How to Make a Resume for Data Analyst
The Layout of Data Analyst Resume
Having a proper layout would make your life easy when you start writing it. Just imagine you are trying to put together your 5 years of experience together with 10 years of schooling on a one-sided paper.
A layout would also increase the clarity of the information you present which is what your hiring manager expects as they probably are busy people.
Each word and phrase in your resume should answer one question:
“Is it here for a good reason?”
Anything that doesn't have a proper answer for that question should not get a place in your data analyst resume.
Remember, your space is precious!
We recommend the following layout for the data analyst resume,
- Header with your name and contact details
- Professional summary
- Work experience
- Project experience
- Education
- Skills
- Softwares and certifications
Based on whether you are creating a data analyst resume for a senior role or an entry-level position, you may modify your resume layout.
For example, a senior data analyst resume will have the work and project experience on top compared to an entry level data analyst resume having the education section on top.
A senior data analyst resume could even skip the professional summary and use that space to showcase another important project, whereas, in a junior data analyst resume, the applicant can use the professional summary section as their sales pitch to grab the attention of the HR manager.
Structure of Data Analyst Resume Examples
When you write any resume, you need to first define the structure you are going to use and you need to be consistent throughout.
For a Data Analytics resume, we recommend you use the Reverse Chronological Order for your content. In this, your work history, education summary, or anything that follows a list would be presented by beginning with the most recent.
For instance, when writing your work history section, you should start with your most recent position and proceed backward.
This is so important in your data analyst resume as the HR manager typically doesn't spend more than 6-10 seconds on your resume and you need to showcase your latest experience to get your resume shortlisted.
Job Description for Data Analyst Resume Examples
The following bullet points explain a general job description for a data analyst,
- Use computerized systems to extract and collect data
- Perform initial assessment for data quality
- Remove erroneous data
- Analyze data, creating data sets, and identifying trends
- Prepare reports
However, you need to carefully analyze the job descriptions of each job when applying as they would notify the specific requirements such as the tools and the techniques they practice to see whether you are familiar with them.
For instance, a typical data analyst job description would include the following industry terms;
- Programming languages such as SQL, Oracle, and Python
- Regression analysis
- Excel, Microsoft 360
- Minitab, Tableau, Google analytics, SAS enterprise
When you are writing strong data analyst resumes, you need to include these keywords that they mention in their data analyst job description.
That way your data analyst resumes will easily be picked by the hiring managers. Further, these data-oriented organizations typically use an applicant tracking system to shortlist which will scan the relevant keywords in your resume.
Start with the Header of the Resumes for Data Analyst
This is where your data analyst resume will start. Do not waste space by making your header a “biodata”. Write only the relevant information.
Example of a head
Refer this to present your header with contact details,
CORRECTPaul Williams
Senior Data Analyst
paulwilliams@gmail.com
+1 265 76 83 76
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul
INCORRECTSenior Data Analyst
Paul Williams
paullovechristy@gmail.com
+1 265 76 83 76
101, main street, apt 102,
Washington DC
USA
Here is a few incorrect approaches that applicants typically use in their headers.
- Start of the header: You should always start your header with your name. Modern resumes have given no exception for this.
- Email: Try as much as possible to use an email address that sounds professional. If your current email address does not sound professional, you can always create a new email to send your resumes.
- Physical Address: You do not have to mention your physical address in your resume. The world is changing. People don’t stay in one place and recruiters know that. However, if you are applying for overseas data analyst jobs, you may need to mention your country of residence.
- LinkedIn Profile: Mentioning your Linkedin profile would be a great addition to your header when you are applying for a data analyst position. Though the hiring manager would not click on the link, it would be a valuable addition to a great data analyst resume.
However, you should make sure that your Linkedin profile is fully optimized before putting the link.
Professional summary/profile
The question is, do you need a professional resume summary for your data analyst resumes?
There’s no right or wrong answer. However, ask yourself, ‘does the data analyst resume summary add value to your profile as a data analyst?’
You need to be very careful with the utilization of space on your resume. Because you are using that valuable space which could have presented another great project you carried out. However, for an entry level data analyst resume, this would be different.
However, if you include a professional summary, it should represent yourself, your objectives, and the main reason why you are a great hire.
Data Analyst Resume Summary Examples
Here is an example of your resume objective if you are applying for a senior data analyst position.
INCORRECTWorked in the retail sector as a data analyst for 5 years and played a massive role in increasing their revenue.
CORRECTA process-oriented and data-driven analyst with 5+ years of retail experience, achieved a 20% year-on-year increase of sales through customer behavior analysis, now looking for an opportunity in the banking sector.
Here is an example of your resume objective if you are applying for an entry-level data analyst position.
INCORRECTA college graduate whose passion is analyzing data and always wanted to work for a data analysis position in the banking sector looking for opportunities in data analyst roles.
CORRECTA college graduate who lives and breathes numbers, seeking an opportunity in the banking sector to leverage data analytics skills and improve corporate performance.
Here is an example of your resume objective if you are undergoing a career change to be a data analyst
INCORRECTA system technician with 5+ years of experience in a reputed IT company changing my career to work as a data analyst.
CORRECTWith 5+ years of system technician experience, I am now looking to leverage my expertise in data analytics to be a significant contributor to the success of a retail corporation through my passion and analytical skill.
