Your portfolio project and getting hired or freelancing as a data analyst
Employers and clients want proof that you can find answers in real data. A strong portfolio with two or three complete projects often matters more than certificates alone. This lesson walks you through an end-to-end project and the job search.
An end-to-end portfolio project
Pick a question people care about, for example:
- "Which Kenyan counties have the biggest gaps in secondary school enrolment?" (KNBS / Ministry of Education data)
- "How have food prices changed since 2020?" (KNBS consumer price index)
- "What drives sales in a small shop?" (a real business's anonymised data, with permission)
- "Which factors relate to youth unemployment?" (KNBS, World Bank)
Follow the process:
| Step | Deliverable |
|---|---|
| 1. Ask | A clear question and why it matters |
| 2. Prepare | Data sources with links and dates |
| 3. Process | Cleaning steps documented (Power Query, SQL or Python) |
| 4. Analyse | Summary statistics, comparisons, trends; SQL or Python code |
| 5. Share | A dashboard (Power BI, Tableau Public or Looker Studio) and a one-page report |
| 6. Act | Recommendations and limitations |
Publish it: GitHub (code and README), Tableau Public or a Power BI screenshot gallery, a short LinkedIn post or blog article explaining the insight. See the data analysis report project and how to showcase projects.
Three projects that show range
- Excel + Power BI: a sales or budget dashboard with a clear recommendation.
- SQL: answering business questions from a multi-table database (JOINs, window functions).
- Python: cleaning and analysing a messy public dataset, with charts.
Skills checklist for entry-level jobs
- Excel: PivotTables, XLOOKUP, SUMIFS, charts, Power Query
- SQL: SELECT, WHERE, GROUP BY, HAVING, JOINs, CASE, basic window functions
- Statistics: mean/median, spread, outliers, sampling, correlation, A/B tests
- A BI tool: Power BI (or Tableau / Looker Studio)
- Python basics with pandas (a strong plus)
- Communication: one-page reports and short presentations
Certifications employers recognise
| Certificate | Notes |
|---|---|
| Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate (Coursera) | Beginner-friendly; financial aid is available on Coursera |
| Microsoft PL-300: Power BI Data Analyst | Respected for Power BI roles |
| Microsoft Excel (MOS) certifications | Proves spreadsheet skills |
| Free courses (Kaggle Learn, freeCodeCamp, Microsoft Learn) | Free; good for skills, less recognised as credentials |
Certificates open doors; projects and interviews get the job.
Where data jobs are in Kenya
- Banks, SACCOs, insurers and fintechs
- Telecoms and e-commerce
- NGOs and research organisations (monitoring and evaluation, M&E)
- Government agencies and counties
- Consulting and market research firms
- Remote roles for international companies (see remote professional jobs)
Job titles to search: Data Analyst, Junior Data Analyst, Business Intelligence (BI) Analyst, M&E Officer, Reporting Analyst, Data Officer, Research Assistant.
Freelancing with data skills
Small businesses, NGOs and researchers need help. Services you can offer:
- Cleaning and organising messy spreadsheets
- Excel dashboards and automated reports
- Power BI dashboards
- Survey analysis (Google Forms, KoboToolbox)
- Data entry quality checks and reporting
See Freelancing from Kenya and specialist online work.
Interview preparation
Common tasks:
- A take-home exercise: clean a dataset, answer questions, present findings.
- SQL questions: "Top 3 products per region", "month-on-month growth".
- Excel tests: PivotTables, lookups, a quick chart.
- "Tell me about a project": explain the question, your process, the insight and the impact in 2 minutes.
Think about it: You have no work experience. How can you show an employer you can do the job?Show answer
Build two or three complete portfolio projects with real Kenyan data, publish them on GitHub and a dashboard platform with clear write-ups, volunteer to analyse data for a local business, church or NGO (with permission), get one recognised certificate, and practise explaining your projects in two minutes.
Summary
- Build 2–3 end-to-end projects with real data and publish them.
- Learn Excel, SQL, statistics, a BI tool, Python basics and communication.
- Certificates (Google Data Analytics, PL-300) help; projects get the job.
- Look in banks, fintechs, NGOs (M&E), government, consulting and remote roles; freelancing is an option too.
Check yourself
What does M&E stand for in NGO jobs? (three words: monitoring and ___)
Show answer
evaluation
Which Microsoft certification is for Power BI data analysts? (code like PL-300)
Show answer
pl-300
Should a real employer charge you a placement fee? (yes or no)
Show answer
no