Do you need a degree to work in Data Analytics?

7 min readAug 4, 2022

Laptop on a table with a notebook and pens

One of the most common questions I see related to a career in analytics is some variation of

Do you need a degree?
Do you need a degree in a specific subject?
Do you need an advanced degree, like a master's or Ph.D.?
Is a certificate enough to land a job?

Unfortunately, there is no single answer. It really depends on the type of role you want, the industry you’re targeting, and what else you bring to the table in terms of experience.

Read on for my perspective on the complicated answer to this question.

Experience Matters the Most

When it comes to data analytics — and many other jobs — experience matters much more than formal education. So if you already have a job and you can start incorporating data analysis into your job, you can use that as a means to learn and start practicing your skills. Once you have some real projects that demonstrate your ability to solve business problems using data — regardless of your job title — you’ll have a much easier time landing a proper data analytics job, regardless of your education.

But what if you don’t have a job? The next best thing is to do projects on your own so that you can demonstrate to employers that you have the skills listed on your resume. I suggest having at least three projects in your portfolio, and you should have at least one project to demonstrate each skill (such as SQL, Python, Tableau, etc). More projects is better because it will give you a bigger variety of examples to share during job interviews.

What if you have an unrelated degree?

Many data analytics jobs require a minimum of a bachelor's degree … but it can be in any subject. When I started my first official analytics role, the only college degree I had to my name was a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication. It was about as far from STEM as you can get. I had never even taken a statistics course. But, I was able to gain relevant data analysis experience through my prior experience working in marketing, and that experience helped me to pivot to analytics.

So, if you already have a college degree, it is possible to get an analytics job if you’re able to get some experience and demonstrate that you can use data to solve business problems. And you don’t need to enroll in a college degree program to learn those skills. (Check out my list of free learning resources.)

What if you don’t have a college degree?

The reality is, if you don’t have at least a bachelor's degree, in any subject, there are a lot of companies that might automatically reject your application. It’s not fair, but it’s the reality. If a company gets thousands of job applications for a single opening (which is the case at pretty much any large tech company), they have to cull down the list of potential candidates, and college degree or lack thereof is a common tactic to do so.

Certificates might help with some recruiters, but if it’s not a bachelor's degree or above from an accredited university, then it might not pass the filters for many companies.

How can you get around this? By having a strong professional network. (Check out my free Networking Guide, my suggestions for where to find people to network with, my networking tips for introverts, and a list of Slack & Discord communities for data analytics — great places to find people to network with.)

What if you’re a college student?

If you’re a current undergraduate student or planning to start college soon, what major should you pick to prepare for a career in analytics?

Anything quantitative or even STEM-related is good. The most directly related fields are Statistics or Math, and Computer Science. Pick one as your major and pick another as your second major or minor.

(However, I see lots of folks working in this field who majored in Business, Economics, Physics, Accounting, Finance, Engineering, and even non-quantitative or non-STEM fields, so if you’re already done with undergrad or it’s too late to change majors, you can still break into this field.)

What about undergraduate programs in Analytics or Data Science? If the curriculum includes topics in statistics and computer science, then go for it.

Do certificates matter at all?

I’ve read through a lot of opinion pieces and online conversations around certificates, such as the Google Data Analytics Certificate or the IBM Data Analyst Professional Certificate and similar ones.

The general consensus is that no single certificate in and of itself as a credential is enough to land a job. It’s not a replacement for having a degree on your resume, and there is no certificate out there that is universally viewed as teaching everything you need to know for a Data Analyst role.

However, there is some value in using a certificate as the first step in your learning journey. It can provide an introduction to the field of data analytics and start exposing you to the skills you’ll need to learn to land a Data Analyst role.

Most of the people I have met who landed an analytics job after taking a certificate program either did multiple certificate programs and/or took other courses to learn/develop additional skills and built a portfolio to demonstrate their skills and did a lot of networking and connecting with people online.

And, to be honest, most (or all) of them also had a college degree (sometimes in an unrelated field) and work experience doing something else (which helped them develop transferrable skills like problem solving, communication, etc).

What about bootcamps?

Similar to certificates, a bootcamp in and of itself is often not enough.

One criticism I’ve heard of bootcamps is while they sometimes cover a lot of content, they are so fast-paced and cover so much, that it’s hard to truly understand everything. Many folks have said towards the end, it was hard to continue to absorb what they were learning. Additionally, like certificates, it was an introduction to many topics but didn’t go in-depth enough on any of them to truly teach what you need to know for a job.

And, like certificates, the only people I know who have been able to land an analytics job after a bootcamp already had a college degree and work experience in something else.

What about advanced (master's) degrees?

While I personally do have a master's degree in data science, I will be the first to tell you that you don’t need a master's degree to land a job in analytics or data science. But, depending on your goals, it certainly can be beneficial for your career.

I always recommend getting experience first, and see how far you can go in your career. A graduate degree is expensive and time-consuming and stressful. If you’re going to do it, make sure it makes sense for your situation and is worth the sacrifice (of time and money and possibly your sanity).

When does it make sense to get a master’s degree?

If you have some data analysis experience, even in a non-data role, but you have a lot of skill gaps and aren’t able to land a more advanced role.
If you have some data analysis experience and you really enjoy this field. Because it’s going to take over your life once you’re enrolled.
If you need structure and accountability to achieve your educational goals and struggle with sticking to a self-paced learning plan.
If you want the feedback that comes with having a real, live instructor.
If you work for a company that offers tuition reimbursement or assistance, or if you’re in a country where universities aren’t ridiculously expensive, or if your degree will be fully funded.
If your undergraduate degree is not STEM-related and you feel having a STEM degree on your resume will give you more confidence. (Not saying this is necessary though.)

When do I recommend not getting a master’s degree?

If you have zero work experience. Even with an advanced degree, if you have absolutely no work experience, you will have a hard time standing out in interviews. Try to get a job — any job — to get some experience first. I recommend having at least 1–2 years of work experience before enrolling in a graduate program.

What are your goals?

When it comes to figuring out what degrees and experience you need for your dream job … start doing some research. After all, being able to solve problems and answer questions using a lot of messy information is a big part of working in data analytics, so consider this practice for your future career.

Start looking up job descriptions for your dream job. What types of degrees do they require? Or prefer? Start looking up the LinkedIn profiles of the people currently working in your dream job. What types of degrees do they have?

Also, once you identify what your plan is (certificate or graduate degree or something else), look for people on LinkedIn who completed the program you’re considering. Reach out to them and ask if they’ll answer your questions so that you can learn more about the program and if it is a good path for you.