Technology career profile
Data analyst
Finds patterns in data and explains what they mean to the people making decisions. Cleans and combines data, builds reports and charts, and answers questions with numbers.
Student snapshot
Data analysts organize information, look for patterns, and explain what the evidence can and cannot tell a team.
What the work actually involves
Clean data, build spreadsheets or dashboards, find patterns, explain insights, and help teams make decisions from evidence. Skills to notice: Arithmetic and calculation, Basic computer and smartphone use, and Data handling and spreadsheets.
A day in the life
A data analyst may ask which library category gained the most loans over four weeks. They check whether categories and dates mean the same thing, handle a missing count explicitly and choose a chart that supports the comparison. The conclusion states its limits. Entering values is data entry, while testing a question and interpreting the result is analysis.
Where this work happens
Data analysts work in businesses, government, research, healthcare, and non-profits. Data sources and decision contexts differ by team.
Who this may fit
You may enjoy asking precise questions and checking patterns without jumping to conclusions. The role includes cleaning messy data and explaining limitations.
India pathway after Class 10 and Class 12
Build a portfolio that checks data, labels units and denominators, and explains a chart’s limits. Compare spreadsheet, SQL and dashboard learning in named programmes and actual job notices. This guide does not identify a particular vendor qualification or one national entry route. Course admission, an internship and appointment as an analyst must be checked separately.
Skills to build in school
- Practise mental maths, estimates, and checking numbers.
- Use a computer or phone to organise files and finish small tasks.
- Use simple tables, charts, and checks to understand data.
- Build small programs and explain how they work.
Portfolio or evidence
- Use a small public or fictional dataset to make a chart and a short explanation.
- State the question, how you checked the data, what pattern you found, and what the data cannot prove.
- Never include private information about real people.
Reality checks
- Data analysis includes checking what a count means before making a chart.
- Two neat charts can describe different groups.
- Ask whether training includes source checks, simple reconciliation and explaining limits, alongside software demonstrations.
Career mission
Find a pattern in a library checkout table
Turn a small fictional table into a clear, limited finding.
This 15-minute paper mission helps students try a safe piece of Data analyst work through Notice, Try, and Reflect steps.
Fictional input pack
- Fictional library loans by week W1/W2/W3/W4: Science 10/12/15/18. Stories 20/22/23/25. History 8/8/10/12. Question: which category has the largest absolute increase from W1 to W4? Absolute change means subtracting counts, not dividing for a percentage.
- Notice: This is a made-up situation. You can begin without knowing this career already. Read the supplied input pack for “Find a pattern in a library checkout table”. Note the source labels, fixed details and anything left unknown.
- Try: Make a mini library-data insight note on paper. Use a quick sketch, simple labels, or a small table to show a small table, one chart, the biggest visible change, one possible explanation clearly marked as a guess, and a follow-up question. Keep the result small enough to finish in 15 minutes.
- Reflect: Check your work: the note describes only the fictional counts and does not claim why students chose books. Improve one small part, then write one thing you would like to ask someone in this career.
After your attempt: check an example
Science rises 8, Stories 5 and History 4 loans. Science has the largest absolute increase. Percentage changes answer a different question: Science 80%, Stories 25%, History 50%. Do not swap counts and percentages.
Career challenge · 12 minutes
Explain the attendance-count mismatch
Fictional event counts, 1–7 November: online registrations 80, in-room attendance 60, of whom 50 registered online. Investigate the case and produce a short work sample.
Try a fictional work situation, make decisions, and see what changes. This is for exploration, not a test or career-fit score.
Skills to compare
- Arithmetic and calculation
- Basic computer and smartphone use
- Data handling and spreadsheets
- Programming
- Working English