Data and Business Analytics: Is It a Viable Career Path for the Future?

In a time when an economic depression is already confirmed in the United States, it is particularly important to weigh in all your options individually, before attempting to start education on any subject. What might have been one of the most lucrative career options before the lockdowns, may very well have become an uncertain area to venture into right now and for the foreseeable future.

However, as it has always been, there are professions that will remain minimally affected by the recession. Fortunately, for those already pursuing a career in data and business analytics, or planning to do so soon, this holds true for the entire field of analytics as well.

Why Analysts Will Remain in Demand

When a recession hits, everybody is affected, whether directly or indirectly. However, the job of the analyst will not lose its importance in the private or the public sector. This is because it’s a crucial role that they play in every field of work.

For example, we are able to track the coronavirus curve because there are analysts and statisticians turning the raw data into identifiable information. Without analysts analysing, organising and presenting all that data in a comprehensible manner, it would practically be impossible to gauge the kind of impact this epidemic is having on human life and our economy. In the absence of that understanding, adequate steps could not have been taken and the situation would have only continued to go south, without us even realising exactly how bad the situation is.

Similarly, business analysts are constantly keeping an eye on the situation, calculating losses, estimating countless factors, and trying to figure out the best strategy for their clients to follow right now and soon after the pandemic. Their estimations, calculations, and suggestions are going to be the most crucial pieces of advice for weathering out the recession right now, so rest assured that business and data analysts are not going to go out of demand anytime soon.

If anything, those already into the profession should start utilising the extra time they have at home to further their studies, if they have not completed them already. Click here to read more about how a graduate degree in Business analytics could impact your career path, prospects, pay scale, and job security almost immediately after graduation.

Career Opportunities for the Analytics Expert

Now that it has been established that analytics remains a lucrative career path, even in the near future, it’s time to hone in on a few specific lines of work that hold the most promise.

Healthcare Data Analyst

Every morning, we receive news of the pandemic and we see the number of people affected, new deaths, new infections, predictions regarding how long it will take to find a vaccine, which meds have the highest chances of working against Covid-19, which age groups are the most vulnerable, and numerous other tidbits about the pandemic’s present progress and expected trajectory. As you might know already, we find out about all that because healthcare data analysts are constantly at work every day, structuring disorganised sets of data, and turning then into vital pieces of information.

Setting aside the pandemic, this is what healthcare data analysts do all the time as well, albeit for less catastrophic reasons. The input of healthcare data analysts is invaluable to doctors and medical researchers in figuring out possible cures to diseases, successful and unsuccessful methods of treatment, risk rates of a new medicine, patient response to experimental medications, and much more.

Business Data Analyst

We already touched on the topic of how business analysts are proving to be crucial right now for their clients and/or employers, although that has pretty much been their job always. Irrespective of the recession and how it affects the world, commerce will continue and as long as commerce continues, business data analysts will remain extremely important. It should also be noted that senior business analysts with an MSc in Business Analytics or an equivalent degree are often among the highest earners in this profession.

Business IT Analyst

A business IT analyst is someone who specialises in both the technological side of the company, as well its commercial side. Consider the IT business analyst to be the result of a superb cross-disciplinary approach. If a software engineer studied data science, then we would have a highly-skilled, multi-field digital operative with the ability to not just predict, also to solve issues in IT.

Note that integrated IT and business analytics programs can only impart a limited introduction to the concept we are discussing here. To be a successful and effective IT and Business data analyst, one must first have a solid background in either one.

Quantitative Analyst

Finally, we have the quantitative analyst, a professional who works with investment bankers, acquisition firms, accounting firms, corporate law firms, SMEs and large enterprises alike. If a company has financial needs, they can most likely use the advice of a quantitative analyst and given that every corporation, big or small is essentially financial by definition, all businesses can benefit from the consultation of a good quantitative analyst!

They use collected sets of data from around the market and those supplied by the client to advise for or against investments, risky ventures, large loans, etc. They are the ones who will tell you which industries are likely to come out the best and the worst after the pandemic has run its course. If you pursue quantitative analytics, your financial expertise will even allow you to start a separate business of your own further down the line, as well as seek out potential financial investment opportunities or risk management problems.

The median salary in this field is $82,879. Quantitative analysts also create trading models to predict the prices of commodities, stocks, exchange rates, and the like. Some analysts open their own consultancies.

Analytics is a Transferable Skillset

Even if you are not working in one of the fields we just discussed, or you are planning to begin somewhere else, the good news is that you can always switch. The skills of an analyst are applicable everywhere, although additional education, experience, and some supplemental training might be required to make a successful shift. However, they should be minimal.

For example, even renowned sports analysts may find it difficult soon, as all public sports activities have been suspended indefinitely, but their skills are transferrable towards business or medical analytics with a bit of online training and some practical experience. This is precisely why the path to becoming an analyst is a secured one; the versatile applicability of the skills you learn keeps multiple lines of job opportunities open.

Do You Have What It Takes to be an Analyst?

It’s a moot question for those already in the profession, but if you are a student looking to join the profession, or just someone looking for a career change, you may want to ask yourself this question first. It’s not an easy job, as it may seem to some, and unless you have the following innate attributes, analytics may not be the right profession for you to start in.

• Analytical Aptitude: Logical thinking, verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and pattern recognition
• Inquisitiveness is practically essential for an analyst to be successful, or they won’t try to find patterns beyond the obvious
• Hypothetical thinking: Do you often imagine or discuss imaginary problems and scenarios, only to try and find an outcome to it?
• Problem-solving skills are necessary innate abilities to be successful in any job that requires a high IQ
• A large part of the analyst’s job involves organising disorganised data, so it’s imperative to have innate organisation skills

Study of Analytics is Ideal for the Online, No-Contact Format

Perhaps an often forgotten bit about studying analytics online right now is how suitable the path is in light of the current situation. Although almost all education is mostly being conducted via the internet these days, to control the pandemic from spreading, not every type of education is ideal for the online format.

On the other hand, if you are already an analyst who is sitting at home in quarantine with limited work, completing your MSc in business/data analytics or even an MBA in business analytics online will feel ideal and intuitive. Considering that most of the analyst’s job is done in front of the computer anyway, pursuing a career in any of the analytical fields via the online medium is just perfectly suited.

In spite of everything, the world will recover with time and by studying analytics you could become a big part of that recovery process. Governments and corporations alike are going to rely heavily on data interpretations and predictions from statisticians, analysts and data scientists to get past the initial depression as fast as they can. While there are other career opportunities as well that will let you be part of the recovery process, very few of them will allow you to do so is isolation!