Our career paths are often shaped by what is present in our immediate environment. This is not surprising; you can only aspire to what you can see. Unfortunately, this limited exposure to career choices has led to us being uninformed about potentially fulfilling career choices.

Business analytics is a career path that is not featured on career days in elementary school, but it is a profession that has a tremendous impact on our capitalist ecosystem. Unfortunately, not many people are aware of the opportunities in this field. To bridge this information gap, we will be discussing what business analytics entails, the different careers you can pursue with a degree in business analytics and what you need to become a skilled business analyst.

What Is Business Analytics?

Business analytics is the act of transforming unrefined data into realistic business decisions using tools such as data management, data visualization, data mining and optimization. It involves identifying new patterns and relationships with data mining, using statistical analysis to create and build business models and predicting future events in business performance and industry trends using predictive modeling.

As a matter of necessity, business analysts must be able to communicate their findings and conclusions in an easily understandable way.

What Skills Do You Need To Become A Business Analyst?

Like every other profession, certain personality traits and core skills will predispose you to a career in business analytics. Many of these skills are soft skills that you can build through conscious practice and effort, and some are technical skills that you can acquire through formal training. These skills include:

• Analytical And Critical Thinking

Critical and analytical thinking involves a thought process that is different from what we do regularly in our daily lives. Analytical and critical thinking enables business analysts to prioritize business needs.

• Basic Understanding Of Business

As a business analyst, you need a basic understanding of business. This might include effectively using social media for business, recognizing business problems and providing practical solutions to them. You also need to understand the business’ goals and motives to do your job effectively.

• Communication And Interpersonal Relations

The basis of a business analyst’s job is communicating your findings and data effectively to consumers, colleagues and other stakeholders in a business. You also need to be able to communicate with others to gain practical insights that might help you draw more accurate conclusions.

• Strategic Decision Making

Decision-making is a key part of being a business analyst. You cannot make decisions arbitrarily or based solely on instincts. Your decisions have a real-life impact on your business organization, employee benefits and customer experience.

• Familiarization With Basic Analytics Tools

Business analysts do not do their jobs in a vacuum. As a business analyst, you must be familiar with your trade’s tools and use them optimally.

• Programming Languages

Working with programming languages is one of the technical skills you must have as a business analyst. Knowledge of languages such as r and python and an understanding of statistical software like sas and spss is recommended.

• Database And SQL

Storing and preserving structured data is just as important as collecting the data. you must develop proficiency in data management and sql to help you access, retrieve, manipulate and analyze data.

• Dashboards And Reports

As a business analyst, you need to understand certain business intelligence tools that will allow you to create reports and dashboards. Creating reports and dashboards from data supports decision-making in business.

Different career options for people with a degree in business analytics

A business analytics degree, such as an advanced degree like a Masters in Business Analytics, can lead to a number of different career options. Some of these include:

• Data Analyst

Data analysts collect, organize and analyze data to help organizations make better decisions. They use their skills in mathematics, statistics and computer science to turn data into insights that can be used to improve business operations.

• Computer Systems Analyst

Computer systems analysts use their technical expertise and business knowledge to help organizations plan, implement and optimize information technology (IT) systems. They work with businesses and organizations to understand their needs and goals, and then they design, develop, test and deploy custom computer systems that meet those needs.

• Computer Programmer

Computer programmers write code that helps computer applications and software programs run. They also work with system administrators and web developers to troubleshoot technical problems and ensure that systems are running smoothly.

• Business Intelligence Analyst

Business intelligence analysts use data to help organizations make better decisions. They collect and analyze data and then create reports and dashboards that visualize the data to help decision-makers see trends and patterns.

• Quantitative Analyst

Quantitative analysts use their skills in mathematics and statistics to help organizations make better decisions. They develop models and algorithms that are used to assess risk, optimize portfolios and predict market trends.

• Marketing Analyst

Marketing analysts use data to help organizations better understand their customers and markets. They collect and analyze data from multiple sources and generate reports and dashboards that visualize the data to help decision-makers see trends and patterns.

• Fraud Analyst

Fraud analysts use data to help organizations detect and prevent fraud. They collect and analyze data, and create reports and dashboards to help decision-makers detect trends and patterns.

• Retail Sales Analyst

Retail sales analysts use data to help organizations better understand their customers and markets by collecting and analyzing data that is then used to create reports and dashboards that illustrate the trends and patterns related to sales.

• Statistician

Statisticians use their skills in mathematics and statistics to help organizations make better decisions through the development of models and algorithms.

Why Is Business Analytics Important For Business Growth?

Data is a vital part of any business. Many of a business’s operations and processes are driven by data, and this is what makes business analytics so important. In more ways than one, business analysts help businesses grow, scale and satisfy their customers. Businesses are increasingly starting to see the importance of data in their operations due to the rising popularity of data-driven decision-making.

Thanks to business analytics, businesses can now make better decisions by analyzing data and extracting useful insights from it. A degree in business analytics gives you the opportunity to explore different careers in the technical space and put your analytical and critical thinking skills to use. As an aspiring business analyst, the best way to boost your career is to learn and upskill while gaining practical experience.