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I spent a lot of time learning SQL the hard way. Knowing a few key ideas sooner would have changed everything.

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⌚ TIMESTAMPS

00:03 - #1 It’s Both Super Simple & Insanely Complex

03:48 - #2 You Don’t Have to Memorize Everything

05:39 - #3 Most Beginner SQL Commands Are a Waste of Time

07:25 - #4 You Can Do More Without SQL Than You Think

09:01 - #5 Being Good at SQL Will Not Get You Hired

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Mentioned in this episode:

May Cohort of the Data Analytics Accelerator — Now Open

🔗 datacareerjumpstart.com/daa The May cohort of the Data Analytics Accelerator is officially open for enrollment. This is my comprehensive data analytics bootcamp that takes you from wherever you are to landing your first data job. Doesn't matter your background, your degree, or your experience level — we're going to help you get there. What you get: 📊 Full curriculum covering Excel, SQL, Tableau, Python, and R 🛠️ 9 real-world projects across different industries to build your portfolio 💼 LinkedIn, resume, and interview prep so you actually stand out to recruiters 🤝 Weekly office hours, coaching, and a community of 900+ aspiring analysts who are in it with you 🎓 Lifetime access — go at your pace, come back anytime May enrollment deal: 🔥 20% off when you enroll now 🎁 6 free months of my unreleased Data Portfolio Builder tool — this isn't publicly available yet, and every May cohort member gets early access The live kickoff call is with yours truly on Monday, May 11th at 7:00 PM Eastern. Make sure you're enrolled before then so you don't miss it. 👉 datacareerjumpstart.com/daa Or just click the link in the show notes down below. See you on May 11th.

https://datacareerjumpstart.com/daa

Here are the seven things I wish I

knew before learning SQL number one.

2

SQL is incredibly easy and

insanely complex at the same time.

3

And let me explain.

4

SQL is like an iceberg.

5

In fact, there is a famous sequel

meme with an iceberg with a different

6

layers of SQL that you could

possibly learn in your data career.

7

And honestly, the first half,

the first little bit of the

8

iceberg is really easy to learn.

9

The commands that you need to

learn as a data analyst are

10

really not that hard to learn.

11

They're easy to get a hold of

eventually, and there's really only

12

17 of them that you need to know.

13

We'll talk about those here in a second.

14

But the crazy thing is

it's also insanely complex.

15

There's like a bajillion different

commands you could know in

16

sequel, and there's so many

different levels and layers to it.

17

There's a bunch of stuff

that I don't even know.

18

So for example, if we look at this

iceberg meme right here, like you'll

19

see that the easy things are at the top.

20

The order buy and the group

buy, and the limit and the null

21

and joins and stuff like that.

22

And then it gets more and

more complex as you go down.

23

Like for instance, even in the

third layer, lateral joins, I've

24

never even used lateral joins.

25

Cursors never used those as well.

26

Triggers I have used a little bit, but

my point here is it goes so far down

27

where it's like in this second to last

layer down here, like with the narwhal,

28

I don't even know any of that at all.

29

So my point here is you can make it

like me, senior data analyst, who's

30

worked in the field for 10 years,

who teaches people data analytics.

31

And you could not even

scratch a service of sql.

32

And that's perfectly okay because I know

the first two to three decently, well, the

33

first two at least, and it solves like I

would say, 90% of data analysts problems.

34

And we'll actually talk

about that here in a second.

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What is a SQL problem or a data

problem that someone, a data

36

analyst actually solves with sql?

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Because not all of SQL commands

are made for data analysts.

38

So in my opinion, if you're just getting

started, you can get by with like 17 SQL

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commands and they are the following ready.

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Number one, select number

two from number three.

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Where?

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Number four.

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Group by number five.

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Order by number six.

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Like number seven, count.

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Number eight, max in min, uh, number nine,

average number 10, some number 11, case

47

when number 12, join number 13 distinct.

