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Data Career Paths: Developing Analysts, Engineers, and More

Equipping your employees with the hard skills they need to excel in a data-dominated business world doesn’t have to be difficult.

It’s no secret that data-related jobs are central to the future of work. Data analysis is already the sixth most in-demand hard skill, and as the digital transformation of the business world continues, data-related skills are only going to become more important. 

 

Part of the reason data-related skills are in such high demand right now is because there aren’t enough professionals equipped with them. Many feel like the barrier to entry for data career paths is intimidating, but it’s lowering all the time and there are numerous directions one can take.

 

Learning the skills required to start down a data career path doesn’t necessarily require any prior experience or expertise at all. In fact, your employees can start developing the relevant skills even as they work.

Starting a data career path

LinkedIn Learning collaborated with Microsoft to develop the Career Essentials in Data Analysis learning path. These three courses, instructed by data expert Robin Hunt, introduce learners to all things data analytics and data science — in a manner that requires no prior experience.

Participants will:

 

  • Gain a solid grounding in data analysis concepts
  • Explore data analysis software tools
  • Build data visualization skills 

 

When learners complete all three courses (approximately nine hours), they can take a final exam to earn a Professional Certificate from Microsoft, proving they’ve developed career-essential data analysis skills.

Illustration representing a data career path

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Where a data career path can take your talent

There is a wide array of career opportunities a data career path can prime professionals to pursue. In the course Defining Your Data Path, Kate Strachnyi lists six of the most common roles a data career path can prepare learners for, and outlines the skill sets required for each.

Data analyst

“A data analyst collects, cleans, and analyzes data sets to solve problems,” says Strachnyi. “Essentially, a data analyst’s goal is to uncover key insights and leverage these insights to help their organizations make decisions and perform more effectively.” 

 

Where to start: The Become a Data Analyst learning path consists of 13 courses taught by data analyst professionals and experts, each with the purpose of equipping learners with the hard and soft skills required to begin their journeys as data analysts.

 

Participants who take these courses will:

  • Learn the technical skills for data analyst career paths
  • Develop their competencies in high-demand analysis tools
  • Build communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills
Illustration representing data analysts

Data scientist

“Data scientists work closely with business stakeholders to understand their goals and determine how data can be used to achieve them,” says Strachnyi. “They design data-modeling processes, create algorithms and predictive models to extract the data and business needs, help analyze the data, and share insights with peers.” 

 

Where to start: The Become a Data Scientist learning path consists of 12 courses designed to support participants in building the skills they’ll need to pursue a career in data science. This learning path will help your learners:

 

  • Build a solid foundational understanding of statistics, which is necessary for any data science–related field
  • Discover the many categories of job specialization within data science
  • Learn how to source, explore, and communicate with data through graphs and statistics
Illustration representing data scientists

Data engineer

“Data engineers are data professionals tasked with creating and maintaining complex systems that are capable of collecting, storing, and analyzing data for companies,” says Strachnyi. “They build and manage systems that can arrange raw data into readable and viable versions, then send that data forward for further analysis by data scientists and data analysts.”

 

Where to start: The Advance Your Data Engineering Skills learning path includes 15 expert-led courses, each of which helps participants develop and strengthen the most in-demand skills for data engineers today according to LinkedIn data.

 

While taking the courses on this learning path, participants will:

 

  • Expand knowledge of data structures and algorithms
  • Expand coding proficiency using multiple tools
  • Prep for the Microsoft Azure Data Engineering (DP-203) exam
Illustration representing data engineers

Data consultant

“A data consultant develops strategies for identifying and utilizing data for a company's needs,” says Strachnyi. “They are primarily responsible for collecting data, maintaining and designing databases, coordinating with multiple data specialists, inspecting data for inconsistencies, and implementing corrective measures.“

 

Where to start:

 

Illustration representing data consultants

Data steward

“Data stewards are responsible for keeping data safe and usable by being responsible for data maintenance, quality, communication, metadata management, and security,” says Strachnyi. “A data steward is responsible for carrying out data usage and security policies as determined through enterprise data governance initiatives, acting as a liaison between the information technology department and the business side of an organization.” 

 

Where to start:

 

Illustration representing data stewards

Chief data officer

“A chief data officer, or CDO, oversees a range of data-related functions to ensure an organization is getting the most of what could be its most valuable asset, says Strachnyi. “A CDO may be responsible for data management, ensuring data quality and creating data strategy. They may also be responsible for data analytics and business intelligence.”

 

Where to start:

 

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Creating personalized data career paths with LinkedIn Learning

The courses listed here only represent the beginning of each career path. To fully build out data career paths for any interested professionals, you’ll want to develop a customized, personalized skill development plan that can address everything each individual needs. LinkedIn Learning can help.

 

With this online learning platform, you can find and queue up courses based on your employee’s personal goals, the skill sets of other professionals on LinkedIn, or even on the basis of personalized recommendations.

Use these resources to develop a comprehensive plan for identifying and learning the skills each of your interested employees will need to advance on their own, unique data career paths. 

 

To get your employees started with the foundation to follow their own data career path, enroll them in Career Essentials in Data Analysis first. To sign up for LinkedIn Learning and start creating personalized data career paths for each of them, click here.

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