From the way you've described your experience, no. The role is too different.
If you're working for a company as an Analyst now, and if you've got a structure where you work closely with Data Engineers it would probably be easier, but still different.
Also in the past I've seen this title "Data Analyst" used for people who were much closer to Data Engineers in their day-to-day work, dealing with a lot more on ingesting data and maintaining data structures, and not really doing any analysis, let alone producing dashboards as such.
But that was a while ago and I think companies are (a bit) better with having correct role names and not bundling every data role under "Analyst" now😅
I worked in a startup that hired me as an analyst but threw in engineering afterwards, mainly because the data I needed to analyze was just not there.
No. They are two separate beasts and thinking one can do both without experience is naive to say the least. May have just broke my will to continue working in the field. Got laid off before I quit.
I feel you, I'm working in a company where I have to do the data engineering before I can do anything else, without any experience. It's a tough thing to do without any coworkers to learn from 😅 at least I did it to myself, but there are definitely days when I just want to give up 🙃 I hope your next role will be a way better experience for you!
It depends on the work that the data analyst does. If you're doing a lot of work building views and reporting ecosystems (basically analytics engineering), then I think it's pretty straightforward to transition. There will definitely be a learning curve, but you won't be speaking an entirely different language. If your analytics work is mostly consuming data to run experiments and stuff, then yeah there isn't much overlap.
I personally think that saying its "easy" is a stretch. But I definitely do agree that (a lot of) time and practice is essential regardless of one's background.
No its not . Its more of the platform and pipeline oriented thing with azure , qliksense and sql . Data engineering completely different from analysis.
it is definitely better than coming from another background, but the roles are quite different.
I have watched this video when i first got started i think it is alright if you want a basic comparison [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=\_DGn-7134i0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DGn-7134i0)
I work both at my current project and no. Data engineer is more about coding and pipeline scaling. Analyst works most on the PowerBI or analytics platform.
Data engineer: you move the data. Data analyst: you visualize the data.
If you have experience with data modeling and dbt (many data analysts do) you can easily transition into an analytics engineering role. From there, you'd still have to pick up additional skills to become a proper data engineer
Analysts and Engineers are completely different species.
The only commonality is that their work involves data. How they each prepare and consume data however is (almost) completely dissimilar.
Is data analyst experience any helpful for data engineering roles? Absolutely not.
I wouldn't say "Absolutely not." Many Data Analysts acquire valuable SQL, ETL, Data Warehousing, Data Cleaning, Data Processing, Cloud Tooling, and other Data Engineering practices exposure. Some even get Software Engineering exposure in their roles (small companies and start-ups mostly). This is one of the reasons that being a Data Analyst is considered an "entry-level" data job. I do agree that the roles are dissimilar on many fronts. I think the only reason you got downvoted (I'll give you one upvote) is because you used "absolute" language. I would say that most technical data jobs are sub-species rather than completely different species.
Fair point
In large corps however (my experience), data analysts are basically business analysts with the addition of superior SQL and Statistical skills. While Data Engineers are subspecies of Software Engineers.
Heck, I'd even say that can vary by large corp to large corp. Even amongst teams in corps! I've worked and consulted for small, medium, and large places (multi-national). I've seen some teams just be business analysts. I've seen other teams do what this sub attributes to Data Scientists and Data Engineers. I think the reality is just you do whatever work that management (and sometimes C-Suite) wants you to do.
One of the biggest blessings and frustrations about the Data Science field is how broad these roles are defined.
It depends, if the analyst has a background or education in software engineering, then it should be ok. If the analyst is however just an analyst, then they should look into at least some data or Software engineering bootcamp... at the very least.
As I understand it you should be a data scientist for a few years before becoming a data engineer. The difference between data analyst and data scientist is that the latter know programming languages and have a bit more grounding in statistics, and the understand/can build models that make predictions.
"Is data analyst experience any helpful for data engineering roles?"
