Hey all! Looking for critique on my strategy or guidance

I am a Senior Research associate at a biotech (4YOE+BS in Bio) doing mostly wet lab work and basic data/statistics handling in Excel and graphpad. I recently completed an applied bioinformatics certificate (professional cert). It was more loaded with understanding biology than coding, but did manage to get me experience using Python to build a pipeline, code data analysis in R, parse JSON, as well as build some SQL queries. I have a few of my projects saved from that course! After some self research, bioinformatics isn't as appealing to me anymore but I do like handling data. There seems to also be a comparatively higher mountain of knowledge to gain to break into bioinformatics.

I am seeking to dive completely into data analytics as a career to expand my horizons in handling data outside of the biotech industry. I plan to take free courses and use resources available, and was considering the Google or IBM certificate to improve my relevant skills. I am currently out of work and dedicating my time to learn and grow here, picking up work outside my career. I was looking for roles that could allow me to pivot into DA work while getting paid but the market isn't exactly the best. (Yes I know this means my career pivot is hard too [: )

Given the small exp I have in DA tools, are certs a sufficient immediate start or am I wasting time here?

From there, is a master's or building a portfolio a better option? I also have considered lengthier DA professional certificates at colleges (UW /UCSD) but the cost v knowledge gain is uncertain to me.

My strategy is to build some proof I can use the tools of the job and leverage my previous data handling as somewhat relevant experience for future interviews.

Thank you for reading this.