Becoming a Data Analyst - Data stories by White Box

Becoming a data analyst isn’t, for the most part, an easy process. Many people are unfamiliar with what data analysts do behind the doors when they are ‘mining’ what is now often coined the new business gold. The confusion surrounding the underlying skills a data analyst holds often leads to friends, family, and others interested in their workings, wondering how they came to be in the positions they are in today. As such, the team at White Box Analytics thought it’d be a great exercise to discuss the stories of present and past colleagues who have worked or are working as analysts, to identify the key challenge areas faced, and to highlight some of the important factors which got each person to where they are today. 

Louis Keating, our founder talked of the context of the industry following his graduation in Bristol in 2001, where analyst jobs were few and far in-between. He said “I remember being concerned with the lack of jobs and those that were available, seemed very dull. Is this what I spent 3 years of university studying for!? Compared to the market now, we were underpaid and no-one really got it. Try explaining a multiple regression model to a client who doesn’t even know they have a database!” 

Since 2001, the world of data has changed enormously, with a widespread appreciation for the powers analysis has for driving key business decisions. Louis first noticed this change in 2006, when he earned a job at a firm called Tree. He said “...the data analyst became the all knowing one and underpinned everything else that agency and client was doing.”

Despite the eventual success Louis found, he mentioned “I remember thinking that perhaps I made the wrong career choice and even made moves to become an account manager, enticed by the money and not being back office staff”. That is to say, the process wasn’t an easy one for the founder of White Box. Becoming an analyst takes years of practice and dedication which is why its valuable to understand how to get started, and what can give you that slight edge when it comes to interviewing and landing that first position. 

Ije Iruemi, White Box’s longest standing employee said “the fun stuff for me is in generating insight from the data stored”, leading him to pursue a career in data analytics following the completion of his Master’s Degree. Interestingly, Ije also mentioned “I wish someone had told me that even learning a skill such as SQL takes at least 3 years of constant practice to be somewhat proficient at it. I wouldn’t have beat myself up as much when I failed at solving a problem on my own”, demonstrating that even experience practitioners go through steep learning curves.

Lucas Hadin, a previous colleague and employee of Louis, discussed the hardships of gaining the experience needed to compete among a pool of applicants for a position as a data analyst. “I came up against the classic catch 22 where all the jobs for junior data analysts still required 1+ years of experience.” In 2012, when Lucas started his job search, and still to this day, many employment postings for junior roles require some level of experience, and back then, as Lucas told us “anything from excel, SQL, python, R, machine learning, c++” weren’t available from online resources like they are today. This made it even more challenging for the young graduate to break into the industry. 

Eventually Lucas was picked up by Louis, telling us “I think that my few years of travel and working abroad (not as an analyst) might have been the thing which gave me the life skills to be able to build a rapport with Louis and ultimately seal the deal getting the job.”

Jack Sloman, White Box’s current junior analyst was encouraged to get into the industry as a result of a mismatch between his soft and hard skills. “I found my skills in interpreting and writing information were only as good as the numbers behind them,” he said. One of the biggest challenges he currently faces is knowing what to learn first, and why. He manages this by dedicating his personal time to learning whilst simultaesuoly producing data related content and analysis pieces to drive the brands engagement and presence in the industry.

A key theme, if any to take away from these interviews is that your people skills, more often than not, count for more than what you might think. Each individual has to start at a point where they have no experience, so if you are looking at starting your journey, make the start sooner rather than later. Before you know it, your personal dedication and hard-work will be picked up by someone who can see your potential. Use the resources available to you and offer value where possible, you may feel alone on your journey to becoming a data analyst, but we can ensure the time spent and the experience gained will be invaluable! 

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