Analyst Mind vs Analyst Job

Look at the above image carefully of a person’s face. Focus on the right eye. No, not the one with the bar graph, the other one. What do you see? If you see a 270 degree black circle, you must be good at identifying geometrical objects. If you see Pac-Man, cheers, I love games too. But, if you see a pie chart, Voila! You are observing things like an analyst. This article is for the people who could not figure out any of the 3 things mentioned above.

Whether you are working in the data ecosystem as an analyst, scientist, engineer or implementation consultant or you might be just starting out fresh into the professional world, having the knowledge and experience to use IT systems/tools/languages such as Python, Google Cloud Platform, SQL, Tableau, Google Analytics is great, doing a certification in the mentioned technologies is even better, but how far will it take you?. Today, there are hundreds of courses online, most of them even better than what the top universities offer, which will train you to use these technologies. But guess what? Elon Musk doesn’t give a sh*t about your degree anymore. Then how do you stand out from the crowd?

Start with 3 things:

1. Think differently: Identify a problem and think about a solution that immediately pops up in your head. Now assess the situation again and think of an extreme solution to solve the problem (it’s okay if it’s weird or crazy). Keep downgrading your solutions till you reach one which you think would be feasible. Congrats! you have reached your optimal solution.

2. Talk: Even the CEO of the company has an advisory committee for making decisions. It’s completely okay if you are not able to solve a problem on your first try. For example, if an interviewer asks you a tough question, ask for clarity, discuss your thought process with with him/her, let the interviewer know that you don’t just give out a solution as-is but also provide a rationale of your decision making.

3. Trust your instincts: One of the most important things that I have learned over the years being an analyst is that if you do not trust yourself and your work, it’s difficult influencing and convincing others of your work. An important part of an analyst role is to influence people which is a skill that you should focus on rather than learning a new SQL syntax (Stack overflow will take care of that).

P.S: I don’t claim to be a successful person or a know it all person. This page is my perspective of what it takes to be where I am right now - a happy space in the cloud.

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