CV keywords

Data analyst CV keywords: what to include and where

Data analyst postings repeat the same few tools and then add a long tail of business words. A filter compares your CV with that list, so the tool names and the business context both need to be on the page.

Keywords for a Data analyst CV

Use a word only if it is true for you. If the posting uses a different spelling, use the posting's.

What is specific to this role

Postings for this role often name the tool twice: once under requirements and once inside a duty, such as "build dashboards in Tableau". If you only list Tableau in a skills line, you miss the second match. Use the tool name in a bullet that shows what you did with it.

Five example bullets

Replace everything in [brackets] with your real facts. If you do not have the number, leave it out instead of guessing.

• Wrote SQL queries to pull weekly sales data from [database] and cut the manual report from [hours] to [minutes].
• Built a Power BI dashboard for [team] that tracks [KPI], used in their [weekly or monthly] review.
• Cleaned and merged [number] data sources in Python (pandas), and documented the rules so others could repeat it.
• Ran an A/B test on [change] and presented the result to [stakeholders], who decided to [decision].
• Explained findings to non-technical teams in a one-page summary with one clear recommendation.

Where to put them

• Summary: name your main tools and your field in the first line, for example "Data analyst with SQL, Power BI and e-commerce reporting".
• Skills: group tools together and write the full name once, such as "Microsoft Power BI", if the posting spells it that way.
• Experience: put the tool inside the bullet that shows the result, not only in the skills list.
• Projects: if you are new to the field, a course or personal project with a real dataset counts. Say what data you used and what you found.

Only the true ones

A keyword you cannot back up will not survive the interview, and the changes CVora proposes only use facts from your own CV. Take the words from this list that describe your work, and leave the rest.

Keywords for other roles

• Customer service
• Project manager
• Administrative assistant
• Software developer