1.

Let's get down to business

Hey, great to have you back. Now it's time to get down to business. We're going to start talking about
practical ways businesses are using data, and the opportunities that it can create for you. So far, you've
learned a lot of practical data analysis skills. With these next couple of videos, we're going to switch gears a
little and talk about why you're learning these skills. Hopefully this will give you more perspective into what
kinds of opportunities are out there for you. Coming up, we're going to talk more about the kinds of roles
data analysts play in different industries.
The task that these roles required, and the importance of fairness and avoiding bias and analyzing data for
business tasks. We'll also talk about opportunities you can tap into, and how this program factors into your
future success and the data analyst role. So with all that in mind, let's get started.
2. The job of a data analyst
Previously, we learned about what a data analyst does and why that work is so valuable. Now, let's look at
where data analysts actually do their work. You'll learn much more about the industries you could work in as
a data analyst. And how companies in these fields are already using data analytics to do some really cool
things. There are so many businesses out there that have a big need for the skills you're learning right now.
Across industries like technology, marketing, finance, health care, and so many more. Real companies are
already using data analytics to stay ahead of the curve.
And the more they use data in their business, the more they understand just how important data analyst like
you are to their success. Let's look at a real life example of a brand you'll probably recognize, Coca-Cola.
Data is changing the way Coca-Cola approaches its marketing strategies. Coca-Cola uses data gathered from
consumer feedback to create advertising that speaks directly to different audiences with different interests.
How does this work? You know those high tech Coca-Cola vending machines you see at movie theater
sometimes? It's always fun getting to make your own flavors.
Well, those machines have built-in artificial intelligence and data analysis tools. This helps Coca-Cola see all
the different kinds of flavor combinations people are coming up with, which they can then use as inspiration
for new products. How cool is that? Ever wonder how Google gives you the right answer to any question in
just seconds? That's powered by data too. We use all kinds of data to determine a website's reliability and
accuracy to make sure you get the most useful results for any search you make. But it isn't just big
companies like Coca-Cola and Google that use data.
Small businesses everywhere are also starting to take advantage of data driven insights to improve their
operations and make better decisions. Small businesses can use data to do all kinds of things. They might
use data analytics to better understand their customers' buying habits, create more effective social media
messaging, or, in the case of one city zoo and aquarium, predict the number of daily visitors based on local
climate data. City zoo and aquarium realized that, on rainy days, they were seeing huge drop offs in
attendance, but they had no way to accurately predict when those rainy days would hit. This made staffing a
real challenge. Some days they found themselves overstaffed, other days they were unprepared for the rush
of visitors. To deal with this, data analyst took years of weather records from the zoo and use that data to
accurately predict future weather patterns.
This made it easy for the zoo to know how much staff they needed when. Because the zoo could predict and
manage their staffing needs more accurately, they were able to provide a better experience for visitors and
dedicate more resources to creating a better experience for the animals too. We see a similar thing in the
healthcare industry. Their data analysts look at clinic attendance data to help hospitals and doctors offices
predict when rush hours will hit so they can be ready for it. Your local city hospital is a great example. Let's
say they've been getting complaints about long wait times. Sometimes an hour or more, which made it hard
for some patients to get the care they needed.
So data analyst use data about the hospitals daily foot traffic to help them make more informed decisions
about how many doctors they need on staff at any given time. This helped reduce wait times, improve their
patients experience, and make better use of the health care worker's time too. Like I said, there are many
ways that companies in different industries put data to use, but they can only do that if they have data analyst
they can rely on. So you might be wondering, how you fit into the equation? Well, you've got plenty of
options, but you don't have to decide what industry you want to work in right away. There will be plenty of
time to think about that as you make your way through this program. By the time you finish this program,
you have the core skills that will make you valuable in any industry that makes data driven decisions.
Which, as it turns out, is most industries, even zoos. Coming up, we'll check out the business task where
data can be helpful. And, we'll explore even more how data analysts are empowering businesses through
data. I'll see you then.
3. Joey: Path to becoming a data analyst
Hi, I'm Joey and I work as an analytics program manager within REWS. Now REWS stands for real estate
and workplace services, and my job is to bring data and analytics into the decision-making here, especially
with regards to creating a safe and fun work environment. My journey into analytics was a bit different in
that I had no plan or really didn't see myself being where I am now. Now luckily, I started in a rotational
program called the HRA program within people operations, which afforded me the ability to play three
different roles essentially. I was in a generalist capacity in a specialist role and as an analyst, and I really
found a love and a passion in the analytical work. I started on the business intelligence team, whose job was
to provide SQL-based reporting back to the business. I realized the analytics is the right career path for me
when I found myself enjoying coming to work and getting my work done.
