5Introduction to Portfolios
If I had to narrow down all my advice on my various social media pages to one thing, it would be “build a portfolio.” Often when I make that statement, people will respond with “A portfolio? Like an art portfolio? What is that?” I had no idea what a portfolio was until I was already almost finished with the Google course, so I know what it's like to feel a little uncomfortable with the idea of figuring out what it is and how to create your own.
What Is a Data Analytics Portfolio?
Essentially, a portfolio is just like it sounds—a way to show off your work. Creating a portfolio means finding data that you can use, and then bringing it into your tool(s) of choice—SQL, Excel, Tableau, or Power BI—and analyzing it. You keep track of your work and final product, and then put it in a central location where you will also keep your other projects.
Where you put the projects is up to personal choice. I will get more into this in the chapters to come, but generally you can make your own website using a free website builder (no code). There are several common spots for different types of projects such as Tableau Public, a website built by Tableau for publishing dashboards so that anyone can see them.
The act of building a portfolio is at least as important as having one. When you take the ...
Get How to Become a Data Analyst now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
