Becoming a Data Analyst: A Beginner's Guide to Kickstarting Your Data Analysis Career

by Remsey Mailjard, Maaike van Putten

Overview

Get started with your data analysis career with in-depth explanations of key concepts, real-world applications, and career guidance Purchase of the print or Kindle book includes a free PDF eBook

Key Features

• Conquer all essential data analysis techniques using real-world exercises, mini-projects
• Learn essential tools like Excel, SQL, and Power BI, which are crucial for any data analyst
• Get career guidance and tips for building a portfolio, regardless of your background or experience

Book Description

This guide is designed to take you from novice to confident data analyst. Starting with the fundamentals of data analytics, you will explore what data analysis entails and why it's crucial in today's data-driven industries. You'll develop a data analyst mindset, honing your problem-solving and critical-thinking skills through practical exercises. You'll be introduced to different types of data, data sources and key concepts like KPIs and data warehouses. Hands-on chapters will guide you through Excel for basic data analysis, teaching you vital functions, pivot tables, and visualization techniques. You'll dive into SQL to query and manipulate data as well as data cleaning and exploration to prepare datasets for meaningful analysis. More advanced chapters will introduce you to Power BI, so you can build interactive dashboards and use DAX for advanced calculations. You'll work on major projects that will form a professional portfolio showcasing your skills in sales analysis, HR analytics, and customer insights. Finally, the book will teach you the art of communicating your findings through data storytelling to different audiences. You'll also find guidance on continuing education and career growth, ensuring you're well-prepared to launch a successful career in data analytics.

What you will learn

• Understand the fundamentals of data analytics and the role of a data analyst
• Develop an analytical mindset for problem-solving
• Gain proficiency in Excel for data analysis, including pivot tables and basic statistics
• Learn to write SQL queries to extract and manipulate data
• Learn data cleaning and exploratory data analysis techniques
• Create compelling data visualizations and dashboards using Excel and Power BI
• Build a data analytics portfolio with real-world projects
• Communicate insights effectively to both technical and non-technical stakeholders

Who this book is for

If you’re interested in pursuing a career in data analysis or enhancing your existing data analysis skills or simply want to learn how to analyze and interpret data to make informed decisions, this book is for you. It’s designed for beginners, so no prior experience in data analysis is required. However, basic computer literacy, proficiency in using Microsoft Excel, and familiarity with mathematics and statistics will help you on your journey. The book is suitable for students, recent graduates, and professionals from various fields, including business, finance, healthcare, and education.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781805126416
Publisher:	Packt Publishing
Publication date:	08/29/2025
Product dimensions:	75.00(w) x 92.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Remsey is an IT-trainer, consultant and software developer. He founded Skills4-IT, to teach people how to build software, data solutions and help them pass Microsoft certifications. He has been training professionals since 2012 for various training companies around the world including Microsoft and Google. His undying love for acquiring IT skills, made him self-taught in subjects like Microsoft 365, Azure, C#, NET, Power Platform and Business Intelligence. As a data professionals he has worked on various data projects from building data warehouses, databases and Power BI reports. He is fluent in C#, Power BI, SQL, Azure Synapse. When he is not working, he is learning the newest Microsoft technologies and applying it in development projects. He believes that everyone can learn the skills to be successful in their career.

Maaike is a software consultant and trainer with a passion for sharing her expertise to empower others in their careers. Her love for software development shows in the numerous software development projects she participated in and the many certifications she obtained. She has designed and delivered a broad spectrum of training courses catering to beginners and seasoned developers in Java, Python, C# and many other languages and frameworks. Next to that, she has authored multiple books and online courses through multiple platforms reaching over 500,000 learners across the globe.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

1. Introduction to Data Analytics
2. The Mindset of a Data Analyst
3. Data Fundamentals
4. Getting Started with Excel and Basic Statistics
5. Querying Data with SQL
6. Data Cleaning and Exploration
7. Basic Data Visualization with Excel
8. Advanced Data Analysis and Dashboarding with Power BI
9. Building Your Data Analytics Portfolio
10. Communicating Your Findings
11. Continuing Education and Career Growth