Work Experience in the Resumes for Data Analyst
As mentioned early, it’s very important to write this section of your data analyst resume in reverse chronological order. It gives the hiring manager easy access to your latest experience which is what they are looking for.
Write to the point. Use concise bullet points to showcase detailed experience in each of your previous positions.
Use numbers as much as possible. Quantifying your experience can lift your resume to the top 5% of the applicants. Numbers are a way to convince the hiring managers that you are a “data-driven” candidate.
Here is an example
Examples of professional experiences for Data Analyst Resume
INCORRECTAug 2015 to Present
XYZ LLC
-
- Used data analysis to optimize the company website
Created reports for the management to make decisions
Use this section to make your resume stand out from the other applicants. For a senior data analyst role, you should list down a few specific projects that you were involved in your previous positions.
These are things hiring managers would come back to check if they get to decide between a few candidates even in the final rounds of interviews.
Be specific about the project, your contribution to it, and the outcomes. Do not go into details as these are the areas the interviewer would examine from you in the first interview. Let them be curious about the project.
Also, use numbers as that will save you space and communicate your idea effectively.
INCORRECTWorked in data analyst roles for few projects including project ABC from June 2017 to Dec 2017
-
- We carried out this project to analyze personal data of customers and the customer journey on our main sales funnel
With the data findings, we could optimize the e-commerce platform to achieve drastic improvements
CORRECTWorked as the data analyst for project ABC from June 2017 to Dec 2017
Project objective: To identify the customer journey through the Google Adwords sales funnel and optimize it Process: Analysed the data of 5000+ customers’ journey on the sales funnel Results:-
- Used the analysis to identify the possible improvements and programming using Python
Increased conversions by 20% and Google Adwords ROI by a staggering 30%
Education in the Resumes for Data Analyst
Most companies request certain academic or professional qualifications for data analyst positions.
They typically advertise those educational qualifications in the job advertisement.
The education section will take up more space on your resume if you are applying for an entry-level position as a beginner. Similarly, if the position is a senior one, the space allocation for the education section should be reduced and that additional space should be used to showcase your experience.
Most data analysis positions require a bachelor’s degree and senior positions require a master's degree or other professional qualifications including specific academic courses.
If you are applying for an entry-level position, your education section should come before your experience as you may not have much experience to write about.
When listing down your education, use the following bullet points,
Start with your degree type and the majorEg: Bachelor’s degree in business administration, Master’s in data analytics
University or institution and the locationEg: Stanford University, CA
Honors, awards, or any other special achievements. You can also mention your GPA if it’s greater than 3.0Master in Data Analytics, 2009-2011
GPA - 3.8/4
Standord UniversityBachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, 2007-2009
GPA - 3.8/4
Skills to put in the Resume for Data Analyst
Data analysts need quite a few hard and soft skills to be successful in their careers. Data analytical skills, creative thinking, math skills, and attention to detail are some of those skills.
Most data analysts fill their skills sections with these words. However, adding these data analyst skills in a general context does not add any value to your data analyst application.
HR managers who go through your data analyst resume already know that data analysts possess these soft skills.
So do they believe you when you mention that in your resume?
Probably not. The best thing you can do to show these skills in your data analyst resume is to reflect them throughout your resume by incorporating the numbers and the work you carried out in your previous data analyst role.
Use work experience, projects, and education sections to reflect your analytical skill, math skill, and creative thinking.
Soft Skills
- Creative thinking
- Analytical skill
- Math skill
- Attention to detail
- Technical skills
- Problem-solving
- Business intelligence
- Interpreting data
Hard Skills
- Big data and data mining
- Data visualization and reporting with Excel, Tableau
- Programming language skill: SQL and Python
- Regression analysis
- Advanced statistical analysis models
Yes, this is what you should do in your skills section. Be specific about the skills you possess. Don’t waste your precious resume space to talk about vague skills.
What are the main skills sought for a Data Analyst Resume
Anyone applying for a data analyst job is a math genius, programming whiz, creative thinker, and problem solver.
One thing only the top 5% of the applicants possess is clear technical skills certifications to showcase in the resume.
There are certain technical skills that you can acquire through data analyst skills certification programs.
These certifications would surely make your data analyst resume stand out from the rest.
I will list down a few popular certification programs for data analysts in the market. At Least try to get one key certification in your data analyst resume and I guarantee that this will increase your interview conversion rate by 80% or more.
Top 5 data analysts skill certifications in the world
- Data analyst associate certification by Microsoft
- Data science certification course by Columbia university
- CCA data analyst
- IBM data analyst professional certificate
- Amazon AWS certified big data
Frequently Asked Questions
What should a data analyst put on resume?
You need to put in all the fundamental structure of a resume:
- Title
- Professional summary
- Work experience
- Project experience
- Education
- Skills
- Softwares and certifications
We recommend scanning the job advert for keywords and make sure your emphasise these skills on your resume.
What are top 3 skills for data analyst?
Although there are many skills a data analyst requires, some of the most important skills that data analysts need is skills they can crunch and analyse data with, such as SQL, Microsoft Excel and a soft skill: Critical Thinking.
How do you list skills on a resume for data analyst?
List your skills in order of importance. A bullet point list is a great way to draw attention to your all important skills.
How do I add experience to my data analyst resume?
List your most recent experiences first, and then in date order in reverse chronological order
CORRECTAug 2015 to Present
XYZ LLC
-
- Optimization of the main landing page using SQL resulted in a 15% increase in sales
