The Learning Data Analyst

If you don't like getting stuck to your seat and finding out one day the world has passed you by, then keep upgrading your skillset to stay ahead of the market.

The combination of a solid understanding of databases and project management is sure to give an edge over the competition and at the work place. If you haven't already invested into these two entry level certifications, this may be a good place to start.

Getting a quality education to iteratively upgrade yourself is but a click away. For access to free programs from the best educational institutions in the world look no further than edx.org (founded by Harvard University and MIT in 2012, edX is an online learning destination and MOOC provider, offering high-quality courses from the world’s best universities and institutions to learners everywhere).

At the end of a typical 4-8 weeks free learning course (scheduled to run between certain dates or current self-paced) that requires 8-10 hours per week of your time, you can also add a verified certificate to your credentials for around about the hundred dollar mark up to a few hundred dollars from any of the world class universities and Institutions offering the course.

For less committed self-paced and quick modules, Udemy usually has excellent discounts on its courses and maybe a good place to get certified on your Linked In account for even just a few bucks. But there are also a host of other websites offering online learning with video lectures, Capstone projects for delivery of knowledge including Coursera and several others to name a few.

For those who like to keep it casual, free SoloLearn modules for learning to code in a number of popular languages can be downloaded to your smartphone and are so well-designed, they're virtually fool-proof.


As for the actual curriculum, besides mandatory skills in Excel and certifications in databases and project management, useful areas of knowledge are: (1) querying data using SQL (2) visualisation tools (3) advanced data analysis and programming (4) relevant industry knowledge best practice and (5) Strategic thinking.

Querying data using SQL

Coding your queries in SQL requires some good hands on experience but learning the syntax takes no more than an hour - just hop on to SoloLearn and try their excellent tutorial app (great on your smartphone during a commute) - you'll have confidence to start writing basic queries in no time.

Visualization tools - Power BI and Tableau

Microsoft Power BI and Tableau are two excellent drag and drop tools with keen bragging rights offering powerful visuals of data, including geographical mapping capabilities. So get ready to dazzle your audience - Microsoft is offering this free self-paced online course on edX

Advanced Data Analysis and Programming - Excel VBA and Python

This free XSeries set of three courses from Microsoft can earn you some invaluable skills and street creds if you don't have the years of experience, or good for a good refresher course. This series of three self-paced courses, hosted by leading experts, teaches you how to use Excel to organize, summarize, analyze, model, and visualize data for use in numerous data analytics and data science applications.

If you don't already know how to tweak or write code VBA into your Excel spreadsheet macros, Google search can help you find free resources to learn. One I found useful can be found here. Additionally, with all the hype around 'data science' you will find yourself inevitably dealing with higher level analysis using code.

However if you want some 'real' programming capabilities one of the most respectable program languages out there currently is Python, offering powerful data science capabilities and excellent market value. Invest 2-4 hours per week in the free course which is part of the Microsoft Professional Program Certificate in Data Science or use learnpython.org to get cracking.

Industry Knowledge

Depending on your industry, you need to remember that best practice is often a theoretical ideal that is never truly realized in most organisations. To be a true subject matter expert, you need to break free of the status quo and put some great ideas out there that come from a solidly backed body of knowledge.

For example, if you are working in supply chain, there are a number of options including short courses, professional certification programs such as this Datmouth course that teaches learning how to effectively forecast sales, manage inventory and support a successful omnichannel strategy to micromasters programs on EdX such as this MicroMasters credential from MIT’s #1 ranked Supply Chain Management Program in Supply Chain Management to advance your career.

Another good example would be in digital, where Google Analytics is basic literacy. In the past, you had to pay to take the test and it was a little easier to find. However, now it's free and under the “Partners” area in Google. There are two ways to become Google Analytics certified – certified as an agency or certified as an individual - by passing the GAIQ exam. Everything you need to study and pass is here. While you're at, wouldn't be too hard to complete the DigitalGarage certification either - which serves as a good refresher describing the digital landscape.

Strategic Thinking 

And don't forget to polish those soft skills as well. Let the University of Queensland help you learn how to think better, argue better, and choose better here.

If you want to add some buzzwords to your vocabulary to sound professional and cool, while improving how you do things, Agile and Lean are great new approaches putting more process-oriented methodologies to shame. This inexpensive introductory course does the job very well.

And in order to impress, make sure you put a shine on your mojo by listening in to Jimmy Naraine's lectures - check out the free videos from each course and grab a handful when discount season arrives.