According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of operations research analyst positions are expected to increase by 25% over the next 9 years, much higher than the average occupation (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2020). Great news for you if you’re seeking a career in data analytics! This growth potential has sparked waves of online courses in Python and machine learning, which are great, but one of the most overlooked – and most necessary skills in your data analysis toolkit is SQL.
Hear me out, while this skill doesn’t sound as sexy as being able to leverage Random Forests with SciKit Learn I would be surprised if you could find a data analyst job description that doesn’t include SQL. That’s because the prerequisite to analyzing data is gathering data. And most of the time that data is stored in a database. That’s why I am going to tell you 3 important reasons you should learn SQL to launch your data analytics career.
1. SQL is Easy to Learn
Structured Query Language usually abbreviated as SQL uses statements that a simple to understand. Yes, it will take time to be awesome at writing queries, but the barrier to entry for this high value skill is low. It will differentiate you from candidates who only have the flashier skills. Even if you don’t have a wealth of computer skills. The syntax is intuitive, concise, and like plain English. Don’t believe me? Requesting all the rows in a table called “Sales” is as simple as:
SELECT * FROM Sales
“*” is a way to say you want all the rows
2. You Can Make the Data Cleaning Process Easier
In boot camps and classes you usually have files that are ready to go for the analysis process, but in practice this is rarely true. This is especially true if you rely on someone else to retrieve the data for you. Waiting for IT to get you a file means you get what you get but when you can retrieve your own data you get to see where the data issues are up front. Its estimated that 80% of the data analysis process is data cleansing and SQL can expedite cleaning. Cleaning up messy data with SQL is so much easier than trying to complete this process in Excel (Crash anyone?) or even in Python, SAS, or SPSS and clean data is a prerequisite for analysis and modeling.
3. You Can Use the Basics in Most Environments
Having a solid grasp of the basics of SQL will allow you to work with almost any relational database management system (RDBMS). While it is true that there are many different types of RDBMS in use and some organizations may use more than one type analysts with a solid grasp of standard SQL can get started in any environment. That makes SQL skills super portable! Employers will be comfortable hiring you knowing that your skills will be valuable even if software changes. That is huge.
Honestly, there are many more reasons to learn SQL if you want to start a career in data analysis. A little goes a long way with this skill and there are many free resources to get you started. So, what are you waiting for? Happy learning!
Resources:
https://www.codecademy.com/learn/learn-sql
http://philip.greenspun.com/sql/
https://www.w3schools.com/sql/sql_intro.asp
https://www.khanacademy.org/computing/computer-programming/sql
The Scrappy Analyst 