And I think I can connect that to two passions of mine. The first is problem-solving. I love taking a complex
problem, a mystery, a riddle and being able to find the answers and come up with the solution. And then the
second thing is being able to work with people and help people. In analytics I feel like the key to success is
being able to blend the personal side with the technical side. At the beginning of my career, I focused a little
more on the technical pieces, and I wanted to make sure I had the right technical knowledge to be able to
answer questions. But what I found is over time I needed to grow that other side just as much.
And I think that my career has allowed me those opportunities to kind of work each of those muscles, the
human interaction part and the technical part to make sure that they're both growing at the end of the day.
Hi, I'm Joey and I work as an analytics program manager within REWS. Now REWS stands for real estate
and workplace services, and my job is to bring data and analytics into the decision-making here, especially
with regards to creating a safe and fun work environment. My journey into analytics was a bit different in
that I had no plan or really didn't see myself being where I am now. Now luckily, I started in a rotational
program called the HRA program within people operations, which afforded me the ability to play three
different roles essentially. I was in a generalist capacity in a specialist role and as an analyst, and I really
found a love and a passion in the analytical work. I started on the business intelligence team, whose job was
to provide SQL-based reporting back to the business. I realized the analytics is the right career path for me
when I found myself enjoying coming to work and getting my work done. And I think I can connect that to
two passions of mine. The first is problem-solving. I love taking a complex problem, a mystery, a riddle and
being able to find the answers and come up with the solution. And then the second thing is being able to
work with people and help people. In analytics I feel like the key to success is being able to blend the
personal side with the technical side. At the beginning of my career, I focused a little more on the technical
pieces, and I wanted to make sure I had the right technical knowledge to be able to answer questions. But
what I found is over time I needed to grow that other side just as much. And I think that my career has
allowed me those opportunities to kind of work each of those muscles, the human interaction part and the
technical part to make sure that they're both growing at the end of the day. Hi, I'm Joey and I work as an
analytics program manager within REWS. Now REWS stands for real estate and workplace services, and
my job is to bring data and analytics into the decision-making here, especially with regards to creating a safe
and fun work environment. My journey into analytics was a bit different in that I had no plan or really didn't
see myself being where I am now. Now luckily, I started in a rotational program called the HRA program
within people operations, which afforded me the ability to play three different roles essentially. I was in a
generalist capacity in a specialist role and as an analyst, and I really found a love and a passion in the
analytical work. I started on the business intelligence team, whose job was to provide SQL-based reporting
back to the business. I realized the analytics is the right career path for me when I found myself enjoying
coming to work and getting my work done. And I think I can connect that to two passions of mine. The first
is problem-solving. I love taking a complex problem, a mystery, a riddle and being able to find the answers
and come up with the solution. And then the second thing is being able to work with people and help people.
In analytics I feel like the key to success is being able to blend the personal side with the technical side. At
the beginning of my career, I focused a little more on the technical pieces, and I wanted to make sure I had
the right technical knowledge to be able to answer questions. But what I found is over time I needed to grow
that other side just as much. And I think that my career has allowed me those opportunities to kind of work
each of those muscles, the human interaction part and the technical part to make sure that they're both
growing at the end of the day.
4. Tony: Supporting careers in data analytics
For any analyst, for any person that's honestly at the early stages of their career, understanding data,
respecting data and knowing how to work with data is incredibly important because, my vision is that every
role in some form or fashion will involve data and its use in learning how to extract insights from it will be
at the core of any critical role across any company organization. Generally in those first two years, you are
developing the core skill sets that make you a fantastic generalist, and then in the next 2-5 years, you're
learning about something very specific as as it relates to your job. Whether it's the area that you're
supporting or maybe a very technical component. Like, let's say you want to become a SQL expert so that
you can manipulate large data sets for financial analysis purposes. Similarly, even if you come into finance
as a data analyst, you can pop out of finance and go into what a lot of people like to call the business, which
is typically your Operations Functions and become a business analyst or a data analysts. There's so many
different paths that you can take from the starting point that you really can't predict your end. I'm just deeply
passionate about working with and supporting young people and really giving them a jumpstart to their
career.
