Data & Analytics
Hire Data Analysts to Answer a Business Question
Data analysts answer specific business questions, such as why sales dropped or which customers stay, using the data you already have.
The role
What data analysts do
A data analyst gathers data from spreadsheets, databases or tools, cleans it, runs the analysis, and explains what it means in plain language. The best analysts start by clarifying the question and end with a recommendation someone can act on.
Typical deliverables
- A written analysis with findings
- Cleaned datasets
- Charts that explain the result
- Recommendations tied to the question
- Queries or notebooks others can rerun
Tools you will see
- Excel or Google Sheets
- SQL
- Python or R
- Power BI or Tableau
- Looker Studio
Choosing
How to choose data analysts
What to look for
- Examples that start with a question and end with a clear answer.
- Explanations a non-analyst can follow.
- Checks for data quality before drawing conclusions.
- Honesty about what the data cannot show.
Questions to ask
- 1What would you need to know before starting?
- 2How do you check the data is reliable?
- 3How will you present the results?
- 4Can someone repeat this analysis later?
Planning
Before you post the job
Be specific
A precise question produces a useful answer. List the decisions the analysis should inform.
What drives cost
Number of data sources, data quality, analysis depth and reporting format.
Hiring on Open Lance
- Posting a job and reviewing proposals are free.
- Each milestone is funded into escrow before work starts and paid when you approve it.
- Hire fixed-price, hourly, as a monthly Dedicated Hire, or buy a packaged Drop-In.
- Client fees are shown before you pay and added on top of the work.
FAQ
Questions about hiring data analysts
Data analyst or data scientist?
Analysts explain what happened and why. Data scientists more often build predictive models.
Can they work with our spreadsheets?
Yes. Many valuable analyses are done entirely in spreadsheets.
One-off analysis or regular reporting?
A one-off suits a fixed price. Regular reporting suits hourly or automated dashboards.
Related
Related skills
Post a job for data analysts
Describe the work and compare proposals. You only fund the first milestone once you have chosen someone.