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Number 14, having number 15

with number 16 partition by,

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and number seven, uh, 17 concat.

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Now there's some other ones you possibly

could use as well, like Union is another

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one that probably is used pretty often.

52

Um, maybe you could ar argue like

some sort of rank would be useful,

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um, or some sort of like day

function or something like that.

54

But my point here is there's really

not that much to get started with.

55

Like if you can get those 17 things down,

you can land a day job a hundred percent.

56

And I honestly think you can

learn those 17 things in like

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three weeks if I'm being honest.

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And that's how fast I teach them.

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Inside of my bootcamp.

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You know, I run data Alex

Accelerator, it's a bootcamp.

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We teach SQL and we do it in two weeks.

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The sequel portion, and I think that's

good enough to land your first data job.

63

If I'm being honest.

64

Now, that's about 30 hours of work

probably, but I literally think

65

if you spend 30 hours on this,

you can learn it pretty easily.

66

By the way, if you found this list

helpful, I send out a weekly newsletter

67

with tips just like this, and you

can join 30,000 other aspiring data

68

analysts to get these weekly tips in

your email@datacareerjumpstart.com

69

slash newsletter, or there is a

link in the show notes down below.

70

But sign up because I send awesome

stuff like this every single week.

71

That actually brings me to my second

point, which is that you don't have

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to have all your SQL syntax memorized.

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It's basically impossible.

74

Like I showed you, there are so many

different commands that you could be

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learning so many different commands that

you could be using, and you might be

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using Excel, you might be using Tableau,

you might be using Power bi, might

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using Python, all on top of SQL as well.

78

And those have different syntaxes

and so it's really hard to remember

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all the different syntaxes, so you

don't have to have it memorized.

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It's not a problem if you forget.

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I forget all the freaking time it happens.

82

N nearly like.

83

Every day, to be honest, probably

more than I should tell you guys

84

on YouTube, but I'm forgetful.

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I've never been a good memorizer.

86

And the cool thing is you don't have,

you definitely don't have to have

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it memorized for the job, right?

88

When you're at the job, there's not

like someone over your shoulder like

89

making sure you know how to do this.

90

Now, you should obviously know the basics.

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That's, that's a given, like

select from group by those

92

where those types of things.

93

You should definitely know the backbone of

sequel, probably by, by heart or by hand.

94

Um, but like the more complex

stuff, the more syntax stuff, you

95

definitely don't have to know.

96

Um, where this might not be true is in

an interview, in an interview for some

97

reason in the data world, we just love

to, Hey, do you have this memorized?

98

No, you suck.

99

You're never gonna get hired.

100

You reject you.

101

Like that's just how it is.

102

I don't know why it is.

103

I hate interviews like that, but

there are some sequel interviews

104

that do kind of treat you that way.

105

I think it's basically like if you don't

know that you don't know enough to do the

106

job, but I don't agree with that interview

process, but that's just how it is.

107

So just telling you that to be prepared,

uh, especially in today with like a

108

lot of these editors that will actually

like, kind of fill in the syntax

109

for you or suggest syntax for you.

110

With chat, GBT, with Claude, with

Google, like you really can figure out

111

what you need to do or, or how to do

what you wanna do in a moment's notice.

112

And so memorization, the need

for it is just going down.

113

I don't think you need to be memorizing

something and you shouldn't feel bad

114

if you don't have things memorized.

115

Number three, there's actually a

ton of beginner sequel commands that

116

you may learn in an online tutorial

that are absolutely useless and

117

you should really never use them.

118

Or rather you won't use

them in your career.

119

And the reason is.

120

Is data analysts.

121

We do a lot with databases, right?

122

But really, most of the time, I'd say

90% of the time, we don't actually

123

create, alter or delete databases.

124

We aren't really managing databases.

125

We're querying databases,

which, querying is a funny word.

126

It basically means you're

asking questions to the data.