This stems from honestly my own personal experience, where in the first two years of my career, I had
essentially zero support from my manager and my direct management chain. Having gone through that
experience my first few years, I realize and I felt experience how that can slow you down, and especially
when you are somebody that has a lot of potential and a lot of ability, you want to be in an environment that
fosters that ability and really wants to see you grow. I think it's incredibly important to have programs like
these that take away all the barriers that remove any of the constructs that prevent people from being able to
find out what they need to be in an industry like this, to be successful in a role like a data analyst, so that
they themselves can dream about where they can go in their career. My name is Tony. I'm a Finance program
manager at Google.
For any analyst, for any person that's honestly at the early stages of their career, understanding data,
respecting data and knowing how to work with data is incredibly important because, my vision is that every
role in some form or fashion will involve data and its use in learning how to extract insights from it will be
at the core of any critical role across any company organization. Generally in those first two years, you are
developing the core skill sets that make you a fantastic generalist, and then in the next 2-5 years, you're
learning about something very specific as as it relates to your job. Whether it's the area that you're
supporting or maybe a very technical component. Like, let's say you want to become a SQL expert so that
you can manipulate large data sets for financial analysis purposes. Similarly, even if you come into finance
as a data analyst, you can pop out of finance and go into what a lot of people like to call the business, which
is typically your Operations Functions and become a business analyst or a data analysts. There's so many
different paths that you can take from the starting point that you really can't predict your end. I'm just deeply
passionate about working with and supporting young people and really giving them a jumpstart to their
career. This stems from honestly my own personal experience, where in the first two years of my career, I
had essentially zero support from my manager and my direct management chain. Having gone through that
experience my first few years, I realize and I felt experience how that can slow you down, and especially
when you are somebody that has a lot of potential and a lot of ability, you want to be in an environment that
fosters that ability and really wants to see you grow. I think it's incredibly important to have programs like
these that take away all the barriers that remove any of the constructs that prevent people from being able to
find out what they need to be in an industry like this, to be successful in a role like a data analyst, so that
they themselves can dream about where they can go in their career. My name is Tony. I'm a Finance program
manager at Google. For any analyst, for any person that's honestly at the early stages of their career,
understanding data, respecting data and knowing how to work with data is incredibly important because, my
vision is that every role in some form or fashion will involve data and its use in learning how to extract
insights from it will be at the core of any critical role across any company organization. Generally in those
first two years, you are developing the core skill sets that make you a fantastic generalist, and then in the
next 2-5 years, you're learning about something very specific as as it relates to your job. Whether it's the area
that you're supporting or maybe a very technical component. Like, let's say you want to become a SQL
expert so that you can manipulate large data sets for financial analysis purposes. Similarly, even if you come
into finance as a data analyst, you can pop out of finance and go into what a lot of people like to call the
business, which is typically your Operations Functions and become a business analyst or a data analysts.
There's so many different paths that you can take from the starting point that you really can't predict your
end. I'm just deeply passionate about working with and supporting young people and really giving them a
jumpstart to their career. This stems from honestly my own personal experience, where in the first two years
of my career, I had essentially zero support from my manager and my direct management chain. Having
gone through that experience my first few years, I realize and I felt experience how that can slow you down,
and especially when you are somebody that has a lot of potential and a lot of ability, you want to be in an
environment that fosters that ability and really wants to see you grow. I think it's incredibly important to
have programs like these that take away all the barriers that remove any of the constructs that prevent people
from being able to find out what they need to be in an industry like this, to be successful in a role like a data
analyst, so that they themselves can dream about where they can go in their career.
5. The power of data in business
As a data analyst, you'll be tackling business tasks that help companies use data. Coming up, we'll talk more
about what a business task actually is, and some examples of what they might look like in real data analyst
jobs. Let's take a second and think back on the real examples of businesses using data analytics and their
operation we've seen before. You might have noticed a common theme across every example. They all have
issues to explore, questions to answer, or problems to solve. It's easy for these things to get mixed up. Here's
a way to keep them straight when we talk about them in data analytics.
An issue is a topic or subject to investigate. A question is designed to discover information and a problem is
an obstacle or complication that needs to be worked out. Coca-Cola had a question about new products. Data
analysis gave them insights into new flavors customers already like. The City Zoo and Aquarium had a
problem with staffing. Data, helped them figure out the best staffing strategy. These questions and problems
become the foundation for all kinds of business tasks, that you'll help solve as a data analyst.
