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Business intelligence jobs

There are a wide variety of careers in business intelligence—enough to provide a unique fit for even the most diverse skills, levels of experience, and interests. Some divisions within a company that may require a business intelligence analyst, business intelligence developer, or business intelligence manager include operations, planning, product development, and strategic management. And since data science has applications in every industry, it’s possible to become a business intelligence analyst in a variety of settings ranging from big cities to rural areas. 

Become a business intelligence analyst

Business intelligence careers take many forms. Some people who have careers in business intelligence are much more like data scientists than others. Their jobs may range from data management to machine learning, which entails developing algorithms that use historical data to anticipate trends, opportunities, set-backs, etc.Footnote 4 Others may be more involved with the business side of things, interacting with decision-makers regularly and engaging in real-world problem-solving, as opposed to strictly data-related problem-solving, such as improving the algorithms used to create predictive analytics. However, some positions are a mix of both providing predictive analytics to decision-makers and using predictive analytics to inform real-world problem-solving with decision-makers.

Software like Microsoft’s Power BI has made creating predictive analytics more accessible to individuals who don’t have a graduate certificate in data science by allowing them to create visualizations from various data sources.Footnote 5 As a result, to become a business intelligence analyst one may follow the route of taking an online business intelligence course supplemented by online tutorials or analytics boot camps rather than getting a degree. Still, others begin their professional journey completing a bachelor’s degree program and later earning a master’s degree in a relevant field of study or one that aligns with their interests and preferred industry. 

Although some jobs are more demanding than others and require more education, ultimately, in the same way data can be used to make numerous business decisions, data can also create room for several business intelligence careers.