How to become a Power BI Consultant
Updated on 13th Oct, 23 9.3K Views

Let’s take a quick look at some of the important topics that we will cover in this guide. From job prospects to annual compensations, this blog will cover all to give you a clear idea of the career path of a Power BI Consultant.

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Before we get down to the nitty-gritty of Power BI consultancy, let’s first understand who is a BI Consultant. Here is a quick overview.

Who is a BI Consultant?

BI Consultants use their expertise to introduce better data strategies in organizations as well as their internal processes. They are skilled in evaluating existing data and analytics systems of organizations and devising an improved BI roadmap. Through better data-driven strategy, organizations are able to best organize, analyze, and present data.

These professionals work with the objective of increasing efficiency, driving sound decision-making, and optimizing performance by aligning data strategy with the business requirements.

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Responsibilities of Power BI Consultants

We will now directly jump onto understanding the responsibilities of a Power BI Consultant. If you want to learn about Power BI, you can read all about it in our blog on Power BI.

Due to the ability of data to drive smart decisions, the field of data science has seen an increased number of jobs. This further led to mounting opportunities for professionals who are experts at drilling down data and deriving meaningful insights from it.

Owing to its ease of use, interactive visualization, and powerful features Microsoft Power BI is leading the market of popular BI tools. It packs a self-service analytics capability that allows users to generate helpful reports and dashboards.

Power BI has users ranging from students and startups to SMEs and large-scale enterprises. As a result, opportunities and roles for people who are skilled in utilizing this tool are wide, especially for Power BI Consultants.

A typical Power BI Consultant job description includes some of the following responsibilities:

  • Evaluation of existing data-collection and analytics systems
  • Testing, implementation, and documentation of BI systems
  • Developing predictive models and machine learning algorithms
  • Big data analysis to identify trends and patterns
  • Transforming business requirements into technical specifications
  • Establishment of data sharing procedures with internal and external stakeholders
  • Ensuring the usage of accurate and secure methods for data extraction
  • Implementing data visualization techniques to present valuable insights

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Power BI Consultant Skills

A BI Consultant should possess the below mandatory skills. The role requires hands-on experience in:

Data Warehousing

Knowledge of data warehouse and data mart development is a must. Power BI Consultants must understand various database models, functions, and processes. They are expected to be able to manage data warehouse systems and enhance their functions.

BI Tools And Software

Expertise in BI tools is crucial for any BI Consultants. They should know how to build dashboards that are interactive and have drill-down capabilities by using Power BI. They are expected to be knowledgeable in all Data Analytics and BI concepts.

Also, check out the Power BI Tutorial.

SSRS, SSIS, SSAS, And OLAP

If you want to pursue this profession, it is necessary to know about the OLAP processes and tools like SSAS, SSIS, SSRS, etc., along with experience in SQL server stack.

Following are some of the other skills that Power BI Consultants are expected to be proficient in:

  • BI, data analytics, and database concepts
  • Data warehousing and ETL processes
  • Data warehouse tools, databases, or modern BI solutions
  • Reporting
  • Dashboard UI/UX and analysis
  • Ability to present spotted trends and key findings that can help in decision making
  • SQL querying and DAX
  • SQL and database programming
  • OLAP, SSRS, SSIS, and SSAS
  • Data modeling
  • Data security implementation
  • Maintenance of reports
  • All types of reporting formats like charts, matrix, tabular, etc.
  • Design, implementation, and presentation of complex analysis solutions

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Power BI Consultant Jobs

As mentioned earlier, there are a lot of opportunities available for professionals skilled in Power BI. Let’s take a look at some of the opportunities available in major countries around the world.

According to LinkedIn, there are3,000+ openings for BI consultancy jobs in India. There are over 6,7000 Power BI consultancy jobs listed on ZipRecruiter for the USA. There are over 340 jobs currently available for Power BI Consultants in the UK as per REED. Singapore has over 290+ jobs available in Singapore according to LinkedIn. Australia has over 7,000 Power BI jobs available. There are 220 jobs in Canada as listed on LinkedIn.

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Power BI Consultant Salary

Power BI Consultants across the world earn attractive paychecks. In India, these professionals earn an average of about ₹623,000 per year according to PayScale. The annual average salary in the USA is US$89,125, CA$72,337 in Canada, and £39,141 in the UK according to Glassdoor. According to Jora, the annual salary in Australia ranges from AU$100,000 to AU$140,000.

The salary of the consultants may vary depending on factors like skillset, experience, and location. But, they are most definitely one of the highly-paid professionals in the tech field.

Also, check out the complete list of Power BI interview questions!

How to become a Power BI Consultant?

One of the first things to consider before pursuing a career is what academic qualifications you will require. As typically seen, most Power BI Consultant resumes have a bachelor’s degree. According to Zippia, 30.6% have master’s degrees. Apart from this, a diploma or associate degrees are also an option.

Choosing the right major is the next important step. Some of the requirements for becoming a Microsoft Power BI Consultant are listed below.

  • Knowledge of BI, Data Science, or related skills
  • Familiarity with the industry
  • Good understanding of data mining, machine learning
  • Proficiency in using BI tools (like Tableau and Microsoft BI Power) and data processing frameworks (like Hadoop and Samza)
  • Skills in statistics and reporting
  • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering or a relevant field

One can also become a consultant if they have experience in other related jobs as well. As a matter of fact, many BI consultant jobs look for experience in roles like SAP Business Warehouse Consultant, Power BI Developer, etc.

Certifications are also a great way to build a good foundation and get your skills and knowledge validated for future prospective job opportunities. Aside from this, there are also free online tutorials, blogs, and communities that serve as great learning mediums.

Career Transition

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Final Thoughts

This excellent cloud-based tool works extremely well with data visualization thus, making Power BI a world favorite across businesses. A dip in the future doesn’t look likely at all with the way technology is moving. Businesses are adopting cloud technology and Power BI is a promising tool with a good scope in the future as well. Anyone looking forward to pursuing a career in this field can go ahead with confidence.

If you have any questions, you can discuss them in our BI Community.

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