A business task is the question or problem data analysis answers for business. This is where you focus a lot
of your efforts in the work you'll do for future employers. Let's stick with our zoo example and see if we can
imagine what a business task for a zoo might look like. We know the problem, unpredictable weather was
making it hard for the zoo to anticipate staffing needs. Maybe the business task could be something like,
analyze weather data from the last decade to identify predictable patterns. The data analysts could then plan
out the best way to gather, analyze, and present the data needed to solve this task and meet the zoos goals.
Then, using data, the zoo would be able to make informed decisions about their daily staffing.
We talked a little about data-driven decision making in previous videos. But just in case you need a
refresher, here it is. Data-driven decision-making is when facts that have been discovered through data
analysis are used to guide business strategy. The simplest way to think about decision-making is that it's a
choice between consequences, good, bad, or a combination of both. In our zoo example, the zoo had the data
they needed to make an informed decision that solved their problem. But what if they had made this decision
without data? Let's say they just relied on observation and memory to track the weather and make staffing
schedules.
Well, we already know that wouldn't have solve their problem long-term. Data analytics gave them the
information they needed to find the best possible solution to their problem. That's the power of data.
Observation and intuition are powerful tools in decision-making, but they can only take us so far when we
make decisions based on just observation and gut feelings, we're only seeing part of the picture. Data helps
us see the whole thing. With data, we have a complete picture of the problem and its causes, which lets us
find new and surprising solutions we never would've been able to see before. Data analytics helps businesses
make better decisions.
It all starts with a business task and the question it's trying to answer. With the skills you'll learn throughout
this program, you'll be able to ask the right questions, plan out the best way to gather and analyze data, and
then present it visually to arm your team so they can make an informed, data-driven decision. That makes
you critical to the success of any business you work for. Data is a powerful tool. With great power comes,
well, you know the rest. And you're doing a super job taking in all of this information. Up next, we'll talk
about your responsibility as a data analyst to make sure you're gathering, analyzing, and presenting data in a
way that's fair to the people being represented by that data.
6. Rachel: Data detectives
Hi, my name is Rachel, and I'm the Business systems and analytics lead at Verily. There are a lot of different
types of problems that a data analyst can solve. I've been lucky enough over my career to have seen a lot of
them and to take in a lot of very different types of data and help turn that into meaningful answers. I think
one of the most important things to remember about data analytics is that data is data. I'm a finance data
analyst and so my role at Verily is to take all of our financial information, all of the information of the
money we're spending and the money we're making, and turn that into reports and insights so that our
business leads can understand what we're doing. One of the most important things I've done at Verily
recently was help create what's called a profit and loss statement for each of our business units. That means
that in real time, our teams can see what their budget is and how they're spending against that budget.
What that does is that helps our teams keep to that budget by either increasing their revenue streams so that
they have more money to play with or pulling back their spending so that they can keep themselves within
that budget. All of that really helps keep us on track as a company in making sure that we're hitting our
goals. I found that data acts like a living and breathing thing. When you have a ton of data points, it can be
overwhelming when you first sit down to make sense of it. You have tons of columns, tons of records, tons
of different types of data, and finding a way to make sense of that is really hard and that's where the
expertise of a data analyst comes in. It has been some of the most frustrating moments of my career, but also
some of the most rewarding work I've ever done when it finally comes together. The best advice I have for
any data analyst starting out is keep at it.
If the angle you're taking doesn't work, try to find another one. Try to come at it in a different way, try to ask
a different question, and eventually the data will yield and you'll get the insights you're looking for.
7. Understand data and fairness
So far, we've covered the different roles data analysts play in business environments and the kinds of tasks
that come with those roles. But data analysts have another important responsibility: making sure that their
analyses are fair. Now, I know what you're probably thinking, data is based on collected facts, how can it be
unfair? Well, that's a good question. Let's learn what fairness means when we talk about data analysis and
why it's important for you as an analyst to keep in mind. Fairness means ensuring that your analysis doesn't
create or reinforce bias. In other words, as a data analyst, you want to help create systems that are fair and
inclusive to everyone.
Sounds simple enough? Well, here's the tough part about fairness in data analytics. There isn't one standard
definition of it, but hopefully the way we've just described it can give you one way to think about fairness
for right now, but it's about to get a bit trickier. Sometimes conclusions based on data can be true and unfair.
What can you do then? Well, let's find out with an example. Let's say we have a company that's kind of
notorious for being a boys club.
There isn't much representation of other genders. This company wants to see which employees are doing
well, so they start gathering data on employee performance and their own company culture. The data shows
that men are the only people succeeding at this company. Their conclusion? That they should hire more men.
