<p>I see many jobs titled "Data Analyst." What is it? What programming/skills do you need?</p>
<p>It depends on the industry. Data analysts are used all over the place. A financial analyst would need to make models and the like to predict future earnings; consultants may need to forecast trends in order to advise clients; the possibilities are basically endless. Generally, I would suggest being familiar with Excel and its functions. SQL, HTML4, Java and other stuff like that wouldn’t hurt, but I don’t see it as entirely necessary… many systems have big computers do the hard work for you. You just need to know what work to do.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply… is it same thing as “data mining”?</p>
<p>Not quite. You aren’t going to see too many people applying to jobs titled Data Miner! Computer systems can generate data relatively simply. It is the analysis of that data that is the hard part. Think of it this way: you can find a diamond, and it will be valuable, but once a diamond cutter refines it, your diamond is worth much more.</p>