How To Become A Data Analyst Without A Degree (Updated in 2024)

Introducing analytics is said to result in a productivity boost of 63% for businesses, underscoring the importance of this field. Consequently, the demand for data analysts remains high today, attracting more individuals, including fresh graduates and those without degrees.

A degree is advantageous for anyone hoping to work as a data analyst. However, with the right skills and strategy, you can enter this career without going to college.

In this article, we’ll take you through the steps you can follow to become a data analyst without a degree. We’ll explore what data analysts do, the skills they should possess, available resources to learn data analytics, and how to make up for the lack of a degree.

A data analyst’s main objective is uncovering insights from data that can help the organization achieve its goals. To meet this objective, data analysts must collect, clean, transform, and model data to accurately identify patterns and trends that explain the current state of the business or industry or can be used to make predictions.

Data Analyst Duties

Extracting insights from data is not a straightforward process. Additionally, the responsibilities of a data analyst vary between organizations, and you may have to perform duties associated with other data roles. On a given day, a data analyst could be taking on tasks such as:

• Gathering Data: Depending on the organization, a data analyst may have first to source the data they’ll use in an analysis. This could be as simple as identifying the right datasets from internal sources or obtaining them from external data collection agencies.
• Cleaning and Formatting Data: Raw data often contains errors and formats that are incompatible with your tools. An analyst may have to perform operations to make the data usable.
• Modeling Data: This involves defining how data is stored in a database to ensure it consistently meets the requirements for data used for analytics.
• Analyzing Data: This is the actual analysis bit of the job where you try to identify trends or patterns in data to answer specific business questions.
• Creating Visualizations: Visualizations help data analysts explore data and identify patterns, but they can also communicate insights to others.
• Presenting Insights to Stakeholders: Once a data analyst has some insights, they’ll have to communicate them to others in the organization. This could be through a dashboard or by conducting an actual presentation.

There are also other “smaller” jobs an analyst may be tasked with, such as collaborating with others to understand their needs better. As you develop your skills to become a data analyst without a degree, you must recognize the responsibilities you’ll need to demonstrate in your portfolio, resume, and interviews.

Data Analysts Versus Other Data Positions

Significant overlap can exist between an analyst’s duties and those of other professionals. This overlap can be especially high in organizations with small budgets or relatively new analytics departments. In most cases, the scope of the work creates a distinction.

The scope of a data analyst’s job tends to be smaller and focused on analyzing existing data to identify trends and answer specific business questions. Data scientists’ jobs have a broader scope and can include converting company problems into questions that can be answered using data. They must develop a deeper understanding of the business and work more closely with other stakeholders to identify the firm’s needs. Data engineers are mainly responsible for ensuring the organization has access to good data and handling duties such as setting up the infrastructure used to collect, preprocess, store, and access data.

The skills you’ll need to work as a data analyst vary depending on the domain. However, there are fundamental skills that all analytics positions require, such as:

• Statistics: A data analyst must be well-versed in statistical concepts such as measures of central tendency, regression, probability, correlation, and distributions.
• Programming: Programming is essential for data extraction and processing activities. It’s also useful for automating tasks. Python is the language of choice for many analysts, and you should at least be familiar with operations, flow control, iterative structures, and data structures.
• Python Libraries: Apart from programming fundamentals, you should know how to use key analytics libraries in Python, such as NumPy, pandas, and Matplotlib.
• Data Visualization Tools: Many visualization tools are used in data analytics, including Python libraries like Seaborn, Excel’s built-in charting features, and dashboard creation tools like Tableau and PowerBI.
• Excel: Excel is still a powerful tool in business, and many small to medium-sized companies rely on it for data processing. You should learn how to create pivot tables, use functions, and perform analytics inside Excel.
• SQL: Data analysts regularly use SQL to retrieve data from datasets. Being familiar with SQL makes you a more attractive candidate and broadens your career options.
• Domain Expertise: Data analytics is applied differently and targets different objectives in various industries. In addition to learning analytics skills, learning how they are used in the industries you wish to work in is essential.

To become a data analyst without a degree, you must learn the skills above and others without the help of a college curriculum. However, this also frees you to use a targeted learning approach to focus on resources that help you get employed and do your job.

Online Courses

Online courses offer a structured approach to learning what you need to become a data analyst. There are many course options on different platforms and at various price points. Many online courses will introduce you to the technical skills you need for the job, but you’ll need to find more opportunities to practice and alternative ways to learn soft skills.

Bootcamps

Bootcamps impart job-ready skills. Completing a data analyst boot camp should equip you with the skills to slip into a particular role easily. These usually run for a few months, have intense schedules, and cost thousands of dollars.

Books

Books are a good resource to make use of regardless of how you choose to learn analytics. No course, boot camp, or even college degree will cover everything you need to know. Books will have more information and more example exercises you can try to hone specific skills. Check out this list of books for people working in analytics.

Interview Query

Interview Query offers multiple learning paths covering statistics, probability, Python, SQL, and more. We also have a dedicated data analytics learning path to help you learn the basics of this field, and our take-home assignments will help you hone your problem-solving skills.

Most people working in data science today have at least an undergraduate degree. This doesn’t mean you can’t become a data analyst without one, but you’ll stand a better chance if you can make up for the lack of a degree.

Build a Portfolio

In data analytics, applying the right skills in your work means more than a degree. A portfolio of thoughtfully curated projects is the perfect way to show your skills. There are platforms you can use to showcase your portfolio so potential recruiters can see the kinds of projects you can handle despite the lack of a degree.

Network Strategically

A good percentage of job openings are not advertised, so networking is key. Candidates who get these unadvertised jobs are often those recommended by someone within or known to the company. If you wish to work in a certain domain, build networks in that industry so it’s easier for your portfolio and potential to be seen by the right people.

Certifications

Certifications are cheaper and faster to get than a college degree. Certifications from trusted organizations give potential employers credible proof that you possess the skills they need in a data analyst. You can get certifications in data analytics from companies like Google, IBM, Microsoft, Udemy, Coursera, etc.

Work on Your Soft Skills

Most interview processes are designed to test your soft skills in addition to hard skills like programming. Communication, problem-solving, collaboration, presentation, and other soft skills can be a deciding factor, especially when you’re expected to work in a team environment.

Strategic Job Hunting

Having a strategy when job-hunting can greatly improve your odds. Steps such as tailoring your resume and application to the role described, highlighting projects relevant to the company, and narrowing your search to specific types of companies can make a difference.

Continuous Learning

Data analytics constantly changes, and skills in the latest tools and techniques will impress employers. Find time to learn the latest industry trends by reading articles, attending webinars and workshops, and following industry trendsetters on social networking sites.

Breaking into data analytics without a degree may seem daunting, but it’s far from impossible. Data analysts’ main goal is extracting useful insights from data, and some specific skills and responsibilities go along with this. Even without a degree, you can learn the skills you need to handle the responsibilities of this job. There are plenty of resources available to help you. Lastly, by taking steps to compensate for the lack of a degree, you will have a significant advantage when applying for any role.

Interview Query is one of the resources you can strategically use to break into data analytics. We have many offerings designed to help you get over that last hurdle, the interview, including interview questions for data analysts, company interview guides, and learning paths. You can also get salary information and practice answering questions using our mock interview feature and AI interviewer. Our blog also provides lists of other resources you can use.

Even if you don’t have a degree, there is a path to becoming a data analyst, and we hope this article will help guide you on your journey.