Data Analyst Certifications
Data Analyst certifications help in expanding our knowledge base and proving our skills in the world of Data Analytics. But, Certifications are not just about a piece of paper. One must select the certifications carefully so that your money and time investment is not a waste.
Who are Data Analysts & What Do They Do?
Data analysts collect and analyze data to solve a particular business problem. The position necessitates a lot of data analysis, along with communicating the findings.
Data is a vast arena of information, and most companies rely on data for growth. It is essential to make decisions in an organization to maintain and bring new products, develop new market insights, and make new investments and data analysts play a significant role in this.
However, these critical responsibilities of a data analyst vary from organization to organization.
- Collaborate with business teams to establish business needs.
- Convert business needs into data requirements.
- Clean, transform, and mine data from primary and secondary sources. Collaborate with team members.
- Apply statistical techniques to validate a hypothesis and/or uncover meaningful information using BI and analytical tools.
- Collate insights, create visualizations, and develop dashboards that effectively communicate the insights (trends, patterns, and predictions).
- Provide valuable and accrued insights to leadership to ensure data-driven decision-making.
Gathering all the data in one place and analyzing it according to market research has become one of the key elements of every industry as technology has rapidly extended the types and amount of data we can collect. As a result, data analysts can be found in various fields, including criminal justice, fashion, cuisine, technology, business, the environment, and government.
Skills Required to Become a Data Analyst
Most entry-level jobs in the field require a high-quality data analytics certification. So, precisely what does this imply? First, it means you’ll learn how to deal with every part of the data analysis process, from data cleansing to data visualization and everything in between.
1. Database Tools: Any data analyst’s toolbox should include Microsoft Excel and SQL. While Excel is commonly used in all industries, SQL can handle larger data sets and is often considered a requirement for data analysis.
2. Data Visualization: Being a good data analyst requires presenting your findings clearly and compellingly. Learning how to show data in charts and graphs can ensure that coworkers, employers, and stakeholders understand what you’re doing. Tableau, Jupyter Notebook, and Excel are various programs used to create graphics.
3. Statistics and Math: Understanding the fundamentals underlying what data tools accomplish will significantly assist you in your work. A thorough understanding of statistics and math will aid you in determining which tools are appropriate to employ to tackle a particular problem, detecting flaws in your data, and comprehending the results.
Top Data Analyst Certifications
We have selected the top Data Analyst certifications. These certifications represent a wide range of expertise and skill sets. You can choose a certification based on your career path and objectives.
Here are the certifications:
1. IBM Data Science Professional Certificate
Instead of platform-specific knowledge, the IBM Data Science Professional Certificate will help you obtain generic data analytics abilities. It also includes ten self-paced courses that can take anywhere from 10 to 11 months to complete depending on how quickly you study all of the topics. One advantage of this certification is that it does not need you to meet any specific qualifying requirements. In addition, it indicates that you don’t need any prior experience or education to pursue this certification.
IBM offers a professional certification course on Coursera and edX.
- Certification Cost: $300
2. IIBA Certification in Business Data Analytics (CBDA)
Given the vast amount of data generated by organizations, specific methodologies, competencies, and practices are needed to study, investigate, and visualize this data. Aligned with the industry requirements, IIBA has designed this Certification in Business Data Analytics (CBDA) to lead the business data analytics processes in projects. This certification equips you to acquire valuable data insights to assist in data-driven decision-making using specialized procedures and competencies.
This certification (IIBA-CBDA) recognizes your ability to effectively execute analysis-related work in support of business analytics initiatives.
Techcanvass offers an excellent course to not only crack this certification in the first attempt but also to become a successful data analyst and work in organizations. This course has multiple practice tests aligned to the certification exam, practical case studies to deepen understanding of the processes, along with drills, crossword puzzles, and mind-maps.