After all, they're doing really well here, right? But that's not a fair conclusion for a couple of reasons.
First, it doesn't even consider all of the available data on company culture, so it paints an incomplete picture.
Second, it doesn't think about the other surrounding factors that impact the data, or in other words, the
conclusion doesn't consider the difficulties that people of different gender identities have trying to navigate a
toxic work environment. If the company only looks at this conclusion, they won't acknowledge and address
how harmful their culture is and they won't understand why certain people are set up to fail within it. That's
why it's important to keep fairness in mind when analyzing data. The conclusion that only men are
succeeding at this company is true, but it ignores other systematic factors that are contributing to this
problem. But don't worry, there's a way to make a fair conclusion here. An ethical data analyst can look at
the data gathered and conclude that the company culture is preventing some employees from succeeding,
and the company needs to address those problems to boost performance.
See how this conclusion paints a much more complete and fair picture. It recognizes the fact that some
people aren't doing as well in this company and factors in why that could be instead of discriminating
against a huge number of applicants in the future. As a data analyst it's your responsibility to make sure your
analysis is fair and factors in the complicated social context that could create bias in your conclusions. It's
important to think about fairness from the moment you start collecting data for a business task to the time
you present your conclusions to your stakeholders. We'll learn more about bias in the data analysis process
later on in another course. For now, let's check out an example of a data analysis that does a good job of
considering fairness in its conclusion. A team of Harvard data scientists were developing a mobile platform
to track patients at risk of cardiovascular disease in an area of the United States called the Stroke Belt.
It's important to call out that there were a variety of reasons people living in this area might be more at risk.
With that in mind, these data scientists recognized that fairness needed to be a priority for this project, so
they built fairness into their models. The team took several fairness measures to make sure they were being
as fair as possible when examining sensitive and potentially biased data. First, they teamed analysts with
social scientists who could provide insights on human bias and the social context that created them. They
also collected self reported data in a separate system to avoid the potential for racial bias, which might skew
the results of their study and unfairly represent patients. To make sure this sample population was
representative, they oversampled non-dominant groups to ensure the model was including them. It's clear
that the team made fairness a top priority every step of the way.
This helped them collect data and create conclusions that didn't negatively impact the communities they
were studying. Hopefully these examples have given you a better idea of what fairness means in data
analysis. But we're going to keep building on our understanding of fairness throughout this program and
you'll get to practice with some activities.
8. Consider fairness
Previously, you learned that part of a data professional’s responsibility is to make certain that their analysis
is fair. Fairness means ensuring your analysis doesn't create or reinforce bias. This can be challenging, but if
Best Explanation Example
practice

Consider all of Part of your job as a data analyst is to A state’s Department of Transportation is
the available determine what data is going to be useful interested in measuring traffic patterns on
data for your analysis. Often there will be data holidays. At first, they only include metrics
that isn’t relevant to what you’re focusing related to traffic volumes and the fact that
on or doesn’t seem to align with your the days are holidays. But the data team
expectations. But you can’t just ignore it; realizes they failed to consider how
it’s critical to consider all of the available weather on these holidays might also
data so that your analysis reflects the affect traffic volumes. Considering this
truth and not just your own expectations. additional data helps them gain more
complete insights.

Identify As you’ll learn throughout these courses, A human resources department wants to
surrounding context is key for you and your better plan for employee vacation time in
factors stakeholders to understand the final order to anticipate staffing needs. HR uses
conclusions of any analysis. Similar to a list of national bank holidays as a key
considering all of the data, you also must part of the data-gathering process. But
understand surrounding factors that they fail to consider important holidays
could influence the insights you’re that aren’t on the bank calendar, which
gaining. introduces bias against employees who
celebrate them. It also gives HR less useful
results because bank holidays may not
necessarily apply to their actual employee
population.

Include self- Self-reporting is a data collection A data analyst is working on a project for a
reported data technique where participants provide brick-and-mortar retailer. Their goal is to
information about themselves. Self- learn more about their customer base.
reported data can be a great way to This data analyst knows they need to
introduce fairness in your data collection consider fairness when they collect data;
process. People bring conscious and they decide to create a survey so that
unconscious bias to their observations customers can self-report information
about the world, including about other about themselves. By doing that, they
people. Using self-reporting methods to avoid bias that might be introduced with
collect data can help avoid these observer other demographic data collection
biases. Additionally, separating self- methods. For example, if they had sales
reported data from other data you collect associates report their observations about
provides important context to your customers, they might introduce any
conclusions! unconscious bias the employees had to
the data.

