On this page, you will learn which are the best business intelligence analyst skills used in a resume and interview questions and which are key BI duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required in a job description.
Successful business intelligence analyst career path needs a wide range of abilities, qualities, and tools. We probably don’t need to tell you that business intelligence is one of the high-paying jobs with a competitive average salary. But becoming a good business intelligence analyst needs your skills and knowledge to be rock solid.
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What is business intelligence?
It is one of the most important processes that plays a key role in the strategic planning process. It includes all actions and tools for gathering and analyzing different types of business data. The final goal is to help business managers to make better and informed decisions.
Business intelligence analyst duties and responsibilities vary with the field and size of the company. Generally, business intelligence is mostly used in fields such as market research and segmentation, statistical analysis, distribution analysis, sales revenue by products, customer support and more.
A list of best business intelligence analyst skills you need for a successful career.
Strong Analytical Skills
We are not exaggerating when we say that strong analytical skills are absolutely crucial for every business intelligence analyst.
Analytical skills help you to gather information and solve complex problems. If you want to be successful in you career and especially if you want your manager to trust you, you have to possess well-developed analytical thinking skills and abilities.
Good analytical skills and thinking include the ability to break down a series of complex data and bits of information, to view and analyze different situations from a very logical perspective, to develop an overall conclusion, and to find solutions for problems of advanced complexity.
As any other type of business skills, analytical skills can be developed with time and practice.
Numeracy Skills
Most of the business intelligence analysts are technically-oriented people and possess good numeracy skills.
Numeracy skills are basic mathematical skills that include a range of abilities to understand and analyse numerical information and to make the right conclusions and decisions.
They also include the ability to express ideas and situations using numerical or mathematical information.
To have numeracy skills doesn’t mean to be a great mathematician. It means to have some basic math skills plus some analytical thinking.
Main numeracy skills are:
- knowledge of numbers and figures;
- understanding relationships between numbers;
- interpreting mathematical information;
- ability to remember;
- visual perception of information;
- ability to organize information,
- argumentation and logical thinking;
- calculation skills;
- understanding trends;
- scheduling or budgeting;
- working with graphical information.
Attention to detail skills
They are among the best and most required business intelligence analyst skillstoo. If you are not a detail oriented person, there are many ways to improve your attention to detail skills.
What is attention to detail? To pay attention means to focus on an action or thing. In the business aspect, attention to detail definition includes the ability to concentrate on a task.
As a business intelligence analyst, you have to be able to look deeply into the information you has. If you are not a detail oriented person, there is a possibility to miss something important for the specific business situation. That may have a very negative and sometimes dramatic effect on a business problem.
So, being observant with attention to detail is one of the crucial abilities needed.
Knowledge And Ability To Work With Specific Software
In this category, the most important ability is to work with SQL. If you are not good enough with SQL, there are a wide range of free SQL tutorials and lessons available on the Internet.
Other important programs you have to be familiar with are Oracle, Tableau, Microsoft Power BI or IBM Cognos. If you consider yourself as a professional in the field of business intelligence, it means you have at least the basic knowledge of two or three of these software programs.
Other important programs you have to be familiar with are Oracle, Tableau, Microsoft Power BI or IBM Cognos. If you consider yourself as a professional in the field of business intelligence, it means you have at least the basic knowledge of 2 or 3 of these software programs.
In addition to these skills, you have to possess computer skills such as a great ability to work with MS Office, Excel and Access.
Business intelligence software helps companies to gain and analyze a huge amount of data and information. Good knowledge and ability to work with specific software is among the most valuable business intelligence analyst skills.
Organization and Time Management Skills
Time management skills are among the best business intelligence analyst skills too.
There are so many benefits to knowing how to improve your time management skills and to organize your time. The ability to organize your time and work is vital for every successful business intelligence analyst.
Nowadays, in this hectic lifestyle we are always busy. So it is crucial to learn tips, techniques, and examples to improve our time management skills in the most effective way.
Some of the best time management skills examples, tips, and techniques are:
- Set goals;
- Prioritize your goals;
- Create a schedule;
- Start your day early;
- Use optimization tools;
- Make lists;
- Break large tasks into smaller tasks;
- Balance work and leisure.
Business Intelligence Analyst Duties
Business intelligence analyst duties vary with the size of the company and business field, but here is a list of most common of them:
- Design and produce reports on a weekly/monthly/quarterly basis.
- Complete different data analysis projects in order to support various company activities and plans.
- Develop programs, methodologies, and files for analyzing and presenting different types of data.
- Identify and define information needs requirements for BI projects.
- Synthesize complex information into concise, readable written requirements at multiple levels of detail.
- Profile and understand various client data.
- Translate information needs requirements into functional specifications.
- Locate new process improvement opportunities.
- Develop, test, and implement data driven (SQL) reports.
- Create report documentation.
- Work closely with Department Managers and Account Developers.
- Research data for use in monitoring and reporting.