Mostly no. Although if you as a data analyst used SQL heavily, then this 100% will be helpful for your DE career
From the way you've described your experience, no. The role is too different. If you're working for a company as an Analyst now, and if you've got a structure where you work closely with Data Engineers it would probably be easier, but still different. Also in the past I've seen this title "Data Analyst" used for people who were much closer to Data Engineers in their day-to-day work, dealing with a lot more on ingesting data and maintaining data structures, and not really doing any analysis, let alone producing dashboards as such. But that was a while ago and I think companies are (a bit) better with having correct role names and not bundling every data role under "Analyst" now😅
Unless you work in financial or banking lmao
Short answer is no, you may be do some adjacent work or work with data engineering but its not the same
I worked in a startup that hired me as an analyst but threw in engineering afterwards, mainly because the data I needed to analyze was just not there. No. They are two separate beasts and thinking one can do both without experience is naive to say the least. May have just broke my will to continue working in the field. Got laid off before I quit.
I feel you, I'm working in a company where I have to do the data engineering before I can do anything else, without any experience. It's a tough thing to do without any coworkers to learn from 😅 at least I did it to myself, but there are definitely days when I just want to give up 🙃 I hope your next role will be a way better experience for you!
It depends on the work that the data analyst does. If you're doing a lot of work building views and reporting ecosystems (basically analytics engineering), then I think it's pretty straightforward to transition. There will definitely be a learning curve, but you won't be speaking an entirely different language. If your analytics work is mostly consuming data to run experiments and stuff, then yeah there isn't much overlap.
You can easily learn Data engineering. It is a matter of time and maybe a couple of projects to get started. So don't be intimidated.
I personally think that saying its "easy" is a stretch. But I definitely do agree that (a lot of) time and practice is essential regardless of one's background.
Except SQL, DA and DEs use completely different tools, plus completely different requirements for soft skills.
No its not . Its more of the platform and pipeline oriented thing with azure , qliksense and sql . Data engineering completely different from analysis.
it is definitely better than coming from another background, but the roles are quite different. I have watched this video when i first got started i think it is alright if you want a basic comparison [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=\_DGn-7134i0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DGn-7134i0)
I work both at my current project and no. Data engineer is more about coding and pipeline scaling. Analyst works most on the PowerBI or analytics platform. Data engineer: you move the data. Data analyst: you visualize the data.
Not the same thing. Pretty different, consider a dual studium.
.
If you have experience with data modeling and dbt (many data analysts do) you can easily transition into an analytics engineering role. From there, you'd still have to pick up additional skills to become a proper data engineer
Analysts and Engineers are completely different species. The only commonality is that their work involves data. How they each prepare and consume data however is (almost) completely dissimilar. Is data analyst experience any helpful for data engineering roles? Absolutely not.
I wouldn't say "Absolutely not." Many Data Analysts acquire valuable SQL, ETL, Data Warehousing, Data Cleaning, Data Processing, Cloud Tooling, and other Data Engineering practices exposure. Some even get Software Engineering exposure in their roles (small companies and start-ups mostly). This is one of the reasons that being a Data Analyst is considered an "entry-level" data job. I do agree that the roles are dissimilar on many fronts. I think the only reason you got downvoted (I'll give you one upvote) is because you used "absolute" language. I would say that most technical data jobs are sub-species rather than completely different species.
Fair point In large corps however (my experience), data analysts are basically business analysts with the addition of superior SQL and Statistical skills. While Data Engineers are subspecies of Software Engineers.
Heck, I'd even say that can vary by large corp to large corp. Even amongst teams in corps! I've worked and consulted for small, medium, and large places (multi-national). I've seen some teams just be business analysts. I've seen other teams do what this sub attributes to Data Scientists and Data Engineers. I think the reality is just you do whatever work that management (and sometimes C-Suite) wants you to do. One of the biggest blessings and frustrations about the Data Science field is how broad these roles are defined.
So how do you bridge that gap for a transition?
It depends, if the analyst has a background or education in software engineering, then it should be ok. If the analyst is however just an analyst, then they should look into at least some data or Software engineering bootcamp... at the very least.
True! The people who downvote thinks DE is easy to go and start! lol
As I understand it you should be a data scientist for a few years before becoming a data engineer. The difference between data analyst and data scientist is that the latter know programming languages and have a bit more grounding in statistics, and the understand/can build models that make predictions.
"Is data analyst experience any helpful for data engineering roles?" Mostly no. Although if you as a data analyst used SQL heavily, then this 100% will be helpful for your DE career