What Is Needed To Become A Business Intelligence Analyst
A person starts their career in business intelligence by gaining a bachelor’s degree in information systems, data science, business administration, engineering, or a similar field.
Once a person has a degree, they can pursue entry-level jobs, such as database administration, to start a career in business intelligence.
Main Challenges Of A Business Intelligence Career
Weve already covered a lot of ground about BI as a profession, while it looks promising both professionally and financially, it doesnt come without challenges. The business intelligence industry is constantly evolving and becoming more competitive, which means professionals need to keep up with the latest changes and technologies to stay ahead of the rest. Here we will list a few of the challenges that you can face while pursuing a BI path.
Sample Job Description #3
- Work closely with the product owner and business stakeholders as a member of agile team
- Have an in-depth understanding of business problem in hand
- Access, gather, and analyze data from source systems
- Help frame the business problem by providing quantitative and qualitative data analysis
- Drive insights to business problems by visualizing the data and telling a story through data
- Contribute to data analysis, data wrangling, data visualization, and user acceptance testing
- Present findings and new development to help refine backlog items
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A Step By Step Guide On Pursuing A Business Analyst Career Path
Lets break down the steps with bullet points.
- Earn your degree
- Gain an entry-level job as a developer, industry expert, or quality assurance engineer. Any of these would be considered a junior business analyst position. Securing this job will most likely involve interviewing for a business analyst position, so you may want to brush up on interview questions
- Become a subject matter expert within a few years of employment
- Accumulate several years of hands-on work experience in the previously mentioned positions
- Improve your skillset by pursuing certifications in business analyst-related courses
- Move up into a more senior position, such as IT Business Analyst, Senior/Lead Business Analyst, or Product Manager. Note that most organizations looking for senior-level candidates want to see an MBA or other relevant business degrees
After ten years or so, aim for Chief Technology Officer , or an independent consultant!
How To Advance Your Career In Business Intelligence
One of the best ways professionals can advance their career is by returning to school and earning another degree. However, those with careers in business intelligence can also find other methods of career advancement, such as by pursuing certification, continuing education, and/or networking through professional organizations. These methods typically cost less and take less time than earning another degree.
The following sections discuss a few alternative methods of career advancement. Readers should keep in mind that not all jobs set the same hurdles for advancement. Professionals should research their specific careers or talk to their employers to discover how best to increase their prospects of advancement.
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The Different Career Paths In Business Intelligence
Here at Key2 Consulting we truly believe a career in business intelligence can be an amazing thing. We may be biased , but thats the truth.
There are different career paths within BI that you can take to achieve your goals, and these paths will each foster big opportunities for you to learn and grow.
Before we begin, lets define business intelligence
We define business intelligence as taking data and transforming it into meaningful information that is then used to make smarter business decisions.
What Is The Difference Between Business Intelligence Analyst And Data Analyst
A data analyst is responsible for collecting, organizing, and analyzing data in order to understand and solve business problems. They work with data from a variety of sources in order to find trends and insights that can help a company make better decisions. A business intelligence analyst, on the other hand, is responsible for taking data and turning it into information. They use their knowledge of business and analytics to understand what the data means for a company and how it can be used to improve performance.
The main difference between these two roles is the focus on interpretation and understanding. A data analyst will spend most of their time focused on understanding the data itself, while a business intelligence analyst will spend more time thinking about how the data can be used to improve business performance. Both are important roles within a business, but understanding the difference will help you decide which one is right for you.
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Business Intelligence Career Paths
Analytics & BI
8 min read
In this post well take a look at some common roles within data teams and what it takes to get them.
Businesses structure their data teams differently theres no one-size-fits-all structure or org chart that will map to every organization out there.
While its not unheard of for data professionals to shift from one of these roles to another, they each have their own focuses and require distinct skill sets. If youre interested in exploring a BI career and enjoy working with data, one of the roles below may match your skills and career goals.
What Do Business Intelligence Careers Entail
BI professionals integrate data warehouses, cloud data services, discovery tools, dashboards, and ad hoc reporting. Entrepreneurs need these BI solutions to see the bigger picture in their business.
