Introduction

In today’s world, where there is so much competition for getting a job in the initial stages of booming sectors, certifications help an individual getting an edge over the crowd and eventually the person gets filtered out and then the fight is with less number of applicants compared to the previous one and the cycle continues till the number of candidates is not equal to the required ones. Moreover, this increases the competition level by level and the deserving and knowledgeable ones would win in the end based on their skills obviously.

Similar case happens with the newly emerging field i.e. Data Science. As to prove one’s level of knowledge, assessment based certifications are being introduced by the tech giants based on some minimum requirements in the sector which somehow reduces the headache of the recruiters and also improves the quality of resume of the applicants.As we all know, Data Science is a broad category and is divided into various components/segments. For a business to succeed, analysis of facts and figures is essential based on which future strategies can be made and modifications if required. So, today in this article you will get to know some best Data Analyst certifications which are being provided by renowned brands/companies/institutions which can be done in order to increase his/her value in the recruiters’ mind. The link is provided for each certification for further details.

So, here we go:

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1. Cloudera Certified Associate Data Analyst

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• This certification is a combination of 8 - 12 performance based tasks on the platform using Hive and Impala. It focuses on making the reports with the use of Query language such as MySQL and Hadoop on their environment. Required Skill is Advanced SQL.
• Cost: $295
• Time Limit: 120 minutes
• Passing Percentage: 70%
• Training: Training will be given if required which can be completed within 180 days with the cost ranging from $2,235 – $3,195 additional to the exam fee.

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2. EMC Proven Professional Data Scientist Associate (EMCDSA)

• There are two certifications based on the requirement. These focus on almost every aspect of the sector which includes advanced analytics, statistical modeling, programming (R language), Hadoop, NLP, Network Analysis, etc. These topics also serve as the prerequisites and eligibility criteria based on the type of certification one is enrolling for.
• Cost: $230
• Time Limit: 90 minutes
• Passing Marks: 63
• Training: Training will be given if required with the cost ranging from $1500 – $5000 depending upon the course taken additional to the exam fee.

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3. Microsoft Certified: Data Analyst Associate

• Employees with knowledge of BI tools are an added advantage to a company which helps to monitor the growth in every financial year. Considering this point, Microsoft introduced certification for Data Analysis using Power BI. Candidates have to build reports that provide meaningful insights for business use or any other purpose. They must be proficient in using Power Query and Writing expressions by using DAX. Exam code is PL-300.
• Cost: $165
• Time Limit: 180 minutes
• Passing Marks: 700
• Training: For free and paid courses, refer here.

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4. Microsoft Certified Azure Data Scientist Associate

• Azure is one of the most popular hosting services for websites as well as training of machine learning models. This certification is related to managing workloads of the application on the azure machine. More responsibilities include creation of a suitable working environment for the implementation of various tasks such as data ingestion, model training and deployment, monitoring, etc. using existing knowledge of Python, machine learning, respective implementation techniques and algorithms, frameworks like Scikit-Learn, PyTorch and Tensorflow. Exam code is DP-100.
• Cost: $165
• Time Limit: 120 minutes
• Passing Marks: 700
• Training: For free and paid courses, refer here.

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5. IBM Data Science Professional Certificate

• This course is in collaboration with Coursera is a combination of 10 small courses with individual coursera certifications segregated based on the topics that will be covered step by step in the journey. The professional certificate will be given if an individual passes each and every course as every course contains its own graded assignments. Most of the topics are covered with this course with video tutorials as well. Moreover, there is no prerequisite as it is from basic to advanced level and a person with a computer science background can get started with this course.
• Cost: Free
• Course Duration: 11 months
• Passing Marks: Varies according to the assessment
• Training: Coursera

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6. Certification of Professional Achievement in Data Sciences

• This certification is offered by Columbia University in which it is mandatory to complete 12 credits which includes four different sections such as Algorithms for Data Science, Probability and Statistics, Machine Learning, and Exploratory Data Analysis and Visualization. Applicants should have a technical background to match the level of understanding of the course.
• Cost: Tuition fee is $2196 per credit and an additional non-refundable technology fee of $396 per course.
• Course Duration/Training: 1 Semester
• Passing Percentage: 60%

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7. Certified Analytics Professional (CAP)

• It is offered by the INFORMS organization which mainly focuses on Data Analytics, model building, deployment, model lifecycle management, Analytical and Business problem framing, Analytics Methodology selection. Validity of this certification is # years. Eligibility criteria includes 4-year degree with experience (3 years with masters or 5 years with bachelors or 7 years with any degree in unrelated area. Moreover, passing of CAP exam, adherence to the CAP Code of Ethics, confirmation of aptitude in soft skills are required as well.
• Cost: $695 ($495 for INFORMS members)
• Training: Resources are available on the website.

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8. Associate Certified Analytics Professional (aCAP)

• It follows a similar pattern as that of CAP but the difference is that it is an entry-level certification which proves the education in data analytics. An individual may or may not have industry experience holding this certification. Some changes are there in the prerequisites such as having a master’s degree in the related area and experience with less than 3 years would work.
• Cost: $300  ($200 for INFORMS members)
• Training: Resources are available on the website.

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9. Open Certified Data Scientist

• This certification has no exams rather it is divided into 3 stages which demonstrates one’s technical skills, experience and business skills in Data analytics and Data Science. First stage consists of obtaining 4 - 5 milestone badges (depending upon the level of certification). Further is completing the Experience Application Form to apply for certification. Final Stage is attending a board review. The certification must be renewed every three years. Each milestone/stage is reviewed individually.
• Cost: $400, $500, $550 of level 1, 2, 3 respectively.
• Training: This is the evaluation/validation of an individual’s skills and experience. Brushing them up is recommended.

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10. Some other courses:

These  are being provided by the private institutions which in turn helps in clearing the above exams. These are listed as follows:

• Learnbay -> 60,000 INR with course duration of 9 months.
• Simplilearn -> 51,400 INR with course duration of 11 months.
• Imarticus Learning -> 2,25,000 INR with course duration of 24 weeks
• Great Learning -> Various courses are available
• Udacity -> 77,676 INR with course duration of 4 months
• AnalytixLabs -> 48,000 INR excluding taxes

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These are some of the best, valued, reputed, rated certifications and courses which will definitely help in boosting your career, job profile and knowledge which results in getting you one of the highest paying roles in the sector. Hope this will give you a clear idea and be able to reduce some of your confusion and vanish your doubts and complications.