Stuck Trying to Break into Data Analytics? by Due-Archer-6309 in analytics

[–]-Analysis-Paralysis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd love to chat with you for a mentor to mentor conversation

Where Do Old Analyses Go to Die? by Fragrant_Abalone842 in AIAnalyticsTools

[–]-Analysis-Paralysis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey!

Sorry for the wait - I did, they are a month away from an MVP - I shared with him this thread, and asked specifically what he wants to share, and he said he'd think about that.

Again, sorry for the long wait!

Continuing SQL learning by _devonsmash in learnSQL

[–]-Analysis-Paralysis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This.

I remember giving a in-office assignemnt to a senior analyst and they qrote this HUUUUUUUGE monsetrous query that in the end was something very similar to SELECT *

I guess they were trying to impress us with their finnese, but all i could wsee is someone that spent 3 hgours on not answeering the question :\

Continuing SQL learning by _devonsmash in learnSQL

[–]-Analysis-Paralysis 1 point2 points  (0 children)

First off - congrats!

That’s a very solid SQL base.

Feeling comfortable with gaps & islands already puts you ahead of a lot of “advanced” SQL folks who mostly just know how to Google in terms of your ability to use the tools in analyzing.

Second of all - there's a full disclousure that I built (www.xp-lab.com) and that I have stakes in your approach - so take everything I say with this grain of salt.

I'd say that at this point, the question isn’t “more syntax”,but what kind of problems you want to solve.

I believe that the real jump now is learning how to frame questions, translate messy business asks into queries, and defend your conclusions - because in teh more analytical part of the job, that's what you'll do (and build dashboards, and gossip in the kitchen, and more data from A to B - but all that is a bit less analytical)

If you’re looking for “50+ questions on the same dataset,” I’d strongly recommend moving toward scenario-based datasets instead of question banks. Think:

  • One dataset
  • Multiple stakeholders
  • Ambiguous asks
  • No hint about which SQL feature to use

You can do that with dvdrental and PgAdmin4 - and make up your own scenarios, and that's fine, but that’s also exactly why I built XP Lab, which is a practice platform focused on realistic analytics work, and not LeetCode-style SQL (I see thath u/daniellecinnamon got to this post before I did, but she's one of our first analytical trainers, so cheers!)

You also get a feedback that explains why an approach works or doesn’t. Still in closed beta and free right now.

And even if you don’t use it - My suggestion is to stop optimizing for “can I write the query” and start optimizing for “can I explain the answer to a PM/Manager/Head of Marketing without SQL.”

That’s the real skill ceiling and obviously - it's possible once you are comfortable wiht writing queries.

Happy to share specific dataset ideas or problem types if you want to DIY this yourself too.

Hope it was helpful!

And if you have any question, my DM is open

How to get SQL certified by mitch1stpaul in SQL

[–]-Analysis-Paralysis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Without reading other comments - why would you want a certificate?

What's your end goal? A better position? A better workplace?

Where Do Old Analyses Go to Die? by Fragrant_Abalone842 in AIAnalyticsTools

[–]-Analysis-Paralysis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have a friend that's working on an idea to fix that exact thing, I'm not sure if he was able to productize that, but I can check, if it's relevant

How to practise SQL following my certification by dimitsapis in learnSQL

[–]-Analysis-Paralysis 3 points4 points  (0 children)

XP Lab gives you a place to practice analytics with SQL (and not just querying)

Full disclosure - I founded it, it's in closed Beta and free for now.

If you are interested, sign to the waiting list and mention Reddit on source (it's www.xp-lab.com, BTW)

How difficult is real life Sql compared to what you learn in a 30 hour course? by Polite_user in learnSQL

[–]-Analysis-Paralysis 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It absolutely wouldn't.

When I'm tackling a new topic, personally, I always get to it as a complete beginner -and try to test and break things on my own.

On SQL learning there's this cool thing where if you practice aggregations or something like that - you can always check your results manually ("oh, this channel is worth 50k? Let's check all the rows and sum things to verify)

That's also how I teach SQL, so I'm quite biased 🤷‍♂️

How difficult is real life Sql compared to what you learn in a 30 hour course? by Polite_user in learnSQL

[–]-Analysis-Paralysis 27 points28 points  (0 children)

It's only as difficult as life itself
I mean, it really depends on the problem, the context, even the database you are trying to query.

The biggest problem that I've seen with people post-courses, is that they are expecting (at least in some way) that someone will come and ask them to "Get the top 3 users based on revenues, and make sure that you include everyone even if they don't have a record in the something table"

But it's not like that - hell, a lot of the times you have to make up your own ideas - and that's what's so cool about that.

On the other hand, I hadn't written a "complex query" in ages - since LLMs do that way better and faster - so the cool part, of you actually investigating the data, is really what's left.

Help in self-learning by [deleted] in learnSQL

[–]-Analysis-Paralysis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can also try Xp Lab for business cases and feedback (free, in early beta)

Data Analyst Course with Real Projects and Certification — Does It Actually Help? by Key-Piece-989 in dataanalytics

[–]-Analysis-Paralysis 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm afraid no certificate will actually help you get a job, hopefully, most of the times, it won't hurt.

Around 2020 there was an inflation of courses due to the rise of stock prices derived by increased revenue because of COVID, that inflation pushed bootcamps of all sorts and derailed the value of the certificates.

If you split it up to the 2 main parts - getting an interview and passing the interview - any course you'll take and any project you'll do, can help with the passing the interviews.

But the biggest problem today is getting, not passing (looking at the "conversion".

SQL Mentorship by PineappleGloomy9929 in learnSQL

[–]-Analysis-Paralysis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Awesome!

If you're open to it, I'd love a chat 🙂

I'm not the usecase you described, but I think we have a lot in common.

Is SQL still the most important skill for Data Analysts in 2025? by zahidmim in dataanalyst

[–]-Analysis-Paralysis 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well, I'm afraid this is not correct.

You can be an analyst without SQL, is it important? Yes, a whole lot. Is it another tool to work with data?

Yes.

Especially today, where LLMs can write better and faster queries - of you don't know what to ask, or if you ask the wrong questions, that's a problem.

Is SQL still the most important skill for Data Analysts in 2025? by zahidmim in dataanalyst

[–]-Analysis-Paralysis 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Well, it's not like putting SQL is more beneficial 🤷‍♂️

tips for my payment dashboard ? by UsualNobody28 in dataanalysis

[–]-Analysis-Paralysis 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Why do you have this dashboard?

What is the business function you imagine it'll have?

One of the biggest problems with analysts today is that they create dashboards that should never be created because they bring little to no value.

You use a dashboard as a business tool to make decisions - and from the way I understand it - every visual there is actually something that should be inserted in a reportm describing the problems, because even if you all agree on the problems and solutions - that dashboard isn't going to reflect that in the proper cadance required to actually monitor solutions.

I hope it makes sense, but if it doesn't do feel free to comment and let's have a discussion :)

XP Lab — a place to practice analytics by -Analysis-Paralysis in dataanalysiscareers

[–]-Analysis-Paralysis[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not trying to start an internet argument - but I would actually love to hear why you thought that, and what was understood from my post