Examples are illustrative. Replace names, responsibilities, tools, and results with your own verified experience.
In this guide
What to Include on a Data Analyst CV
Summary: domain, tools, and type of decisions your analysis supports.
Experience: dashboards, reporting, data cleaning, metric definitions, experimentation, and business recommendations.
Projects: use portfolio projects to prove SQL, BI, Python, or statistics skills.
Skills: SQL, Excel, Python, R, Tableau, Power BI, Looker, statistics, data modeling.
Education/certifications: analytics coursework, Google Data Analytics, SQL, BI, or statistics training.
Evidence Hiring Teams Look For
Add a skill only when your CV has evidence for it. The best ATS keywords are backed by experience bullets, projects, certifications, or tools you actually used.
Connect the analysis to a decision
A dashboard is an output; the business question gives it meaning. Describe the data sources, the analysis or transformation you performed, and who used the result. State the tools within that context instead of repeating the same tool list in every bullet.
Be precise about the outcome. Identifying a trend is different from proving that your analysis caused a revenue change. If a stakeholder acted on a recommendation, describe the decision and the evidence available. Keep confidential data, customer records, and internal dashboard access out of portfolio links.
Questions to answer before you write
- Which question did the analysis answer?
- What cleaning, modeling, or validation did you perform?
- How did a stakeholder use the result?
Before and After Bullet Examples
These fictional examples demonstrate structure. Do not copy their metrics, tools, or responsibilities unless they accurately describe your work.
Weak
Created dashboards for the team.
Harvard-style
Built Tableau dashboards tracking funnel conversion and weekly retention for product managers and growth leads.
Weak
Analyzed customer data using SQL.
Harvard-style
Queried 500K customer events in SQL to identify onboarding drop-off points and recommend three product changes.
Cover Letter Angle for data analysts
Connect your tools to business questions: what you analyzed, who used the insight, and what decision or action followed.
Use my data analyst CV and this job description. Write a concise one-page Harvard-style cover letter. Emphasize supported evidence from my CV, use the employer requirements, and do not claim skills I have not provided.
Mistakes to Avoid
Listing tools without business outcomes.
Not showing SQL depth.
Using academic project language without explaining the decision value.
Turn this guide into a finished Data Analyst CV
Harvard CV Maker uses one strict Harvard-format document system. Upload your existing CV, paste notes, or build from scratch, then use AI to improve bullets, tailor to a job, and generate a matching cover letter.
