Investigation of Essential Skills for Data Analysts: An Analysis Based on LinkedIn

As the data-analysts job market grows, many colleges and universities have started offering a data analytics curriculum. However, there are potential gaps between the skills business organizations expect of data analysts and the skills universities and colleges teach their students. This study collected 2500+ data-analyst job ads posted on LinkedIn and analyzed them using distribution analysis, crosstabulation analysis, and cluster analysis. Among many findings, this study identified five most essential nontechnical skills and five most essentials areas of technical skills. In addition, of 90+ computer programs business organizations expect data analysts to use, this study identified SQL, Microsoft Excel, Tableau, Python, and Microsoft Power BI to be the five most essential computer programs for potential data analysts to master.