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You’re here after hearing so much buzz about analytics and data over the past few months or year. Or maybe more so recently, due to increased restrictions on staying home this period in 2020. With all the additional time you’ve had, keywords like data analytics and data science are appearing repeatedly in feeds across all your favorite social media platforms.

The field of data and analytics can be a broad and technical one and many would be hesitant to explore a career or interest in this area. If that is you, fret not! This field has great opportunities for you as a career option and I have done the dirty work for you and gathered 21 reasons on why you should begin this journey on learning analytics in 2020.

Why Learn Analytics in 2020?

Learn Analytics in 2020

As a curious and prospective career professional, many would look to jobs involving buzzwords like data analytics with much envy. In the area of analytics, many analysts and data scientists were not previously trained with specific analytics degrees. These professionals were all mid-career switchers who made the choice to learn analytics to stay ahead of the curve.

If you would like to understand more about this field, and are still on the fence about taking that first step, I urge you to read on for some really good evidence for learning analytics in 2020. Let’s begin!

1. Numbers Mean So Much More to You Now

When was the last time you monitored some numbers? If I’m not wrong, most likely you would have come across some numbers, whether be it infection cases, job opportunities or financial market figures. Almost everyone has eyes on these numbers now, more than ever. With crucial information updating daily, we require good data analysis to help us make sense of them.

If you’re somewhat like me (a regular individual), numbers themselves do not speak well to me. Instead, data visualizations are a great way to present trends and significant changes. Over the past few months, I’m positive that you have come across a dashboard of some sort, presenting various data visualisations. See the importance of analytics here? Not yet? Here’s more.

2. Large Amounts of Data Generated

Learn Analytics in 2020

This year has had only one thing that was constant – change. This has brought about so much data generated across multiple industries. Pharmaceutical companies are handling clinical data from therapeutic trials, governments are monitored flight paths and individual contact tracing. All these add up to large volumes of data, waiting to be processed by an analyst with analytics skills.

3. Rising Trends in Data Analytics in Healthcare

Healthcare has always been a slow-moving industry in digital transformation, until 2020 came. With great pressure and emphasis on healthcare by the general public, this has given the industry the much-needed push toward data analytics in healthcare. More than ever, bed counts, ventilators, patient counts and healthcare workers have to be monitored closely. This opens up opportunities for analytics roles in healthcare, which typically provide strong job security.

4. Unexpected Opportunities from the ‘New Normal’

The ‘New Normal’ has moved in and is here to stay for a while. With it, comes innovation and the start of new opportunities arising. With badly-hit industries adapting to hold off the financial crisis in 2020, many would be expected to rely on technologies like data science to stay afloat.

For example, there might be opportunities in hospitality and tourism businesses, where analytics can help to supplement executive decisions when budgets are tight. Applications of data analytics to new industries like video conferencing would be expected to rise as well.

5. Many Companies Require Wiser, Data-driven Choices in a Shaky Economy

The economy in 2020 might not be the best for the time being and firms are looking to their large pools (or should I say lakes) of historical data to better understand their customers and business. With the mass retrenchment of large companies like Linkedin, many would know that budgets are being cut. In these situations, cost-efficiency is key, which can be optimized through analytics.

6. Numerous Job Opportunities

Learn Analytics in 2020

On Glassdoor, the Data Scientist is ranked as the number 1 job position and these postings are open longer than the average position of 40 days. According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, some 11.5 million jobs will be created before 2026. That is a number that I’m sure you would not deny as substantial. Learning analytics skills opens doors to such opportunities.

7. Versatile Skillset

Data analytics skills are not restricted to a specific programming language, unlike jobs like software engineers. In fact, data analysts use a variety of tools and programming languages – each for a different purpose. Some are department-specific, like Google Analytics and others are general like Python. By learning these skillsets, you enable yourself for opportunities with different requirements.

8. Strong Influence on Major Executive Decisions

Analytics used in Business Intelligence (Business Analytics) has a large role in decision making in companies. Any analysis work done and presented well to executive staff, have the potential to influence big decisions in a company, for the better. Therefore, if you are someone who finds fulfilment in making an impact and contributing on a large-scale, having the analytical skills will set you on the right track.

9.Strong Remuneration Offers

According to Glassdoor, the average salary of a Data Scientist is $113k and the average salary of a Data Analyst is $55k. These are strong incentives if you would like your work to support you well financially. These high salaries are related to the high demand for these skillsets. Therefore, as long as they are demand, these salaries are here to stay.

10. Variety of Specializations

Within the area of data analytics, one can expect a wide variation of job opportunities with slightly different functions. Some of these include:

  • Marketing Analyst,
  • Business Intelligence Analyst,
  • Data Engineer,
  • Digital Marketing Analyst,
  • Data Analyst,
  • Data Scientist and
  • Data Visualization Analyst

With more roles that you will be eligible for, learning analytics skills will open up more chances for you to land that next job in the analytics field.

11. Relevant Skills in Your Current Industry

Many industries are picking up analytics to be used for decision-making and enhancing business operations. As more companies adopt data-driven decisions, the company that you are in now, too, is most likely to start having data-related opportunities appearing.

12. Relevant Skills for Personal Use

With skills in handling data, you can start learning more about yourself by tracking your daily activities. With new devices that we own generating more data than before, we can better understand our habits and efficiencies. For example, activity tracking, heart rate tracking and sleep tracking are also already available in most smartwatches. These provide rich data and information about yourself.