Use When collecting data about a population, A fitness company is releasing new digital
the analysis is not objective, the conclusions can be misleading and even harmful. In this reading, you’re
going to explore some best practices you can use to guide your work toward a more fair analysis!
Consider fairness
Following are some strategies that support fair analysis:
Key takeaways
As a data professional, you will need to ensure you always consider fairness. This will allow you to avoid
creating or reinforcing bias or accidentally drawing misleading conclusions. Using these best practices can
help guide your analysis and make you a better data professional!
9. Alex: Fair and ethical data decisions
Hi, I'm Alex. I'm a research scientist at Google. My team is called the ethical AI team, we're a group of folks
that really are concerned not only about how AI the technology operates, but how it interacts with society
and how it might help or harm marginalized communities. When we talk about data ethics, we think about
what is the good and right way of using data? What are going to be ways that uses of data are going to be
beneficial to people? When it comes to data ethics, it's not just about minimizing harm but it's actually this
concept of beneficence. How do we actually improve the lives of people by using data?
When we think about data ethics we're thinking about, who's collecting the data? Why are they collecting it?
How are they collecting it and for what purpose? Because of the way that organizations have imperatives to
make money or to report to somebody or provide some analysis, we also have to keep strongly in mind how
this is actually going to benefit people at the end of the day. Are the people represented in this data going to
be benefited by this? I think that's the thing you never want to lose sight of as a data scientist or a data
analyst. I think aspiring data analysts need to keep in mind that a lot of the data that you're going to
encounter is data that comes from people so at the end of the day, data are people.
You want to have a responsibility to those people that are represented in those data. Second, is thinking
about how to keep aspects of their data protected and private. We don't want to go through our practice
thinking about data instances as something we can just throw on the web. No, there needs to be
considerations about how to keep that information, and likenesses like their images, or their voices, or their
text. How do we keep that private? We also need to think about how we can have mechanisms of giving
users and giving consumers more control over their data. It's not going to be sufficient just to say, we collect
all this data and trust us with all these data.
But we need to ensure that there's actionable ways in which people can consent to giving those data, and
ways that they can ask for it to be revoked or removed. Data's growing and at the same time, we need to
empower people to have control over their own data. The future is that data is always growing, we haven't
seen any evidence that data is actually shrinking. With the knowledge that data's growing, these issues
become more and more piqued, and more and more important to think about.
10. Data analysts in different industries
By now, we know that there are all kinds of jobs in different industries available for data analysts. But now
it's time to think about something just as important, how can you tell if a job is a good fit for you and your
career goals? Tough one. Don't worry, that's exactly what we'll cover in this video. There's a lot of important
factors to think about when searching for your dream job. Let's talk about some of the most common factors
first, industry, tools, location, travel, and culture. Data is already being used by countless industries in all
kinds of different ways, tech, marketing, finance, health care, the list goes on.
But one thing that's important to keep in mind, every industry has specific data needs that have to be
addressed differently by their data analysts. The same revenue data can be used in three different ways by
data analysts in three different industries, financial services, Telecom, and tech. For example, a finance
analyst at a bank post public revenue data of Telecom company X to create a forecast that predicts where
revenues will be in the future to recommend the stock price. The business analyst at Telecom company X
uses that same data to advise the sales team. Then a data analyst at the company who created a customer
management tool for Telecom company X will use that revenue data to determine how efficiently the
software is performing. Finance, telecom, and tech, all use data differently, so they need analysts who have
different skills. It all comes down to what the needs of the industry are.
Those needs will determine what task you'll be given, the questions you'll be answering and even how you'll
approach job searching. If you're just starting out, a great way to guide your search is to think first about
what you're interested in. Does helping people get healthier sound meaningful to you? Maybe you want to
focus on using data to improve hospital admissions. What about helping people save for a happy retirement?
You might want a job that uses data to determine risk factors in financial investments. Or maybe you're
interested in helping journalism grow in your city.
A job using data to help find your local news website find more subscribers could be the perfect role for you.
The key is to think about your interests early in your job search. That'll lead you in the right direction, and it
will help you in interviews too. Potential employers will want to know why you're interested in their
company, and how you can address their needs, so if you can speak about your motivation to work in data
analytics during interviews, you'll make yourself stand out in a great way. You'll have options when it comes
to where you work and who you work for. But remember, you want to enjoy what you do, so it's a good idea
to think about how you want to use your skills. Then search for jobs that allow you to do that.