People with different business intelligence job titles and roles within the same workplace work together to derive better insights from data sets to help businesses reach their goals. This process summarizes what business intelligence is all about.
Business Intelligence Job Description
To give an overview, here are the everyday tasks of BI experts with a short description for each.
In a nutshell, BI professionals research, collect, analyze, and report important data. The data, which can be translated into insights, can help marketers and business owners reach their goals.
Types of Business Intelligence Jobs
Now that youre familiar with the concept of business intelligence and its use lets get down to the most exciting jobs you can find in this field and what each role entails.
Business Intelligence Analyst Jobs
You cant leverage the gathered data and turn it into a powerful insight if you cant analyze it. Thats why BI analysts are necessary. BI analysts mainly do two thingscollect data in several databases or a centralized data warehouse and analyze and handle the data modeling design from the collected data.
Business Intelligence Developer Jobs
Business Intelligence Engineer Jobs
Business Intelligence Manager Jobs
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Should I Become A Business Intelligence Analyst In 2021
Yes, you should become a business intelligence analyst in 2021. Business intelligence analysis is a good career to pursue, and it offers many job roles and opportunities. These professionals are in demand in various industries and tend to earn above-average salaries. It is a good career path if you have an interest in data analytics and project management.
Business Intelligence Analyst Job Interview Practice Questions
- How would you define the role of a business intelligence analyst?
- What is your educational background, and what fields do you have experience in?
- Which programming languages are you familiar with?
- Which BI tools have you used?
- How do you see data gathering and analysis evolving in the next few years?
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Resources For Business Intelligence Majors
Business intelligence professionals can find many resources for development and continuing education. The sections below offer a brief list of professional organizations that can help your career in business intelligence examples of free, open courseware and a description of several professional publications related to the industry.
Is Coding Required For A Business Intelligence Developer
Theres no getting around itbusiness intelligence development is a technical field that requires in-depth knowledge of programming languages such as Python, SQL, and Java. If the prospect of learning to code is intimidating, a growing number of data science bootcamps offer accessible, self-paced short courses that introduce complete beginners to the programming languages needed to get the most out of a more advanced data analytics bootcamp.
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What Is Global Teaching Assistance
Our teaching assistants are a dedicated team of subject matter experts here to help you get certified on your first attempt. They proactively engage students to assure theyre following the course path and to help them enrich their learning experience, from class onboarding to project mentoring and job assistance.
Business Intelligence Career: Is It Worth It
As you find yourself positioned at that point where you weigh the pros and cons of a Business Intelligence Career, you might find yourself asking yourself whether a career in BI is worth it after all. In this section, we will look at some of the most important benefits which come with Business Intelligence Jobs.
This is an important concern for any career aspirant. You want to settle for a job, which among others is also able to guarantee you a sense of security. Business Intelligence Jobs are considered to be secured ones, precisely because they are immensely in-demand. A Business Intelligence Developer, a Business Intelligence Consultant, a Business Intelligence Analyst and so on are considered to be crucial linkages between business thinking and technological understanding. Moreover, as business becomes more and more data-driven, the need for these personnel has increased by leaps and bounds.
- Opportunity for Growth
A Business Intelligence Career is not only in-demand, but is also exciting, dynamic and offers immense opportunities for personal growth. Faced with challenges on a daily basis, BI personnel are expected to continually upgrade themselves. For instance, a Business Intelligence Developer is expected to be competent at analyzing and understanding the needs of stakeholders and software users. Now this need is not static and they wonât be able to respond to their demands if they fail to keep themselves abreast of the latest technology.
- Immense Job Prospects
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How To Prepare For Your Business Intelligence Analyst Job Interview
To prepare for a business analytics job interview, you need to have the necessary job requirements and skills. The job interviews typically cover key knowledge and technical and soft skills that a business intelligence analyst should have. Below are some interview practice questions to get you started.
