Data isn’t just another small, four-letter word anymore. Instead, it has become something much more complex and is the epicenter of thriving businesses.
Data is a collection of facts. This collection of facts will only make sense when they are put in a comprehensive order, contextually. A data analyst efficiently performs this task.
If you are planning on building your career in the field of data, then here are 15 quotes that you must read and learn from.
But before heading into them, you should be aware of the skills required from a data analyst and how a data analyst certification can help you improve your abilities and landing the right job.
15 Quotes A Budding Data Analyst Should Keep In Mind
“Data scientists are involved in gathering data, massaging it into a tractable form, making it tell its story, and presenting that story to others.” – Mike Loukides, editor, O’Reilly Media.
First, Mike Loukides clearly explains the requirements and expectations of you as a data scientist or a data analyst. These are a few things that you must learn and become a master of.
“You can have data without information, but you cannot have information without data.” – Daniel Keys Moran, American computer programmer and science fiction writer.
Writers and programmers are the best people from whom you can learn that the information that you want to convey to your audience will be impossible to construct without data.
“I never guess. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts” – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, British Writer.
In this quote, the writer of Sherlock Holmes himself stresses the importance of facts and data.
“Information is the oil of the 21st century, and analytics is the combustion engine” – Peter Sondergaard, former Senior Vice President, Gartner.
Peter Sondergaard has made the perfect analogy here by saying that the data and information are like the oil or lubricants, which are responsible for the smooth functioning of the analytics industry.
“Data is a precious thing and will last longer than the systems themselves.” – Tim Berners-Lee, Inventor of the World Wide Web.
One of the sources of data and information is the internet. So take the word from the founder of the World Wide Web (WWW) himself on how vital data is and will always be.
“The goal is to turn data into information, and information into insight.” – Carly Fiorina, ex CEO of Hewlett-Packard (HP)
Even companies like Hewlett-Packard (HP) know that insight or understanding the product and services is key for their business, and this insight can only be attained with the help of data.
“There were 5 exabytes of information created between the dawn of civilization through 2003, but that much information is now created every two days.” – Eric Schmidt, former Executive Chairman of Google.
Just to make it clear, 1 Exabyte is equal to 1 billion Gigabytes. This is the magnitude of data that is generated in the current age. This also shows how big a role a data analyst plays in curating and organizing the data.
“I keep saying that the sexy job in the next 10 years will be statisticians, and I’m not kidding.” – Hal Varian, Chief Economist at Google.
Although this statement was made a little over 10 years ago, it still stands true and will continue to stand true as long as data exists. If you are still skeptical, then have a look at the average data analyst salary per year in the current times.
“Data are becoming the new raw material of business.” – Craig Mundie, Senior Advisor to the CEO at Microsoft.
The above quote proves that without data, nothing can be made possible today.
“Some of the best theorizing comes after collecting data because then you become aware of another reality.” – Robert J. Shiller, Economics Nobel Prize Winner.
Well collected and organized data helps the people in getting their facts and theories right. This is where you, as a data analyst, play a big role.
“We should teach our students, as well as the executives, how to examine data, how to conduct experiments and how to use these tools to make better decisions.” – Dan Ariely, Researcher.
With the amount of data out there, Dan Ariely says that it has become critical to teach everyone how to handle and examine data effectively.
“Numbers have an important story to tell. They rely on you to give them a voice.” – Stephen Few, author and data visualization expert.
Experts from the field also believe that data is essential, but what is even more essential is a data analyst who can put this data in order so that it makes sense and can be easily understood by others.
“Marketing without data is like driving with your eyes closed.” – Dan Zarrella, author, and award-winning social media scientist.
For a company to efficiently sell their products and gain lifelong customers, data is very important. Dan Zarrella says that without this, selling your products and services is equivalent to driving your car with your eyes shut.
“Data that sit unused are no different from data that were never collected in the first place.” – Doug Fisher, Professor.
The importance of using and organizing data is stressed upon, as unused data you have is as good as the data you don’t have.
“Learning from data is virtually universally useful. Master it, and you will be welcomed anywhere.” – John Elder, Elder Research.
Data is used in every industry. If you have the skill and the ability to learn and manage data, you will be an indispensable asset to any company.
Conclusion
Just having a quick look over the quotes listed above shows the importance of data and the fact that data generation is growing exponentially. Thus opportunities for you as a data analyst will never dry up.
Do your spadework, improve your skills, and head out there and grab all the opportunities with open hands!
