To become a Big Data analyst, certification is very important. These certifications are available at different levels like entry-level, intermediate level, and advanced levels. If you want to start with an intermediate or advanced level, you can learn the basics of Big data from free online resources and then go for the next levels. A little bit of programming knowledge would be better.
I have taken a Big Data Hadoop training course by Intellipaat recently and I am already loving it.
You can watch this video to know more about how to start Big Data certifications: