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Several of my friends had asked it before and continue to ask if they can switch their careers to "Data Analytics". It may be because initially they were interested in Sales or some other department and then they were fed up with the work or maybe because of the salaries.

For several years now, salaries of regular posts have started to see some decline, especially in Sales, this is because most of the sales are now done through online modes, because of which there has been more competition for all the sales employees that get a job in the initial stages.

If you are also someone who is fed up with your job in Sales or in HR, this answer will clear your doubts about switching your career to "Data Analytics".

I would not take much time and explain what Data Analytics as a subject is because that will take us to a different tangent altogether, but to make it simple for you - YES YOU CAN SWITCH YOUR CAREER TO DATA ANALYTICS.

This is because Data Analytics is just understanding the data and exploring insights using the data that is with you. You would have done it in your Sales or HR jobs as well while creating your Presentations or while giving the Sales or Attrition Reports to your management.

It's the same analysis but with the help of some sophisticated tools.

So, how can you switch your career to Data Analytics?
One of the best ways will be to get a certification in "Data Analytics" from some institute or some online courses because they will be able to handhold you whenever needed. This will also make you more confident in the tools that you may be using.

Having said that, you can still learn Data Analytics without any course at all, and that is possible by following below steps:

1. Start learning Advance Excel:
   If you really want to join an organization as a Data Analyst, you should be confident in using Excel. It should be your go-to software to exploit all the loopholes and formulas. There shouldn't be any corner of Excel that you don't have explored. This you can do by checking out videos or searching for articles that can help you understand various formulas.
   
   Then you should practice using those formulas in Excel spreadsheets using some dummy data. This is important to hone your skills in advance Excel. This should include, VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, INDEX, MATCH, IF, NESTED IFS, etc. Also, it will be great if you can learn VBA (Visual Basics for Excel), as this will help you in developing several dashboards and macros that you can showcase to your potential employer.
    
2. Start learning Statistics or at least its Basics:
   Statistics is applied mathematics that you can use in any field that you are in. For example, if you are in sales then you can always use average or percentage change in sales of online vs offline shops. And if you are in HR you can use it to showcase trending changes in attrition across different companies in your sector.
   
   This is also important because statistics helps you in creating a story behind the data. It will help you in understanding what tools are doing and how you can explain it to the management. Further, statistics is an integral part of any Data Analytics project, so it is always good to have a good knowledge of the same.
    
3. One of the first tools should be Power BI:
   There are several colleges or courses that can help you in learning Power BI. It is a Business Intelligence tool by Microsoft, similar to Power Point, and has some functionalities similar to Excel's Pivot Table. Therefore, your first go-to tool should be Power BI in learning Data Analytics or the tools that can help you in making Data Analysis more faster and efficient.
   
   One of the important things to understand is that tools like Power BI help in visualization as well. This is because Businesses not only require insights into data but that should also be in a proper way.
   
   Power BI has simple one-click charts and maps that can help you create different dashboards and reports that you can showcase during your interviews as well. Also, there is a demand for Power Bi these days, therefore if you will put Power BI in your resume, you will start getting more calls.
    
4. Start building stuff:
   Although I can suggest more tools like R, Python, Tableau, and Alteryx, it is always better to first start with basics and easier tools to gain confidence. 
   
   So, the best way is by developing and analyzing data. 
   
   Try working on dummy data, clean it using excel macros and then fetch the data in Power BI to create good-looking dashboards. Although there are advance formulas in Power BI as well, but you should focus mainly on developing dashboards using the components that are readily available to you.

What should be your course of action?
When you have decided to switch your career to "Data Analytics", it is always better to keep on practicing using your own dashboards and checking out several sample dashboards that have been built online by several people or experts. 

You should try to dismember those dashboards and then create them one by one.

This can be done to improve your ability to back track the overall functionalities of the dashboards that have already been built. Then you can add Power BI and other tools in your resume as well. This will help in making your resume stand out as you would have listed some of the work on your resume.

Then ensure to keep on learning new software and techniques to achieve more expertise on Data Analysis Tools. This is important because landing an entry level job in Data Analytics will be easy, but to grow in the same, you should be able to first enhance your knowledge as there are several changes happening in the Data Analytics Domain these days.

Conclusion:
These days data analytics has become a wide term and there have several technologies come into picture which were not there initially. Several organizations want people that have industry specific knowledge in this field. Therefore, you should try and explore more and more information about Data Analytics while you learn the basics.

It is always better to explore domains like website development or Google Apps Script to add it to your resume, as the demand in the industries is growing for cheaper analytical softwares.

In the end, I would like to say that you can surely switch career to data analytics domain, just ensure to be dedicated. It is not easy in this field but you can surely make fortune if you are interested in Data Side of the Story.