Which Certifications Are Useful To Get A Job In Data Analytics?

The rise in the digital transformation of businesses has helped data-driven companies to acquire new customers, maintain customer loyalty, deliver better goods and services, and achieve a competitive edge. Businesses use data-driven decision-making to make strategic assessments based on data and insights instead of human intuition or personal observation. 

Companies, big and small, are looking for data professionals with a deep understanding of data, high analytical skills, and the knowledge of various tools and enterprise software to achieve the relevant skills in Data Analytics.

If you are looking for a career in Data Analytics, consider doing a Data Analyst Course online. These courses teach you how to clean and organize data, use tools like SQL and R, and visualize data with Tableau or Power BI.

So whether you are a fresh graduate or a professional with experience, you can gain a Certification, learn the necessary skills from online resources and apply for entry-level jobs to kick-start your career path in Data Analytics.

Certifications assess your knowledge and skills against pre-set benchmarks and validate your competency in Data Analytics. 

Check out the courses listed below, and check which one matches your skills and career goals.

How to Become a Data Analyst?

The pathway to becoming a successful Data Analyst begins with getting a foundational degree in any discipline. Statistics, R, Python programming, SQL, Data visualization, and Data cleaning or preparation are critical must-do technical skills.

 You must also master soft skills such as communication, domain knowledge, problem-solving, and presentation. Work on projects with real-world data and build a portfolio that demonstrates your Data Analytics skills to hiring managers. 

Select projects that demonstrate your competencies in scraping data from multiple sources, cleaning data, visualizing findings, and extracting actionable insights from the data. Sign up for a GitHub account and post your projects and code to showcase your knowledge. At the end of the day, a Certification goes a long way in showcasing your knowledge while adding value to your resume.

Certifications for a job in Data Analytics

If you have a passion for data and a curious bend of mind, then Data Analytics is the right career for you. With unlimited career opportunities and multiple learning paths, you may be confused about which Certifications to pursue. Which course is best for landing a job in Data Analytics, and which Certification looks good on your resume? 

A good way is to peruse the job listings and see what hirers want. What skills and learning topics do they seek. Use this as the yardstick to select the Certification.

Here is a list of the top Data Analytics and Big Data certifications that can help you choose the right credential:

1. Certified Analytics Professional (CAP)

Organization: INFORMS (Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences

Price: $495 for INFORMS members, $695 for non-members

Format: Online exam

Duration: Six to eight weeks

Eligibility: 3 years of experience with MA/MS, OR 5 years of experience with BA/BS in a related area, OR 7 years of experience with any degree in an unrelated analytics area.

Course details: This is a vendor- and technology-neutral validation of an analytics professional’s competency in the seven domains of analytics: business problem framing, analytics problem framing, data management, methodology selection, model building, deployment, and analytics lifecycle management.

The certification is designed for early to mid-career analytics professionals and is renewed after three years for certifying an end-to-end understanding of the analytics process.

2. Cloudera Certified Associate (CCA) Data Analyst Certification

Organization: Cloudera

Price: $295 for the exam

Format: Remote-proctored set of 8-12 performance-based hands-on tasks on a Cloudera Enterprise cluster

Duration: 120 minutes for the exam

Eligibility: Pass CCA Data Analyst Exam, with a passing score of 70%

Course details: The necessary knowledge path to take the exam is listed on the web page. Topics cover Data Analysis and Data Structure.

3. Power BI Data Analyst Associate

Organization: Microsoft

Price: $165 fee for the exam

Format: Online proctored exam

Duration: The exam can be taken at any time

Eligibility: Work experience in Power BI data analysis and visualization is preferred but not mandatory

Course details: The exam is an intermediate-level certification suitable for those with a background in data analytics. The credential is focused on Power BI, the business analytics service by Microsoft, and helps you land a great job with large enterprises implementing Microsoft BI.

4. Simplilearn’s Post Graduate Program In Data Analytics

Organization: Simplilearn, India

Price: INR 2,02,300 

Format: Online Bootcamp

Duration: Eight months

Eligibility requirements: Minimum Graduate Degree with an average of 50% or higher marks 

Course details: This Post Graduate Program In Data Analytics is very highly ranked. The course is in partnership with Purdue University and collaboration with IBM. It follows an applied learning model with real-life projects and business case studies to enhance the learning experience.

5. AWS Certified Data Analytics – Specialty

Organization: Amazon Web Services

Price: $ 300

Format: At the testing center or online proctored exam

Duration: 180 minutes to complete the exam

Eligibility requirements: Professionals with experience and expertise working with AWS services to design, build, and maintain analytics solutions. Ideally, five years of experience with common data analytics technologies is recommended, and two years of hands-on experience working with AWS.

Course details: Candidates are expected to learn the critical skills for implementing cloud initiatives, AWS data lakes, and analytics before taking the exam. Additional information, such as the exam content outline and passing score, is in the exam guide. The exam has 65 questions, either multiple choice or multiple responses.

6. MIT Sloan School of Management Certification in Applied Business Analytics

Organization: MIT Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts (USA)

Price: $2,800

Format: Self-Paced Online format

Duration: 6 weeks with an estimated 6-8 hours per week

Eligibility requirements: A three-year bachelor’s degree is a minimum requirement. The program is ideal for managers and leaders who want to learn advanced analytics skills.

Course details: Topics covered include Digital Business & IT, Strategy & Innovation, and Business Analytics.  The analytics approach to adopt in various situations and how to tackle big data for better business outcomes are some of the learning outcomes. The course also teaches you the application of best practices for data analytics process management, identifying inter-dependencies in workflows, and recognizing when to utilize human judgment.

Bottomline

A degree is not always a requirement to ace an interview for a Data Analyst. Hirers want you to have the necessary skills for the job. So even if you do not have a degree, you can build a great portfolio, gain Certification, and be career-ready in the world of Data Analytics.