127

That's your job as data analysts is

to query the data in the database.

128

And so really data

engineers, data architects.

129

Uh, maybe an analytics engineer.

130

Their job is to more create the database

structure and everything like that.

131

Your job as data analyst is just

to answer business questions with

132

the data that they provide you.

133

And so there's certain things and certain

tutorials that will tell you that you

134

need to know some commands, like insert

or delete or update grant or provoke,

135

and you don't need to know those.

136

You don't need to know those at all.

137

That's like more data engineering and

they often call those DCL and DML,

138

which stands for data control language

and data manipulation language.

139

And basically, in my opinion, you

don't need those at all within sql.

140

If you're gonna be a data analyst,

at least not at the beginning.

141

Like don't waste your time.

142

And I'm telling you, if you go to, if you

like Google SQL tutorial, one of the first

143

things they're gonna teach you is like,

okay, this is how you create a a table.

144

This is how you delete a table.

145

This is how you update a row.

146

Do insert into to populate your database.

147

And those are good things to know.

148

I'm not saying like that's

a bad thing to know.

149

I'm just saying if you're in a

crunch for time, which we all are

150

today, and if you're a career pivot.

151

You don't have unlimited time, so you

have to figure out what to spend your

152

time on, and I'm telling you, I wish

I wouldn't have spent time on this.

153

The fourth thing I wish I knew when I

was starting SQL is that you actually

154

don't even really have to know SQL.

155

Now.

156

SQL is really in demand, like it is the

most in demand data tool out there across

157

all the different data disciplines.

158

That being said is like everything

that you can do in sql, you

159

can kind of get away with.

160

In some other data software.

161

So for example, a group I in SQL is

really just a pivot table in Excel and

162

you can do the exact same manipulation.

163

Inside of Pandas as well with

a group by function there.

164

You can join Excel tables.

165

You can join Google Sheets, Tableau and

Power BI both have a bunch of no code

166

data manipulation tools built into their

softwares so that you can actually do

167

like a bunch of data manipulation that you

could do in SQL inside of their softwares

168

without having to write SQL code.

169

I really think you should learn sql.

170

I think it's worth your time.

171

But that being said, just know that

you can do everything that you can

172

do in SQL in a different software.

173

So if you're an Excel master, you can

probably figure out how to do whatever

174

you need to do to the data that you

would do in SQL inside of Excel.

175

You don't have to learn every single data

tool, and if you try, you're gonna be like

176

a hundred years old before you actually

ever feel ready to apply to any job.

177

My point here is just don't feel that

bad if you don't know sql, but you

178

should probably learn it anyways.

179

Tip number five is that you need to

have an IDE and an IDE stands for

180

Integrated Development Environment.

181

And what does that stand for?

182

Well, when I was first like

breaking into data, I knew

183

software, I knew Excel, for example.

184

Uh, and when you download Excel,

you hit download Excel, and then

185

you can, you know, click on Excel

and it opens up Excel and then you

186

can analyze data inside of Excel.

187

Well, SQL is a little bit

more complicated than that.

188

First off, there's not just like

one software that's called SQL

189

and you hit download on sql.

190

There's a bunch of different flavors

and different like sub languages of sql.

191

Um, the more popular ones are MySQL,

SQL Lights, Microsoft SQL Server.

192

Um, Snowflake's becoming more popular.

193

Uh, but my point in telling you this,

if you were to download, for instance,

194

MySQL, you wouldn't be able to just

like double click it and it would open

195

up and you can analyze data in sql.

196

You need what's called an IDE or

often SQL's called a workbench.

197

And basically this is like a secondary

or like a companion software that

198

comes with the actual download

of SQL that lets you use it in a

199

non terminal, non-car coder way.

200

So just know when you're

going to download sql.

201

You probably need to download some

sort of an IDE or some sort of a

202

workbench for you to be able to use

it, and that's a little bit confusing

203

and a little bit difficult to set up.