- CBDA Training Self-Paced: $99
3. Microsoft Certified: Power BI Data Analyst Associate
Data Analyst Associate certification by Microsoft is a powerful certification that gives cutting-edge knowledge about data. This credential demonstrates subject matter knowledge in using Microsoft Power BI to derive data insights and present them in easy-to-understand visualizations. This degree allows holders to develop scalable data models, clean and transform data, and enable sophisticated analytics.
Microsoft provides two ways to prepare: online free and instructor-led paid.
- Prerequisite: PL-300: Power BI Data Analyst will be required to earn the Power BI Data Analyst Associate certification.
- Exam Cost: $165 per exam.
4. CCA Data Analyst
The Cloudera Certified Associate, or CCA Data Analyst, is a foundational data analytics credential that is suited for:
SQL developers, data analysts, business intelligence specialists, developers, system architects, and database administrators.
The CCA Data Analyst certification is created to access, manipulate, transform, and analyze complex data sets using SQL and familiar scripting languages. It is fully hands-on i.e. you will perform the tasks instead of MCQs and has an excellent reputation in the industry.
Cloudera offers a four-day data analyst course to prepare for this certification.
- Prerequisites: The fundamentals of the Linux command line. SQL (DDL, Select statements) knowledge is required.
- Exam Cost: $295
5. SAS Certified Advanced Analytics Professional
The SAS Certified Advanced Analytics Professional credential verifies your ability to analyze large amounts of data using various statistical and predictive modeling techniques. It comprises three exams: Predictive Modeling Using SAS® Enterprise Miner™ 7, 13, or 14, SAS® Advanced Predictive Modeling, and SAS® Text Analytics, Time Series, Experimentation and Optimization.
SAS provides in-depth training for this certification with a 30-day free trial.
- Prerequisites: Candidates, should be familiar with machine learning and predictive modeling techniques and their application to large, distributed, and in-memory data sets.
- Exam Cost: The Predictive Modeling Using SAS Enterprise Miner exam is $250, while the others are $180 each.
6. CompTIA Data+
CompTIA Data+, from IT confirmations pioneer CompTIA, is the ideal data analyst accreditation, to begin with. It additionally approves the information investigation abilities that an organization is searching for in information professionals. It is a highly coveted certification that verifies a candidate’s knowledge of high-level data centres, system administration, virtualization, networking, data engineering, and storage. However, an applicant must meet stringent qualifying criteria and pass an exam to obtain this credential.
CompTIA offers a certification training program designed for exam success.
- Prerequisites: CompTIA recommends 18–24 months of experience in a report/business analyst job role, exposure to databases and analytical tools, a basic understanding of statistics, and data visualization experience.
- Exam Cost: $165.
7. Microsoft Azure Data Scientist Associate Certification
For candidates interested in a career in big data and data analytics, Microsoft Azure offers the Microsoft Certified Azure Data Scientist Associate certification. This is a well-known and well-accepted certification. This certification confirms the candidate’s proficiency in analyzing big data and applying data science and machine learning for the modeling process by demonstrating their ability to work with Microsoft Azure.
Microsoft provides two ways to prepare: online free and instructor-led paid.
- Prerequisite: You should have knowledge and experience in data science by using:
a. Azure Machine Learning
b. MLflow
- Exam Cost: $165.
8. Google Data Analytics Certificate
A beginner’s data analyst certification leads to a professional diploma in just six months. Renowned mentor Justin Cutroni leads the Google Analytics training department. According to Kevin Horton’s review, the course provides valuable data for working in analytics. In less than 6 months, you’ll be job-ready thanks to the skills you’ll master in this program. When you finish all of the program’s courses, you’ll receive a Certificate to share with your professional network, as well as access to career support tools to help you get started in your new job. Many Professional Certificates have hiring partners who accept the certificate, and others can assist you in studying for a certification exam.
Google offers a course on Coursera for the preparation.
- Exam Cost: $250.
