Review - Is IBM Data Analyst Professional Certificate On Coursera Worth it?

Many people think that the concept of data analytics is new. Still actually, humans were using analytics since the 19th century and maybe even before. Still, it got more popular in 1960 when people start using computers but nowadays are used in every company and sting are millions in the job listing websites across the globe. Many people think that you need a university degree to get a data analyst job. Still, you can now access many different online courses to gain the skills needed for this position, but some of you will be confused about what course you should get. My advice to you is this IBM Data Analyst Professional Certificate program offered by IBM.

Is IBM Data Analyst Professional Certificate On Coursera Worth it?

Now that we know that its possible to become a Data Analyst online with much less cost and comfort of your home, let's review this course to find out whether it's right for you or not 

1. The Instructors Review

 data analysis specialization created by 9 professional workers in the IBM company, and they are all in a great position as data scientists and data analyzers, so when you enroll in the program, you will learn from people who have solid experience in this field and all information are true compared to the other courses offered from just amateurs.

2. Course Content

2.1. Introduction to Data Analytics

You will start learning by what are the data analyst job and the different types of data analysts. Then, you will learn the different types of data structure and file formats and different types of data repositories like databases and warehouses. Also, you will learn how to identify, gather and import data from different sources and visualize them.

2.2. Excel Basics for Data Analysis

The excel spreadsheet is one of the most used applications for performing data analysis, and you will gain some knowledge of using this software and navigate through its options. Then you will learn to perform the basic tasks such as entering and viewing data and how to import data from different resources. Finally, some of the built-in functions are used inside the excel software.

2.3. Data Visualization and Dashboards with Excel and Cognos

This section will teach you to use excel for making data visualization like basic charts and pivot tables visualization. Then you will learn to create more advanced charts like scatter plots and histograms and learn the basics of the dashboard. Finally, you will learn to use another analytic tool called Cognos analytics and explore its options.

2.4. Python for Data Science, AI & Development

Starting with the basics of the python programming languages like data types and how to store values inside a variable and store multiple values inside one variable, known as tuples, lists, dictionaries, and sets. Later, you will see the for loops, how to iterate over items, work with files and data, and use the API and web scraping.

2.5. Python Project for Data Science

This section relies on the previous ones. You have to understand python language to demonstrate your knowledge in this language and create a program that extracts stock data using different Python libraries with Jupyter Notebook.

2.6. Databases and SQL for Data Science with Python

Learn the basics of the SQL language used to pull data from a database and explore the concepts behind databases in general and the relationships of different tables inside the database. Next, you will learn how to apply advanced queries for searching inside the database and accessing the database using the python language.

2.7. Data Analysis with Python

This is the most fun part where you will learn how to analyze data using python, which is the purpose of this whole program. Data analysis with python involves using different libraries such as numpy for mathematical calculation, pandas for importing and working with data, and scipy for applying machine learning algorithms to your data.

2.8. Data Visualization with Python

Starting by learning how to use the matplotlib library to visualize data and creating different plots such as area plots, histograms, pie charts, and more. You will also see some advanced visualization such as waffle charts and how to create them and learn other visualization libraries like seaborn and Folium.

2.9. IBM Data Analyst Capstone Project

This final section will require you to apply what you’ve learned in the previous courses to solve a real-world problem using python and data analytics skills, and the will assume that you have recently joined the organization and started your journey in this field so you will get a real world experience before applying to a position of a data analyst.

Conclusion

Data analysis is more than just taking one course and call yourself a data analyst. Many companies require you to have more skills than what you’ve learned in this program, like statistics and using the R language for data analysis, so you have to learn more before applying for that position.