204

This is one of the reasons why

when I teach SQL inside of the data

205

analytics accelerator, we actually

do the first week without downloading

206

an IDE or even downloading anything.

207

We actually just use a SQL

version inside of the cloud.

208

That allows you to just get the hang

of SQL, of the actual language before

209

you have to deal with like the annoying

logistics of downloading and installing.

210

'cause that's a pain in the butt always.

211

I've done it like literally a

hundred times and I hate downloading

212

SQL every single time I do.

213

It's a pain in the butt.

214

Just trust me.

215

It's not fun.

216

But hey, if I went back and I

could tell myself one thing,

217

I'd be, Hey, you need an id.

218

If you're just gonna try to do it

without an id, it's not gonna work.

219

That brings me to my sixth tip,

and that is that you need to

220

use the limit function in sql.

221

If you run a SQL query, SQL will

give you back all the matching

222

rows that match your query.

223

And a lot of times if you're using

a big database, that could be,

224

you know, it could be five rows,

but it could also be 50 rows.

225

It could be 500 rows.

226

It could be 5,000 rows.

227

It could be 500,000 rows.

228

It could be 5 million rows.

229

If you're trying to return 5 million

rows, it's gonna take a long time

230

to return that, uh, especially

if you're maybe not the best at

231

optimizing queries and stuff like that.

232

So my advice to you is to make sure

you're using the limit at the end,

233

and that will actually, like if you do

limit to 10, that will only give you the

234

first 10 out of the 5 million, so that

way you can test your queries first.

235

You know, on a smaller

result base, so it's fast.

236

And then once you're sure that the

queries kind of work in the way that

237

you want, you can take that limit

238

And then you can make sure

that everything's still working

239

the way that you want, but you

don't have to wait very long.

240

The seventh thing I wish I knew is that

getting good at SQL doesn't equate to

241

actually getting hired because a lot

of you guys probably watching this

242

right now are applying data jobs.

243

And you're getting rejected.

244

You're getting rejected.

245

You're not even getting

like an interview, right?

246

And you're like, oh man, I just

gotta get better at sequel.

247

It's like, why, why do you think

that you, you're probably already

248

proficient enough at Seql.

249

Or if you're not, like I said,

you can get there in like a month.

250

So if you're gonna go like, you know,

hit leak code really hard or just

251

like practice seql problems, that's

not gonna equate to landing a job.

252

It's just not, because right now you're

not getting rejected because you're

253

not gonna a sequel getting rejected for

some other reason probably that your

254

resume and your LinkedIn aren't good.

255

Um, and so really when it comes

down to it, SQL is just like.

256

Maybe one 15th of landing

your first data job.

257

In my opinion, it's just one

third, it's just a skill, right?

258

So I have this method, it's called the

SPN Method Skills Portfolio Network.

259

You need all three to land a data job.

260

Most people are just focused on

the S part, the skill part, and

261

SQL is just one part of the S part.

262

So it's like one 15th

of the whole equation.

263

And if you're just focusing on sql,

you're missing out on so much more,

264

like your portfolio, your projects,

you're networking, your cold

265

messaging, your resume, your LinkedIn.

266

And so it's important

to get good at sequel.

267

Yes, I'll give you that.

268

But it's also important not just to

get stuck in the grind of doing these

269

sequel problems over and over and

over again, thinking that's somehow

270

gonna magically get you a job.

271

Because it's honestly not.

272

And if you do wanna know what's

gonna get you a job, it's actually

273

following the full SPN method.

274

So that's of interest to you.

275

If you've never heard of the SPN

method before, I will have a link down

276

below to learn about the s PN method.

277

And I also have a link to my bootcamp,

which literally will teach you to

278

become a data analyst from wherever

you're at, to landing your first data

279

job, following the SPN method, step by

step, step-by-step with instructors,

280

with peers, and a lot of fun.

281

So hope to see you guys there.