9. Associate Certified Analytics Professional
The Associate Certified Analytics Professional (aCAP) certification exam is an excellent starting place if you’re new to data analytics. The aCAP certification is widely accepted and recognized, with Fortune 100 firms such as IBM, American Express, Apple, and others identifying it. This distinguished program is the first step on the road to earning the prestigious CAP credential.
There is a CAP Prep class offered by INFORMS which can help you prepare for the exam along with a free study guide.
Prerequisites:
- Hold a master’s degree or higher in an analytics or data program.
- Less than 3 years of professional experience.
The following is the cost structure for the exam:
- INFORMS members: $200, they receive a $100 discount.
- Non-members will be charged $300.
10. Certified Analytics Professional (CAP)
INFORMS offers the Certified Analytics Professional (CAP) credential at the advanced level. Candidates who earn the certification will understand the data analytics process. In addition, a candidate will learn about hypotheses and analytics problems, model construction, and long-term life cycle management.
There is a CAP Prep class offered by INFORMS which can help you prepare for the exam along with a free study guide.
Prerequisites:
- Hold a master’s degree or higher in an analytics or data program with less than 3 years of professional experience, or
- Hold a bachelor’s degree in an analytics or data program with 5 years of professional experience, or
- If you do not have an analytics-related degree then you need a minimum of a bachelor’s degree with 7 years of analytics experience.
Exam Cost:
INFORMS non-members pay USD 695, while members pay USD 495.
Is a Data Analytics Career worth it?
Data Analytics career is a rewarding career for several reasons. Let us share the top three reasons, which make a career in data analysis worthy.
- Fast growth trajectory: A career in data analysis has a high growth trajectory. Data insights play an important part in decision-making.
- Growing demand— The data analytics market size is projected to grow from $7.03 billion in 2023 to $303.4 billion in 2030 at a CAGR of 27.6%. This is really impressive growth considering that other jobs are growing at not more than 10-15%.
- A range of opportunities—The Data Analytics professionals can grow into a variety of roles including Product Management and CXOs.
Several studies have been conducted to understand the demand for Data analytics professionals. Let me share a few data points indicating the demand for data analytics professionals.
- According to Dataquest, demand for data professionals is expected to grow by 30–35% by 2027. (Source: Dataquest Article)
- The average salary of a data analyst is INR 6,00,000/year in India. (Source: Glassdoor)
- Data Analyst salary in India ranges between ₹ 1.8 Lakhs to ₹ 13.0 Lakhs. (Source: Glassdoor)
- The average salary of a data analyst is $83,717/year in the USA. (Source: Glassdoor)
- Data Analyst salary in the USA ranges between US $ 68,000 to US $ 100,000.
Conclusion
A career in data analytics presents an unprecedented opportunity for individuals seeking to broaden their skill sets and advance their careers. With organizations increasingly relying on data-driven decision-making, the demand for proficient data analysts continues to surge. Obtaining a data analytics certification not only enhances marketability but also equips individuals with essential skills to navigate the complexities of data analysis efficiently.
Techcanvass offers a variety of courses which offer specific skill set training as well as comprehensive data analytics training. Here is the list of our courses:
- Data Analytics Fundamentals Course (Free for a limited period)
- Data Analytics Certification training (6-week online training)
- Power BI Training
- IIBA CBDA Preparation Training
FAQs –
1. How Long Does It Take to Get a Data Analytics Certification?
Data Analytics is a very lucrative field that requires a lot of dedication and hard work. It takes a minimum of 2-3 months to get data analytics certification.
2. What Jobs Can I Get With a Data Analytics Certificate?
You can work as a solution architect, data scientist, project manager, business intelligence specialist, or statistician with a data analytics certification, among other positions. In most cases, skill sets developed in one industry or country may be easily transferred to another.
3. How do I become a Certified Data Analyst?
A bachelor’s degree plus five years of professional analytics experience OR a master’s degree plus three years of experience is required. They must also sign a code of ethics. Candidates from all over the world can take the data analyst certification exam because it is computer-based.
