Stop 01 · Data Analytics FoundationsTopics · 6/9

Common Industries & Domains for Analysts

In short

SQL works the same everywhere, but the questions don't. An analyst at a bank and one at a food app use different words, metrics and worries. Picking a domain early helps your portfolio stand out.

Analysts work across marketing, product, finance, operations, healthcare, retail and more — each domain has its own key metrics and vocabulary you'll need to pick up quickly.

The jaadu with a backpack stands on a platform beside a row of colourful trains.

Think of it like this

Same platform, different trains

At a big railway junction, every train runs on the same tracks, but each goes somewhere different with its own crowd and timetable. Your analyst skills are the tracks. Banking, e-commerce, healthcare and sports are the different trains you can board.

Watch it happen

Domains and the metrics they live by

Analyst skills

E-commerce

Banking

Healthcare

Marketing

Cart abandonment

Loan defaults

Wait times

Cost per lead

1/5SQL, spreadsheets, stats and charts are the same toolkit in every domain.

The big ideas

What you need to know

Domain words matter

Learn the key terms of your target industry, like GMV in e-commerce or NPA in banking, so you can talk to stakeholders.

Each domain has its north-star metrics

Know the three or four numbers leaders in that field check every morning.

Domain projects impress

A portfolio project in the industry you're applying to shows you already think like their team.

Save yourself the pain

Common mistakes

Oops

Ignoring the domain and only learning tools.

Do this instead

Spend some time reading how your target industry makes money. It makes your analysis sharper.

Oops

Thinking you must stay in one domain forever.

Do this instead

Skills transfer. Many analysts move from retail to fintech to healthcare over a career.

Your mission

Build a domain cheat sheet

~30 min

Quick check

Why does domain knowledge help a data analyst?

Go deeper

1Pick one domain you're personally interested in and research its 5 most common metrics.
2Read a domain-specific analyst job posting and note the industry-specific terms used.
3Consider how your prior work or study experience maps to a specific domain.