Another possible application is using analytics to manage your own personal finances in various spreadsheets in Excel or Google Sheets. The same skills you learn in visualizing data can then provide insight for your financial spending patterns.

13. Encourages Computational Problem-Solving Methods

Having the necessary knowledge of how to manipulate and clean data requires a strong understanding of problem-solving techniques. Many times, problems in data can be solved through computational thinking and logical approaches. This trains your cognitive strength and computational thinking can be applied to real-world problems as well.

14. Strengthens Your Resume

With increased demand among employers, having that extra skillset in analytics can help to boost your resume even further. Having knowledge of basic statistics and data visualization tools demonstrate that you have the necessary analytical thinking skills.

15. Provides an Academic Challenge

If you enjoy taking on rigorous academic challenges, analytics is a great area for you. With the different tools and concepts to learn in this rapidly-growing field, the learning opportunities are boundless.

For example, data science covers a field of work that can range from complex analysis in large biological datasets to deep learning algorithms. Many academic post-degree programs also offer opportunities for advanced research in data science that can really pick your brain and satisfy your academic challenge cravings.

16. To Keep Up with the Digital Generation

As the pandemic swept over the globe in 2020, a digital transformation movement was started. Increasingly, younger individuals like college students have been actively starting their journey in acquiring programming and data analysis skills.

Online learning platforms like Coursera have also been offering free courses and made resources available for college students. Additionally, internationally recognized institutions like Harvard University and Stanford University have also started to move their lessons online and making them accessible to the public. One such course that is highly sought after is the Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate.

17. Opens Up Freelancing Opportunities

The nature of data work is mostly through computational means and most work would involve a computer. Therefore, this would open up some opportunities to freelancing by working remotely as a data analytics consultant or providing data cleaning services.

18. Reskilling Support by MNCs

Learning analytics is also supported in large companies where employees are provided with reskilling courses to pick up essential analytics skills. One example would be the Upskilling 2020 by Amazon, where $700 million was committed to providing upskilling opportunities to strengthen the workforce.

PwC has also announced a $3 billion investment for job training of 275,000 of their employees to help them stay relevant in the digital age. These job trainings can also equip their employees with necessary analytics skills.

With many MNCs jumping onto this trend, more companies are likely to provide additional resources for their employees, including yours, eventually.

19. Reskilling Support by Governments

Government bodies around the globe have also stepped in to boost the employability of their citizens. In France, employees can claim up to €1,500 for each employee that undergoes training.

In Singapore, their government has also provided “Skills Future Credit” for their citizens to pursue training courses and reskilling opportunities. These credits can be used for multiple purposes for training in in-demand skills for the citizens to stay attractive to employers.

In Louisville, Kentucky, a reskilling initiative was started to help improve employment in local companies by providing training in data analytics. In partnership with training providers like General Assembly and Microsoft, these combined initiatives can provide you with the much-needed kickstart to your career in data analytics.

20. Formal Education is Not a Must

As you should know by now, with the high demand for analytics skills and the increase in online learning and smaller training courses, data-related positions do not necessarily require formal education in data science. Being a relatively new and growing field, universities have only just begun to offer formal degrees in data science. This means that employment in the data fields value skills more than formal knowledge, although formal education would still be a good addition.

21. Many Online Learning Resources Available

Lastly, we are fortunate to have many online learning resources for training that can be done safely without physical interaction with instructors. As long as you have a computer with you, a quick online search would show the vast resources and learning platforms for learning and picking up analytics skills.

Conclusion

In conclusion, data is everywhere and we need to start harnessing its uses for our own benefit. With the new normal coming in 2020 and here to stay for a while, why not take a chance and learn data analytics skills for yourself. With these 21 reasons why, I’m sure it would be hard not to begin your data learning journey as soon as you can!

Thanks for reading and I hope to see you in the next post!

My Favorite Learning Resources:

Here are some of the learning resources I’ve personally found to be useful as a data analyst and I hope you find them useful too!

These may contain affiliate links and I earn a commission from them if you use them.

However, I’d honestly recommend them to my juniors, friends, or even my family!

My Recommended Learning Platforms!

Learning PlatformWhat’s Good About the Platform?
1CourseraCertificates are offered by popular learning institutes and companies like Google & IBM
2DataCampComes with an integrated coding platform, great for beginners!
3PluralsightStrong focus on data skills, taught by industry experts
4StratascratchLearn faster by doing real interview coding practices for data science
5UdacityHigh-quality, comprehensive courses

My Recommended Online Courses + Books!

TopicOnline CoursesBooks
1Data AnalyticsGoogle Data Analytics Professional Certificate
2Data ScienceIBM Data Science Professional Certificate
3ExcelExcel Skills for Business Specialization
4PythonPython for Everybody SpecializationPython for Data Analysis
5SQLIntroduction to SQLSQL: The Ultimate Beginners Guide: Learn SQL Today
6TableauData Visualization with TableauPractical Tableau
7Power BIGetting Started with Power BI DesktopBeginning Microsoft Power BI
8R ProgrammingData Science: Foundations using R SpecializationLearning R
9Data VisualizationBig Book of Dashboards

To see all of my most up-to-date recommendations, check out this resource I’ve put together for you here.

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