar questions without hesitation during interviews. Not only do you need to
practice these types of questions, but you also need to keep up with practicing your tech stack
on a daily basis. It would be awful to get to a technical interview and then you’ve forgotten some
of the basics of Excel because you haven’t touched it in weeks or months.

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Networking

This part of your career roadmap is optional. While it will be beneficial in the long run, it is not
necessary. Networking can also help you stay motivated. If you start reaching out to other aspiring
Data Analysts, you will be able to connect and talk about what’s working and what’s not. There is
a sense of comfort seeing and connecting with other people going through exactly what you are
going through.

Joining a data community can also help you stay motivated and give you more to learn from
experts. There are great ones out there and if you want to be a part of the one I’m in, look up
https://discord.com/invite/Zg5N6EQyk6 and join my Discord! You will eventually start helping
other new people and start to realize that you really are making good progress in your skill set.

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Conclusion
Figuring out exactly how to get started in data analytics can feel intimidating, but if you take it
one section at a time, or even just one day at a time, you’ll get through it before you know it. In
my experience, the journey can feel like a long one, but the end result is worth every bit of
struggle along the way. It took me nearly a year to find all the resources and platforms that I
needed to successfully land a job as a Data Analyst. This eBook is meant to lessen that search and
the struggle to find solid resources for others. Take into consideration that this eBook is simply a
guide based on my personal experience and this information may not work for everyone. Even if
it’s not all for you, it will give you a starting point and show you the important aspects to focus
on in your journey to becoming a Data Analyst.

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