Six Questions to Ask Before Taking Your Next Analytics Role

As an analytics professional, you know there are myriad tools and methods that enable businesses to make informed decisions. But you, the analytics expert, play a crucial role in transforming raw data into information and insights, which in turn are used by your team members to make the decisions that drive the business forward.

In this post, we’re going to discuss six questions to consider before you take your next analytics role. Our aim here is to help you find the best role for your particular skill set, goals, and personal culture.

1. You already know that data and information needs to be standardized and structured in a manner that allows it is to be easily and efficiently accessed and utilized. What will your role be in standardizing and structuring the data so that it can be accessed and used in an efficient way?
2. Data also must be extracted from various sources and brought together in a logical way so that it can produce meaningful information. How much of your role as an analytics professional with this organization will involve extracting, managing, and compiling this data?
3. You probably have some credentials and solid experience under your belt already, but it will be important to think about which specific technical skills are required to be successful in the role. What technical skills will you need in order to accomplish the necessary tasks associated with the role?
4. After the data is gathered and organized into meaningful information, someone will be responsible for understanding the story the data is telling. This person will need to develop critical insights relative to driving the business. What part will you have in developing the actionable insights that will be used in making decisions about the business?
5. The end game of analytics is usually to help make informed business decisions. What kind of decisions will be made as a result of the insights you provide and what level of participation will you have in making those decisions?
6. In addition to extracting and compiling data and working with the insights gleaned from that data, you need to communicate effectively with key team members in order to be successful. This can range from speaking with peers about analytics and related topics to presenting data and insights to executives in boardrooms. Who will you be communicating with on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis, and what will you be communicating to each person?

You know what a great gig you have as a data analyst, and taking new roles is part of the adventure of building your career. In asking these six questions, you can better prepare for a new role and get a sense of the organization and environment in which you will be putting your skills to use. We hope this will enable you to make the best decisions possible for you to take your career in a direction that is tailored just for you.

What questions have you found to be useful when making decisions about taking analytics roles? Share with us in the comments section below!

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