Data Career Paths: Developing Analysts, Engineers, and More

It’s no secret that data-related jobs are central to the future of work. Data analysis is already the sixth most in-demand hard skill, and as the digital transformation of the business world continues, data-related skills are only going to become more important.

Part of the reason data-related skills are in such high demand right now is because there aren’t enough professionals equipped with them. Many feel like the barrier to entry for data career paths is intimidating, but it’s lowering all the time and there are numerous directions one can take.

Learning the skills required to start down a data career path doesn’t necessarily require any prior experience or expertise at all. In fact, your employees can start developing the relevant skills even as they work.

Data career path topics:

Participants will:

Gain a solid grounding in data analysis concepts
Explore data analysis software tools
Build data visualization skills

When learners complete all three courses (approximately nine hours), they can take a final exam to earn a Professional Certificate from Microsoft, proving they’ve developed career-essential data analysis skills.

Data analyst

“A data analyst collects, cleans, and analyzes data sets to solve problems,” says Strachnyi. “Essentially, a data analyst’s goal is to uncover key insights and leverage these insights to help their organizations make decisions and perform more effectively.”

Where to start: The Become a Data Analyst learning path consists of 13 courses taught by data analyst professionals and experts, each with the purpose of equipping learners with the hard and soft skills required to begin their journeys as data analysts.

Participants who take these courses will:

Learn the technical skills for data analyst career paths
Develop their competencies in high-demand analysis tools
Build communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills

Data scientist

“Data scientists work closely with business stakeholders to understand their goals and determine how data can be used to achieve them,” says Strachnyi. “They design data-modeling processes, create algorithms and predictive models to extract the data and business needs, help analyze the data, and share insights with peers.”

Where to start: The Become a Data Scientist learning path consists of 12 courses designed to support participants in building the skills they’ll need to pursue a career in data science. This learning path will help your learners:

Build a solid foundational understanding of statistics, which is necessary for any data science–related field
Discover the many categories of job specialization within data science
Learn how to source, explore, and communicate with data through graphs and statistics

Data engineer

“Data engineers are data professionals tasked with creating and maintaining complex systems that are capable of collecting, storing, and analyzing data for companies,” says Strachnyi. “They build and manage systems that can arrange raw data into readable and viable versions, then send that data forward for further analysis by data scientists and data analysts.”

Where to start: The Advance Your Data Engineering Skills learning path includes 15 expert-led courses, each of which helps participants develop and strengthen the most in-demand skills for data engineers today according to LinkedIn data.

While taking the courses on this learning path, participants will:

Expand knowledge of data structures and algorithms
Expand coding proficiency using multiple tools
Prep for the Microsoft Azure Data Engineering (DP-203) exam

Data consultant

“A data consultant develops strategies for identifying and utilizing data for a company's needs,” says Strachnyi. “They are primarily responsible for collecting data, maintaining and designing databases, coordinating with multiple data specialists, inspecting data for inconsistencies, and implementing corrective measures.“

Where to start:

SQL Essential Training with Walter Shields
Python Essential Training with Ryan Mitchell
Consulting Foundations with Mike Figiluolo
Business Intelligence for Consultants with Joshua Rischin

Data steward

“Data stewards are responsible for keeping data safe and usable by being responsible for data maintenance, quality, communication, metadata management, and security,” says Strachnyi. “A data steward is responsible for carrying out data usage and security policies as determined through enterprise data governance initiatives, acting as a liaison between the information technology department and the business side of an organization.”

Where to start:

Chief data officer

“A chief data officer, or CDO, oversees a range of data-related functions to ensure an organization is getting the most of what could be its most valuable asset, says Strachnyi. “A CDO may be responsible for data management, ensuring data quality and creating data strategy. They may also be responsible for data analytics and business intelligence.”

Where to start:

The courses listed here only represent the beginning of each career path. To fully build out data career paths for any interested professionals, you’ll want to develop a customized, personalized skill development plan that can address everything each individual needs. LinkedIn Learning can help.

With this online learning platform, you can find and queue up courses based on your employee’s personal goals, the skill sets of other professionals on LinkedIn, or even on the basis of personalized recommendations.

Data Career Paths: Developing Analysts, Engineers, and More

Starting a data career path

Where a data career path can take your talent

Data analyst

Data scientist

Data engineer

Data consultant

Data steward

Chief data officer

Creating personalized data career paths with LinkedIn Learning