Data Analyst Portfolio Website Guide & Tips

Creating a portfolio website is a great way to showcase your data analytics skills to employers. This article will explore some tips for doing so, as well as elements to include in your online data analytics profile.

What is a Data Analyst Portfolio?

If you’re in the market for a job in data analytics, most employers will ask to see your resume and professional portfolio. That’s why it’s essential to have an engaging, well-rounded portfolio available to highlight your relevant work experience, technical training, and background working with data. Because data analytics is a hands-on profession, most employers want to see evidence that extends beyond the summaries in your resume to demonstrate your skills and qualifications. While some choose to display their talents on paper, creating a website that houses your portfolio is becoming increasingly common.

An online portfolio has many benefits. Instead of having to physically deliver your portfolio to various employers or email them links to previous projects and risk formatting inconsistencies, establishing a website to display your data analytics experience is an accessible alternative that ensures anyone with the link can see your work in the format you intended. In addition, an online-based portfolio affords options a print version can’t, such as hyperlinks, visuals, or short videos that would be difficult to include in print.

What Should Your Data Analyst Portfolio Website Include?

While there isn’t one “right” way to structure your data analytics website portfolio, there are some standard components that will convey your passion for working with data and demonstrate to employers that you have a language with which to talk about your experience and training. The following are some sections and information to consider including in your online data analytics portfolio:

• A narrative thread. Because of the central role storytelling plays in data analytics, using storytelling elements in your online portfolio will show employers that you already have this skill. A basic storyline can help you bring together facts, figures, and findings and to present them in a way that even those from a non-technical background can understand. In addition, presenting your work experience, technical training, and skillset with a narrative backbone illustrates your ability to succinctly and clearly articulate your analytics process using examples and prior work, which likely will resonate with audience members.

• A central focus. While it’s common to include a variety of professional experiences and examples in a data analytics portfolio, keep in mind that they should all be in service of showcasing those a potential employer will value most, such as data visualization or data wrangling.

• A personality. Even when demonstrating your professional accomplishments, a strong data analytics portfolio also gives you the chance to let your personality peek through. While your resume will contain the bare facts, your portfolio is a great opportunity to provide glimpses into your style. Consider adding touches like graphics, images, or videos on your website, as well as a writing style that is engaging, active, and clear.

• Examples of your best work. There’s no need to include every data-related project you’ve completed in your online profile. Instead, focus on two or three that best showcase your skills. Some examples you may consider including are:

• Projects that show off your critical thinking skills. Critical thinking is crucial to being a successful Data Analyst. It’s therefore important to demonstrate to employers that you can evaluate a situation, consider a variety of choices, and arrive at a viable solution. For this reason, it’s a good idea to include specific examples demonstrating that you have used critical thinking in past work experiences to arrive at reasonable solutions to business problems.

• Examples that illustrate you have improved efficiency at other organizations. If you have been involved with any projects that improved an organization’s performance, make sure to include these. Some examples are projects that helped an organization retain employees, run more smoothly, or perform greener initiatives.

• Work that shows that you saved money for the organization. In addition to critical thinking and improved efficiency, employers are also interested in seeing examples of how you saved an organization money. If you have specific examples of work you did at previous jobs to cut costs, make sure it is a central component of your portfolio.

• Visual elements. In addition to the role of storytelling in the data analytics process, incorporating visual components into storytelling is another industry-standard skill. The odds are potential employers will seek out candidates with a background in data visualization for open positions, so why not show them that you can weave images into your portfolio? Carefully select images to include that will not only engage your audience but also provide them with a means to experience firsthand the insights you were able to take from past data projects. You may consider adding visual elements like graphs, charts, logos, or representative images of people or groups that relate to the data. In addition, since talent scouts likely will only spend a few seconds viewing your portfolio, you can also use visual elements to your advantage to guide their eye to the most critical components. Consider using visual aids such as consistent, specific headings, bullet points, and scannable topic sentences at the start of each paragraph.

• Testimonials. Collecting quotes from previous employers, clients, professors, or former colleagues can indicate that you contributed in a meaningful and specific way to prior data analytics jobs. If you can get a few short quotes to vouch for your past work experiences, these are a great addition to a portfolio website.

• An “About Me” page. A great way to let your personality show in your data analytics portfolio is to consider including an “About Me” page. This provides you with a chance to briefly introduce yourself, as well as to discuss why you are interested in data analytics. A strong “About Me” page may also include a call-to-action at the end, similar to a cover letter, that invites the reader to contact you over email or the phone if they want to learn more about what services you can provide or are interested in interviewing you.

Enroll in Hands-On Classes to Learn More About Data Analytics

Learning data analytics can open professional doors and lead to upward career mobility. If you want to study how to analyze and visualize data, Noble Desktop’s Python for Data Science Bootcamp is a great option. This intensive, 30-hour course covers core Python skills that are useful for the data sciences, such as an overview of the various data types and how to create data visualizations. Noble also offers an 18-hour SQL Bootcamp in which students learn how to filter data, write SQL queries, and gather insights from data.

For those looking to learn specifically about data analytics, courses such as the Data Analytics Certificate or Data Analytics Technologies Bootcamp are available in-person in NYC, as well as in the live online format. These rigorous learning options cover core data analysis tools like SQL, Excel, and Tableau.

If you’re searching for learning options close to home, a helpful resource for finding live online or in-person data analytic courses is Noble’s Classes Near Me tool. More than 340 courses are currently listed by Noble and other top educational providers in topics such as data visualization and data analytics, among others.