Next on the list of things to think about, location and travel. When you start your job search, you need to
make some decisions about where you want to live, so it helps to ask yourself some questions, does your
preferred industry have opportunities in your area? Are you trying to stay local or would you be happy
relocating? How long are you willing to commute to work every day? Will you drive to work, walk, take
public transport? Is that possible year-round? How do you feel about working remotely?
Does working from home excite you or bore you? Of course, you'll want to consider cost of living, and
whether or not you want the convenience of city living or a quiet suburban home, and it's not just about
where you'll be based, some jobs may ask you to travel, which could be an exciting chance to see the world
or a deal-breaker. It's all about what you want out of this job, so start asking yourself some of these
questions. Figuring out the answers can help you narrow down your search even further, so you're only
looking at jobs you'd actually accept. Once you've answered enough questions, you'll be able to identify
some specific companies that fit your needs. At this point, it's a good time to think about your values and
what company culture is a good fit for you. Ready, here comes some more questions, do you work best in a
team or by yourself?
Do you like to have a set routine or do you enjoy taking a new project and trying new things? Do your
values match the company's values? You'll want to pay attention to these things during your job search and
interview process, so you can be sure you fully invested in the company you work for. That's the best way to
start building an exciting and fulfilling career. This program will help you learn the core skills for data
analytics in any setting, it's up to you where you want to take them, whether that means starting in a
completely new industry, or moving into an analyst position in an industry you already have experience in.
Hopefully what we've covered here has helped you get on track for your future job search. After this, you
have a few activities to do, and then you'll be able to move on to the next part of this course.
We learned a lot so far, like what opportunities are out there for data analysts in different industries. How
data analysts help businesses make better decisions. The importance of fairness and data analytics, and the
potential questions you can start asking yourself before your future job search, and you can always look
back at these lessons if you want to review. In an upcoming course, we'll look at the skills all successful data
analysts have and you'll learn how you can start practicing them too. But before that, you'll have an
assessment. Good luck, and I'll see you later.
11. Data analyst roles and job descriptions
As technology continues to advance, being able to collect and analyze the data from that new technology has
become a huge competitive advantage for a lot of businesses. Everything from websites to social media
feeds are filled with fascinating data that, when analyzed and used correctly, can help inform business
decisions. A company’s ability to thrive now often depends on how well it can leverage data, apply analytics,
and implement new technologies.
This is why skilled data analysts are some of the most sought-after professionals in the world. A study
conducted by IBM estimates that there are over 380,000 job openings in the Data Analytics field in the
United States*. Because the demand is so strong, you’ll be able to find job opportunities in virtually any
industry. Do a quick search on any major job site and you’ll notice that every type of business from zoos, to
health clinics, to banks are seeking talented data professionals. Even if the job title doesn’t use the exact
term “data analyst,” the job description for most roles involving data analysis will likely include a lot of the
skills and qualifications you’ll gain by the end of this program. In this reading, we’ll explore some of the
data analyst-related roles you might find in different companies and industries.
* Burning Glass data, Feb 1, 2021 - Jan 31, 2022, US

Decoding the job description

 The data analyst role is one of many job titles that contain the word “analyst.”
 To name a few others that sound similar but may not be the same role:
 Business analyst—analyzes data to help businesses improve processes, products, or services
 Data analytics consultant—analyzes the systems and models for using data
 Data engineer—prepares and integrates data from different sources for analytical use
 Data scientist—uses expert skills in technology and social science to find trends through data
analysis
 Data specialist—organizes or converts data for use in databases or software systems
 Operations analyst—analyzes data to assess the performance of business operations and workflows
Data analysts, data scientists, and data specialists sound very similar but focus on different tasks. As you
start to browse job listings online, you might notice that companies’ job descriptions seem to combine these
roles or look for candidates who may have overlapping skills. The fact that companies often blur the lines
between them means that you should take special care when reading the job descriptions and the skills
required.
The table below illustrates some of the overlap and distinctions between them:
We used the role of data specialist as one example of many specializations within data analytics, but you
don’t have to become a data specialist! Specializations can take a number of different turns. For example,
you could specialize in developing data visualizations and likewise go very deep into that area.
Job specializations by industry
We learned that the data specialist role concentrates on in-depth knowledge of databases. In similar fashion,
other specialist roles for data analysts can focus on in-depth knowledge of specific industries. For example,
in a job as a business analyst you might wear some different hats than in a more general position as a data
analyst. As a business analyst, you would likely collaborate with managers, share your data findings, and
maybe explain how a small change in the company’s project management system could save the company
3% each quarter. Although you would still be working with data all the time, you would focus on using the
data to improve business operations, efficiencies, or the bottom line.
