Assessment 1

Assessment Title: Assessment 1: Career Interest Report

Learning Outcomes: By 11:59 pm on Saturday 9th October 2021

Programme Title: Electives

ECHNOLOGY
Course No: GS6203

Course Title: Market Yourself

Student Name: Kawthar Abdulla

Student ID: 201901520

Tutor: Alawi Alawi

Due Date: 9th October 2021 Date Submitted: 9th October 2021

By submitting this assessment for marking, either electronically or as hard copy, I confirm the
following:
 This assignment is my own work.
 Any information used has been properly referenced.
 I understand that a copy of my work may be used for moderation.
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Contents
Introduction..................................................................................................................3
1. Interview Findings Summary..................................................................................4
2. Research Findings...................................................................................................5
3. Analysis..................................................................................................................5
3.1 Political............................................................................................................5
3.2 Economical.......................................................................................................5
3.3 Socio-Cultural..................................................................................................5
3.4 Technological...................................................................................................6
3.5 Future of Job/Industry.....................................................................................6
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................7
References.....................................................................................................................8
Appendix.......................................................................................................................9
 Interview Questions.............................................................................................9
 Interview Request Email...................................................................................10
 Thank You Email..............................................................................................11
 Consent Letter...................................................................................................11
Introduction
The aim of this report is to present the findings of primary and secondary researches on the
nature of data analyst job within the banking industry. It highlights the competencies and
skills needed for this job and discusses different factors that may affect it.
 1. Interview Findings Summary
On 2nd October, 2021, an interview was conducted with Ms. Sara Alasfoor, a data
analyst in Ila bank, through a call on Microsoft Teams. The purpose of this interview is to
learn about the data analyst job and its required competencies from someone’s experience,
who can provide accurate information and convey a conception that is relevant to the reality
of the job and the industry.

According to Alasfoor (2021), the data analyst in a bank works with the different
teams to turn the data they have into something meaningful that can be used to solve
problems. When working on a project, the data analyst has to first capture the data if it was
not available. Then, the data will need to be cleaned and put in the proper format. Next, the
data is ensured to not have anything wrong or unexpected. After that, the data analyst can
analyse the data, write reports and display the results to the teams on dashboards [CITATION
Sar21 \l 2057 ]. Since the data analyst works with various departments in the bank, she/he is
expected to have a little knowledge of each department specialization. However, that does not
necessarily mean to pursue another degree or get professional certificates. Because, these
knowledges can be acquired through the working experience. That is why, banks would hire
curious people who are willing to learn new things by themselves as data analysts. Moreover,
banks require data analysts to have problem solving and communication skills. Also, there
are some basic technical skills and knowledges that the data analyst must have. Such as,
using Microsoft Excel and SQL in addition to data visualization using software like Tableau
and Power BI [ CITATION Sar21 \l 2057 ].

There are few challenges data analysts might face. For example, when they have to
report on something but they lack some data, they have to find a way to get this data. Then,
cleaning and fixing this data is also a challenging process. In addition, the data analyst must
make sure that everything submitted to the teams is accurate. As the teams will make
decisions based on the numbers and information given by the data analyst [ CITATION
Sar21 \l 2057 ]. Although, Alasfoor (2021) finds it easy to maintain a work-life balance
since her work does not directly affect the clients like some jobs that require the employees to
work at any time when a problem that disturbs customers' access to their accounts occurs.
She also considers that working in a completely digital bank is easier for a data analyst. As a
lot of paperwork is eliminated. Furthermore, the data analysis in her opinion is a market that
is going to grow over the years with the digital transformation vision of Bahrain and the
increasing numbers of applications and websites that generate data.

When it comes to preparing to become a data analyst, Alasfoor (2021) suggests to

practice by working on data analysis projects such available online because it is the best way
to get knowledge in this field. She also recommends to look at how other people analysed the
data they have for the same projects to see the different ways of solving a problem.
 2. Research Findings
Additional research sources were used to identify the skills and competencies that
qualify someone to be a data analyst. In addition to problem solving, communication is a key
skill [ CITATION Cou21 \l 2057 ]. Since that data analysts have to explain their thoughts to
people from different specializations and also understand what these people want to say. As
that will help both of them to come up with the best business solutions. Added to that, the
data analysts should be familiar with programming languages such as Python and R. Also,
having a good knowledge in math and statistics will help them better understand the patterns
and the relationships between the sets of data they work on [ CITATION Cou21 \l 2057 ].

One of the banking industry features is the size of bank as an organization that gives
big opportunities for an employee to get promoted to higher positions [CITATION DBS20 \l
2057 ]. Additionally, with the advancement of technology, the banking industry has become
more customer-centred and the teamwork is now more dominant and essential in bank
environments. As it is important to solve a problem in all its different aspects and enhance the
bank’s services to meet the customers preferences.