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Interested In Certifications But Dont Know Where To Start
Read through a list of SQL and database certifications. You might also consider .
Bachelorâs degrees: A bachelorâs degree can bring you both the technical and critical thinking skills needed of a BI analyst. Focus your studies on a quantitative field like finance, mathematics, or data science.
Masterâs degrees: A masterâs degree can build on your previous experience and education to pivot you into a business intelligence analyst role. Itâs a good idea to take your past experience into consideration in deciding what field is best for your masterâs.
If youâve worked in business for several years and need a stronger background in data, a masterâs in data science might suit your needs. If you have a solid understanding of data analysis but need better business understanding, an MBA program with a focus on business analytics might be what youâre looking for.
What Skills Are Necessary For A Business Intelligence Analyst
Several skills are necessary to succeed as a business intelligence analyst:
- Programming and software skills are required for every BI analyst specialty. Some positions require Python, C++ or Java skills, while data-centered languages like SQL and R are also important. Some companies rely on BI platforms like Tableau or Oracle BI.
- Math and statistical skills are helpful for roles that handle forecasting and modeling.
- Analytics ability is necessary for collecting data, transforming it and using it to answer specific questions.
- Critical thinking is vital for planning projects and finding conclusions based on the data.
- Excellent communication abilities are essential because BI analysts need to present data findings to company decision-makers.
- Time management is another vital aspect of BI analyst jobs. Analysts often have to work under tight deadlines and sometimes even interpret data in real time.
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Why Pursue A Career In Business Intelligence
Individuals who pursue careers with a business intelligence degree are typically analytical thinkers with a talent for numbers and data collection. These professionals usually work in an office environment and use computers to collect, store, and analyze data to determine the effectiveness of a business.
A career in business intelligence requires an individual to be self-motivated and possess excellent communication skills, as they must report their findings to those with less expertise in this field.
Many companies use business intelligence to reduce costs or find new customers. Business intelligence professionals might work on their own or as part of a team. Some professionals may even advance to managerial positions.
What Is Analytics And Business Intelligence
Analytics and business intelligence are closely related. Many times, the official title of the professional will be business intelligence analyst. The specialist will be comfortable around data set and familiar with the significance of big data. Big data refers to the ability to work with large data sets and analyze them to gain insights. Business intelligence analysts are expected to pass along insights to internal departments to guide their decisions. The analyst may recommend solutions based on the data or leave it up to each individual department on how to perceive the data. The analyst will also have a high comfort level working with common software programs and applications used in the field of data analytics. Those with a computer science background could work in development and create new business intelligence solutions based on client need.
What skills are needed for a career in business intelligence?
What type of advanced positions are available in business intelligence?
Where are business intelligence jobs found?
What type of degree is needed for business intelligence jobs?
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A Progressive Career Path
As weve just seen in the point above, BI is a profession that is on-demand and growing every year. This means there are many chances to grow and escalate fast. After acquiring 3 to 5 years of experience, you can specialize in a specific technology or industry and work as an analyst, IT expert, or even go to the management side by working as a BI project manager. We will cover BI job positions in more detail later in the post, but the important takeaway here is that this is a profession that is full of possibilities. With an immense amount of job prospects, you can start as a junior employee and escalate to senior positions where you can manage your own teams and projects.
Who Is Business Intelligence Analyst
A BI analyst typically works in data management or data analysis which means they spend their days working with numbers and statistics. They may collect information from various sources like surveys or databases then use tools to analyze it. This data is then used to inform decision-making, whether related to business strategy or tactics.
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Top Skills For A Business Intelligence Analyst
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we’ve found all of the skills you’ll need so even if you don’t have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 17.6% of business intelligence analysts listed business process on their resume, but soft skills such as detail oriented and creativity are important as well.
- Business Process, 17.6%
Why Use Business Analysis
Business Analysis is used by analysts, the agents of change. These professionals analyze a business or organization, by documenting its systems and processes, assessing its business model, identifying vulnerabilities, and devising solutions, making business analysts one of the most in-demand job roles today!
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