Want to work in data analytics? There’s more to it than simply data and results.
It’s an exciting time to go into a career in data analytics. Data can inform a huge amount of decisions with strong groundwork rather than just taking shots in the dark.
Being able to properly analyse data is an incredibly strong skill, and it’s becoming extremely important as the future of work and technology progresses.
But there’s more to data analytics than meets the eye. For instance, if you think that it’s only about the data itself and the science behind that data, you’d be wrong.
Rob Krizman is a partner and advisory leader of data and analytics at EY. He entered the tech sphere when business intelligence and data warehousing were becoming terms in the market. “It gave me the opportunity to extend my career into something that was quite new,” he said.
Krizman spoke about how data analytics as a career has changed and grown as businesses have become more aware of the importance of analytics.
Data informs future decisions
If you want to work in data analytics, you need to think of it from a forward-thinking perspective. In the past, data was something businesses looked at retrospectively. However, Krizman said data is now more about informing the decisions of the future.
“It’s not just something they look at to see what happened yesterday, it’s something they look at to [see] what am I going to do tomorrow to survive as a business?” he said.
Building devices can be part of a career in data
Some of those who want to go into a career in data analytics might think there’s little else to it. However, Krizman spoke about EY’s involvement with the professional cycling tour.
“EY was involved with actually developing the devices that sat on the back of the bike. There’s a lot of data floating around the bike,” he said. “People don’t actually associate EY with being able to sit inside a room full of engineers designing devices.”
The human element has become essential
We know from countless experts on the future of work that the human element of our skills will become the most important, and that doesn’t stop with data analytics. In fact, Krizman said the human element is one of the biggest changes he has seen in his career in data.
“Technology is very important and will continue to be so but, I think, now that businesses are recognising it and are really starting to ask questions that deliver meaningful results, the market is starting to change,” he said.
Learn how to speak business
Most people know that when it comes to data analytics and the skills you will need, technical competence is important. In particular, analysts starting out will need to be very technically proficient.
However, Krizman advised those interested in a career in data and analytics to learn the business side of things, too. “Learn your tools, learn your trade, but learn how to speak business.”
It’s about more than the science
Finally, Krizman urged budding data analysts to find the meaning behind the work that they do and not to focus too much on the technical science behind the analytics.
“Don’t make it about the science projects,” he said. “Make it about the value that’s going to be derived by investing your time and energy into analytic outcomes.”
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