Other industry-specific specialist positions that you might come across in your data analyst job search
include:
 Marketing analyst—analyzes market conditions to assess the potential sales of products and services
 HR/payroll analyst—analyzes payroll data for inefficiencies and errors
 Financial analyst—analyzes financial status by collecting, monitoring, and reviewing data
 Risk analyst—analyzes financial documents, economic conditions, and client data to help companies
determine the level of risk involved in making a particular business decision
 Healthcare analyst—analyzes medical data to improve the business aspect of hospitals and medical
facilities
Key takeaways
Explore data analyst job descriptions and industry-specific analyst roles. You will start to get a better sense
of the different data analyst jobs out there and which types of roles you’re most interested to go after.
 12. Samah: Interview best practices
My name is Samah Moid, and I'm a recruiter here at Google for the large customer sales team. Basically, I
hire talent for the sales team here. Even within the sales recruiting space, I recruit specifically for the
analytical lead roles here at Google. I want the candidate to be as comfortable as possible. As a recruiter I'm
also their advocate. If they're a good fit for the team, I'd like to present them in the best light. As a recruiter
some advice I would give for a data analyst that's starting to look for a job.
Think about a time where you've used data to solve a problem, whether it's in your professional or personal
projects. Another tip, I would say for a data analyst that's looking for a new job is to increase your
professional network. There are many ways to increase your professional network. One of them is to
increase your online footprint, reach out to other analysts on LinkedIn, join local meet-ups with other data
scientists. Sometimes when we're looking for a unique skill set, recruiters are going on websites like
LinkedIn, and GitHub, and trying to find that talent themselves. It's really important to have your LinkedIn
updated along with websites like GitHub, where you can showcase a lot of the data analysts projects you've
done. Another tip I would say for an in-person interview is to prepare questions for the interviewer.
Make sure they're not broad questions. They should be questions that will help you understand the team and
the job better. If you're given a case study in an interview, you should expect to be given a business problem
along with the sample data set. Then you'd be asked to take that sample data set, analyze it, and come up
with a solution. One of the things you can do to help prepare yourself for this is to ensure you are analyzing
the data and coming up with a solution that relates back to that data. Sometimes there is no right answer, and
a lot of times interviewers are looking to see your thought process and the way you get to your solution. I
highly encourage that if you find a role that you're interested in, not only apply to it, but go the next step.
Look for the recruiter. Look for the hiring manager online. See if you can reach out to them and set up a
coffee chat or send them your resume directly. Online applications could be a really big black hole where
you never hear back from the recruiter or the team. When you reach out directly to a hiring manager or
recruiter, it really shows your eagerness for the role and your interests for the role. Even if sometimes you
don't get a response from reaching out, you never know, you try multiple different times. That one time you
get a response back from a recruiter or hiring manager, could be the time you get the job that you really
wanted.
13. Beyond the numbers: A data analyst journey
Rather than a reading, we invite you to watch Anna Leach's TEDx talk on YouTube or on the TED platform
to learn about another interesting journey as a data analyst.
14. Glossary terms from course 1, module 4
Terms and definitions for Course 1, Module 4
Business task: The question or problem data analysis resolves for a business
Fairness: A quality of data analysis that does not create or reinforce bias
Oversampling: The process of increasing the sample size of nondominant groups in a population. This can
help you better represent them and address imbalanced datasets
Self-reporting: A data collection technique where participants provide information about themselves
15. Join the community
Congratulations on completing the Foundations: Data, Data, Everywhere course!
You learned about data analytics, including the data life cycle, analysis process, and tools like spreadsheets,
SQL, R, and Tableau, which will help you explore the data landscape and make informed decisions.
You're not alone on this learning journey. Learning is more rewarding when you're part of a supportive
community. Here’s how you can connect with fellow learners in the Google Data Analytics Certificate:
Join the Google Data Analytics Community
 Discuss course content: Get answers to your questions, share insights, and dive deeper into the
material with peers.
 Expand your network: Connect with fellow learners from around the globe, build relationships, and
grow your professional circle.
 Unlock career opportunities: Explore career paths, share job leads, and gain advice from others in
the field.
Ready to dive in? Join your Community
The community is here to support you every step of the way. Participation in the community is optional and
offered at no cost to you.