Data Analyst / Data Scientist
Turn messy tables into decisions.
$70k–$90k entry · $140k+ senior
0 of 5 lessons completed
5 short lessons · drills · 11 interview questions
Role summary
Collect, clean, analyze, and visualize data. Analysts explain what happened and why. Data scientists often go further with prediction and modeling. Both turn numbers into decisions leaders can act on.
What this job does for businesses
Data analysts and scientists help companies stop guessing. They clean messy data, find patterns, build dashboards and models, and answer questions like what sold, why churn happened, and what to do next. Good data work improves pricing, marketing, operations, and strategy with evidence instead of opinions.
- Finds revenue leaks and growth opportunities
- Measures whether a change actually worked
- Replaces gut feel with evidence
Day-to-day responsibilities
- Pull data from a warehouse or spreadsheet
- Clean missing/duplicate values
- Build a chart or quick model
- Write a short insight summary
- Present findings to a stakeholder
Skills
Tools
Salary & trajectory
$70k–$90k entry · $140k+ senior
What makes a standout
- Portfolio with 2–3 real analyses
- Sports/business/ops datasets with decisions attached
- Shows metrics that changed because of your work
Real people in this path
DJ Patil (helped popularize the modern 'data scientist' role in industry) is a well-known figure tied to applied data science leadership.
Lessons
- 1
A Day in the Life
What the role actually does
- Analyst: what happened + why + what should we do
- Scientist: predict / model / experiment more deeply
- Both need clean data and clear communication
- 2
Tools & Tech Stack
Technical skills required
- SQL joins and filters
- Spreadsheet logic
- One charting tool and plain-English insights
- 3
Internship Bar
What an entry-level candidate must know
- Can answer a business question with a query + chart
- Can explain limitations of the data
- Can present insights without drowning people in jargon
- 4
Pay & Trajectory
Salary ranges and growth
- Entry base pay lands around $70k–$90k
- Senior data roles clear $140k+
- Growth path: senior analyst, data scientist, or analytics lead
- 5
What Makes a Standout
Strong candidate signals
- Portfolio with 2–3 real analyses
- Sports/business/ops datasets with decisions attached
- Shows metrics that changed because of your work