Career guide

Data Analyst career guide

Turn raw data into answers that help a business decide what to do next.

What does a data analyst do?

A data analyst collects, cleans and analyses data to answer business questions: why sales dropped in one region, which customers are likely to churn, or whether a campaign worked.

The work sits between the business and the data. Good analysts spend as much time understanding the question and explaining the answer as they do writing queries.

Typical responsibilities

Write SQL queries to pull and combine data from databases
Clean and validate data so results can be trusted
Build dashboards and recurring reports for business teams
Analyse trends, segments and anomalies, and explain what is driving them
Define and track KPIs with stakeholders
Present findings and recommendations to non-technical audiences

Skills you need

Technical skills

SQL (joins, aggregations, window functions)
Excel (lookups, pivot tables, charts)
A BI tool such as Power BI or Tableau
Basic statistics (averages, distributions, correlation)
Python or R for analysis (pandas)
Data cleaning and validation

Soft skills

Turning vague questions into measurable ones
Explaining numbers simply
Attention to detail
Business curiosity

Tools and technologies

SQL (MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server)
Microsoft Excel
Power BI
Tableau
Python (pandas)
Google Sheets
Looker Studio

Certifications

Google Data Analytics Professional CertificateBeginner
Google (on Coursera)
Salesforce Certified Tableau Desktop FoundationsBeginner
Salesforce · Formerly Tableau Desktop Specialist
Microsoft Certified: Power BI Data Analyst Associate (PL-300)Intermediate
Microsoft
Salesforce Certified Tableau Data AnalystIntermediate
Salesforce

Certifications are optional for most roles; skills and projects matter more. Providers retire and rename exams regularly, so check the provider's website before you register. Last reviewed October 2026.

Data Analyst salary

We only publish salary ranges based on verified data, and we don't have a reliable source for this role yet. Meanwhile, if you have an offer or a target CTC, work out what you would actually take home.

In-hand salary calculator Salary hike calculator

Career path

Step 1
Junior Data Analyst
Step 2
Data Analyst
Step 3
Senior Data Analyst
Step 4
Analytics Manager
Step 5
Head of Analytics

Titles and the time between steps vary by company and individual.

Your first 90 days of learning

First 30 days

SQL and Excel foundations

Learn SELECT, WHERE, GROUP BY and JOINs on a sample database
Practise pivot tables, lookups and charts in Excel
Answer 20 business questions from one public dataset using SQL

Days 31-60

Analysis and visualisation

Learn window functions and common table expressions
Build an interactive dashboard in Power BI or Tableau
Learn basic statistics: distributions, averages, correlation

Days 61-90

Portfolio and interview readiness

Complete two end-to-end projects: question, data, analysis, recommendation
Write up each project as a short case study
Practise explaining one dashboard in five minutes

See the full step-by-step roadmap

Interview preparation

Common topics to prepare for data analyst interviews. These are preparation areas, not questions from a specific company's interview.

SQL joins, GROUP BY and window functions
Excel lookups and pivot tables
Handling missing or duplicate data
Choosing the right chart for a question
Defining and tracking a KPI
A business case: diagnosing a drop in a metric

Company interview guides Take the aptitude assessment Practice questions

Resume guidance

Lead each bullet with the business question you answered and the result
Name the tools you actually used in each project
Quantify the impact only where you can verify it
Link a portfolio or dashboard if you have one

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