GM data friends. This is The Query — the data newsletter that’s like a JOIN for your data career. We help you find the perfect match and avoid those nasty NULL values.

Here’s what we have for you today:

• The differences between the myriad of data job titles

• Understanding SQL joins

• Project-based learning resources

• A non-obvious, but AWESOME data analyst tool

• And a whole lot of fun 👏 

select * from content-spotlight

1. Samuel Harting made the leap from accountant to analytics engineer. If you’re a millennial or younger, your parents probably pushed you into a “safe” career, like Samuel. After realizing his work was heading in a direction he wasn’t excited about, he decided to transition to a career in data. His story is really inspiring — check it out here.

2. Data Analyst, Data Scientist, Data Engineer, Analytics Engineer… There are MANY different job titles that have a ton of overlap. What gives? When you’re first starting your data career, it’s difficult to understand the differences between these jobs, let alone know which one you’d enjoy most. Luckily, Seattle Data Guy has a great video explaining the differences.

3. Joins are foundational in SQL. But for beginners, comprehending them can be daunting. You’ll need a lot of practice writing joins before the concept is second nature. In the meantime, bookmark this article on understanding SQL joins and use it as a reference whenever you’re confused about joining two tables. Keep this in mind — Joins should list the left table first (i.e. the table you’re joining data to). It’ll be easier for you to visualize the joins when you structure them this way.

class LearningResources: 📊

Looking to hack your way into the data industry or speedrun your career progression? You’ve come to the right place…

three project-based learning resources

The projects below are ordered from easiest to hardest.

All are beginner friendly 🙂 

1. Excel Project Tutorial By Alex The Analyst 

2. SQL Murder Mystery

3. COVID Data Visualization Using Python.

two technical tips

Time to get technical…

1. Referencing an alias in the WHERE clause in SQL

A common SQL mistake is attempting to reference an alias in the WHERE clause.

This doesn’t work.

The WHERE clause can only reference the columns in the FROM clause at the time of execution.

The content you specify in your SELECT statement comes after.

2. Working With Date Values In SQL ⏰

Date logic in SQL is confusing when you first see it.

Here’s a cheat sheet for the most common date functions you’ll see and use.

Note: CURRENT_DATE() is the day this email was sent (i.e. 3/9/2023) and we’re using BigQuery SQL syntax below.

• CURRENT_DATE — Returns the current date

  Example: CURRENT_DATE() -> '2023-03-09'

• DATE_DIFF — Returns the number of days between two dates

  Example: DATE_DIFF( ‘2010-07-07‘, ‘2008-12-25’, DAY ) -> 559

• DATE_ADD — Adds a certain number of days to a date

  Example: DATE_ADD( CURRENT_DATE(), INTERVAL 3 DAY ) -> '2023-03-12'

• DATE_SUB — Subtracts a certain number of days from a date

  Example: DATE_SUB( CURRENT_DATE(), INTERVAL 3 DAY ) -> '2023-03-06'

• DATE_TRUNC — Returns the first day of whatever time frame you choose for a given date ( Ex. DAY, WEEK, MONTH, YEAR, etc.)

  Example: DATE_TRUNC( CURRENT_DATE(), WEEK ) -> '2023-03-05'

  Example 2: DATE_TRUNC( CURRENT_DATE(), MONTH ) -> '2023-03-01'
  Example 3: DATE_TRUNC( CURRENT_DATE(), YEAR ) -> '2023-01-01'

• LAST_DAY — Returns the last day of a given month

  Example: LAST_DAY(CURRENT_DATE()) -> '2023-03-31'

one tool 🔧

Meet Loom — a free video recording tool that can completely revolutionize your day-to-day as a data analyst.

Loom allows you to quickly and easily create screen recordings.

Here are some use cases:

• Film a video of a problem you’re facing to send to a coworker and save everyone from another energy-draining meeting.

• Walk through your portfolio projects to demonstrate your communication skills.

• Send a personalized follow-up to potential employers after an interview to increase your chances of landing the job.

Once you start using it, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.

def data_jobs(👨‍💼👩‍💼):

remote, entry-level data jobs

Because who likes writing SQL from a busy office?

1. Data Analyst @ ICF — $58-99k (apply here)

2. EEO Data Analyst @ Ogletree Deakins — $59-106k (apply here)

3. Data Analyst @ US Center for Safesport — $57-75k (apply here)

4. Data Analyst @ Brookdale — $66-85k (apply here)

5. Product Analyst @ Upstart — $75-82k (apply here)

freelance data gigs

Need work experience?

Freelancing is a fantastic way to improve your data analytics skill set and develop entrepreneurial skills.

1. E-Commerce Inventory Dashboard — $60 fixed price (apply here)

2. PowerBI Report CRM — $20-125 hourly (apply here)

3. Tableau Dashboard for Design Company — $40-75 hourly (apply here)

4. Tableau Dashboard (Capital Projects) — $20-45 hourly (apply here)

import entertainment as fun

meme of the week

If Eminem were a data analyst… 🎤 

“Look, if you had one shot... one opportunity… to query everything you’ve ever wanted, in one statement...

Would you execute it, or just let it slip? Yo…”

r/dataisbeautiful

Which Olympic records are the most impressive?

The chart below shows the z-score of each record vs. the top 100 competitors’ best performances.

A z-score shows you how far from the mean a data point is (meaning how impressive the performance was).

Usain Bolt in 2009 takes the crown! ⚡️

data tok

VERY relatable… 😂 

That’s it for today. Stay crunchin’ folks and see you next week!

If you want more, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn (here and here) — we post data content daily.

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