3. Analysis
3.1 Political
Dealing with data is sensitive. Especially, with people’s financial data. In
2019, Bahrain has issued the personal data protection law. According to this law,
companies are required to process data only for legal reasons and transparently with
the data owner [ CITATION The \l 2057 ]. This may limit access to data for the data
analysts and create them a challenge of finding analytics techniques that comply with
this law [ CITATION Jaa19 \l 2057 ]. Although, knowing that this law protects the
privacy of individuals’ data and that companies are committed to it, will increase
people’s trust in banks and companies in general.

3.2 Economical
Economically, there are many factors that impact on the banking sector. Such
as, fluctuations in the exchange rates, inflation and the strict regulation on the banks’
operations. However, the free market economy of Bahrain and its efficient monetary
policy eliminated the restrictions on capital movements and foreign exchange and
kept inflation low. This has contributed to maintain a stable environment for
businesses and banks and attracted foreign investments [ CITATION Mon \l 2057 ].

3.3 Socio-Cultural
Nowadays, with globalization and technology advancement in addition to the
development in education, people from different ages’ behaviours have changed and
they now tend to do everything online. Since it is the era of speed, everyone seeks
convenient and fast services. For that reason, banks are moving towards digital
transformation and developing their services to meet their customers’ needs.

3.4 Technological
Technology has a big role in changing the banking experience. For instance,
with the emergence of fintech in Bahrain, a lot of banks have moved towards
digitalizing their services. This has resulted in easing some processes in the banks and
thus reducing the workload on many employees there. In addition, introducing the
open banking in Bahrain facilitated sharing information between banks and third-
party applications. Therefore, both of them will have access to more data to know
about the customers’ spending behaviours and preferences that can help them in
developing their services [ CITATION Dal19 \l 2057 ]. This means greater job
opportunities will be available for data analysts in banks or any industry.

3.5 Future of Job/Industry

The information gathered from the interview, research and PEST analysis is
encouraging to work as a data analyst in the banking industry. As it shows that in the
future there will be an excessive need for data analysts in the world because of the
increase in the big data generated and the need of making use of it. In addition, this
job provides a good income with a proper working time. However, it could have some
challenges when it comes to data privacy concerns and related regulations.
Conclusion
This report was intended to discover the competencies required for a data analyst in the
banking industry and the nature of this job. It has also identified some of the factors that
influence the future of data analysis. Nonetheless, a deeper PEST analysis on this job is
required to better understand how the different factors affect this job specifically in Bahrain
and how does it differ from other countries. As information regarding this part is not easily
found on the internet. So, interviews with local experts in these fields may be more useful.
References
1. Alasfoor, S. (2021, October 2). Career Interest Report. (K. Abdulla, Interviewer)
2. Buhejji, D. (2019, May 16). Retrieved from Bahrain EDB:
https://www.bahrainedb.com/bahrain-pulse/launching-the-open-banking-revolution-
in-the-middle-east-via-fintastic-bahrain/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=Article
%20Button%20-%20Open%20Banking%20Rev&utm_campaign=NL19Q2
3. Coursera. (2021, September 13). Articles: What Does a Data Analyst Do? 2021
Career Guide. Retrieved from Coursera: https://www.coursera.org/articles/what-does-
a-data-analyst-do-a-career-guide
4. DBS News and Advice: Advantages and Disadvantages of Working in a Bank. (2020,
March 13). Retrieved from Clear Check: https://clearcheck.co.uk/advantages-and-
disadvantages-of-working-in-a-bank/
5. Jaap Wieringa, P. K. (2019, May 18). Retrieved from Journal of Business Research:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296319303078
6. Monetary Policy. (n.d.). Retrieved from Central Bank of Bahrain:
https://www.cbb.gov.bh/monetary-policy/
The Law: Kingdom of Bahrain. (n.d.). Retrieved from Personal data protection authority:
http://www.pdp.gov.bh/en/regulations.htm

7.
Appendix
 Interview Questions
Educational Background and Life Experiences
1. What was your major in the university?
2. Did you have any professional certificates prior to working that added to
your competencies?
3. What work/life experiences helped you secure this job?
4. What do you like about this job that made you choose it?
Skills and Competencies
5. What are the skills and competencies that a data analyst has to have?
6. Are there any special competencies that a data analyst who works in a
bank is required to have (different than other industries)? (Personality,
specific non-IT knowledge … etc)
7. What are the software and programming languages do you mostly use?
Nature of Work
8. Could you give me an idea about your job as a data analyst
(responsibilities and daily tasks)?
9. As a data analyst, what teams do you usually need to work with in your
workplace?
10. Is it easy for a data analyst to maintain a work-life balance?
11. What challenges might a data analyst face?
Future of The Job/Industry
12. Ila bank is known as a completely digital bank that the customers do not
need to visit any branch, and that is considered as a new experience in
banking for us in Bahrain. Has that changed anything in the nature of your
job as a data analyst compared to a data analyst in a regular bank?
13. Banking and technology are rapidly evolving fields, how do you imagine
the future of the data analyst job in the banking industry?
14. In your opinion, how can changes in the economic situations impact on
your career/industry?
Recommendations
15. What would you recommend someone who wants to work as a data
analyst?
 Interview Request Email
 Thank You Email

 Consent Letter