This Advanced SQL Course Will Boost Your Career!

Can you already create pretty good SQL reports? Do you want to take it a step further? In this article, I'll explain how an advanced SQL course can propel you (and your career) to the next level.

Since you are looking for information about SQL, you probably already know how important data is nowadays. Very few companies can stay on the market without using the power of data or basing their strategic decisions on it.

If you‘re new to databases and SQL, start with our SQL Basics course. This is a great first step into the world of data and a career in IT. And if you don't even know what SQL is, read on. I'll answer that question in the next paragraph.

What Is SQL?

SQL (or Structured Query Language) is the programming language used by database software to communicate and store data. SQL is everywhere – from tech giants to small startups – making it an extremely useful programming skill to have. It is highly versatile and can be used in situations from data entry to business management.

If you want to learn more about SQL, check out this article. Or read more about the more than 50 years of language development that SQL has gone through to become a data industry standard.

Here at LearnSQL.com, we offer interactive SQL courses for all levels of expertise. With our SQL Basics course, we have a path for complete beginners with no prior programming or IT experience. Our SQL Practice track is designed for those at the intermediate level who want to refresh or deepen their SQL knowledge.

For seasoned IT professionals looking to expand their SQL toolkit and advance their careers, we recommend our Advanced SQL track, which we will discuss in greater detail later in this article.

Why Do I Need SQL?

SQL, the language of database management, is intended to provide you with simple, dependable, and user-friendly access to entire databases.

Since ‘data has now become the new oil’, businesses must prioritize the storage and protection of this resource. Having specialized data management software is a necessity, not a luxury. With such technology, data can be safely and securely stored, retrieved, and manipulated with just a few simple SQL queries.

Therefore, the need for people fluent in the language of SQL is growing. Without this knowledge, how can companies communicate with their databases? Advanced SQL knowledge, in particular, has been shown to boost career opportunities by increasing access to opportunities in larger companies as well as job openings in smaller startups.

Still not convinced? Let's look at some SQL-related applications and jobs.

How SQL Is Used

1. Data Entry

SQL can be used to keep track of a company's data and ensure its accuracy and consistency. Maintaining consistent and accurate data is critical for businesses because it allows them to stay current with the ever-changing market and thus remain competitive.

2. Data Analysis

A company's collected data can be analyzed for trends using SQL by a data analyst or a business analyst. The main difference between the two positions is how they use their analysis. Data analysts collect data, manipulate it, extract useful information from it, and synthesize their findings into digestible insights.

Business analysts use data to make strategic business decisions. A business analyst, for example, can make recommendations to upper management based on the information and reports generated using SQL. This could be related to department reorganization, supply chain restructuring, or new hires.

Both data and business analysts use advanced SQL to build more complex queries in order to solve the more difficult business problems. See an example of this in action in our article SQL Queries for Analyzing Financial Data.

3. Data Science

Data science is the application of mathematics and statistics to real-world datasets, using statistical techniques to draw conclusions. It entails extracting data from large data sets, which can be accomplished using (you guessed it) SQL! These data insights can be used to forecast economic trends or to study the number of sales in a specific area during a given season (among many other things).

Here you will find more reasons to learn and use SQL in data science.

Careers that Require SQL

Since SQL is the language of relational databases, any job that involves data will necessitate some knowledge of SQL. Let's take a look at some of the most common data-related jobs that require SQL:

1. Data Analyst

A data analyst's typical responsibilities include cleaning/transforming data, modeling it in specific formats, and creating visualizations or views to highlight information that decision-makers can use. Knowing SQL is a must for becoming a data analyst because they work with databases on a daily basis to complete these tasks.

Check out our article Why Should Every Data Analyst Know SQL?, which delves deeper into why SQL is so important for this role.

2. Business Analyst

A business analyst is a person who works in an advisory capacity to both upper management and mid-level employees in a company. Their job is to oversee the health of the company by studying data and reporting their findings. Therefore, having sufficient knowledge to be able to work with databases is a necessity for this position.

Are you wondering if it's worth going into this career path? Then check out our article on How Much Do Business Analysts Earn?

3. Data Engineer

A data engineer is responsible for the design and analysis of large-scale data collections, storage, and infrastructure. SQL is required for this role because data engineers are frequent database users. You can learn more in Want to Get a Data Engineering Job? Learn SQL!

4. Data Scientist

A data scientist's job entails gathering and processing incoming data, developing machine learning models or algorithms, and using automation* like all in one CRM *to simplify some routine data-related task. They may also be in charge of developing and implementing data-driven solutions for their organization.

Here are Four Reasons You Must Learn SQL in Data Science.

5. Database Administrator

A database administrator manages their company’s databases, creating and maintaining their server files as well as all other files used for the operation of database software in an organization.

They also assist managers with database-related projects, such as developing systems for regularly updating information and making changes.

How Learning SQL Basics Can Advance Your Career

Knowing even the fundamentals of SQL can give you the ability to analyze data and gain insights, giving you more opportunities in the workforce. Among the over 70,000 developers surveyed in the 2022 Stack Overflow’s Developer Survey, SQL was the third most popular technology:

Source: Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2022

Furthermore, this survey also discovered that SQL had a median increase in yearly salary of nearly $13,000 in comparison to 2021!

Source: Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2022

This demonstrates that knowing SQL can not only increase your opportunities but also boost your bank account!

If you’re looking for a comprehensive course to take you from SQL zero to SQL hero, look no further than our SQL from A to Z track. It covers both fundamental and advanced SQL skills, providing you with everything you need to power up your career.

What Is Advanced SQL?

You’ve mastered the basics and want to move onto advanced SQL, but where to begin? The Advanced SQL track at LearnSQL.com will help you to take your SQL skills to the next level. It demonstrates the most up-to-date, efficient, and time-saving querying techniques. These are the types of capabilities that will help you become a qualified business analyst, database administrator, or data engineer.

When we talk about Advanced SQL, we mean going beyond the fundamentals and becoming a true SQL master. By learning advanced SQL features, you will be able to write more complex and effective queries, making your analysis much more in-depth and beneficial.

Ultimately, adding advanced SQL skills to your toolbox is what will set you apart from the crowd. Having a portfolio that demonstrates your advanced capabilities will also allow you to pursue that promotion, salary increase, or job change. In addition to the new skills LearnSQL.com’s Advanced SQL track will give you, you will also receive a certification badge that you can publish to your LinkedIn profile.

So, what can you expect to find in our Advanced SQL track?

1.   Window Functions

SQL’s window functions don’t collapse rows in the result set (unlike GROUP BY, which only returns a summary row). This allows you to create more detailed reports. With window functions, you can:

• Compute running totals and averages for corporate spending.
• Determine the best and worst performing products.
• Investigate trends that occur over
• Calculate commission percentages across store locations.

To see a real-world example of window functions in action, see our article SQL Window Functions by Explanation. This tutorial will demonstrate just how beneficial advanced SQL can be to your career.

2.   GROUP BY Extensions

This learning path will teach you how to use the ROLLUP, CUBE, and GROUPING SETS operations. These will allow you to delve deeper into data grouping and perform statistical calculations on narrower result sets.

What is the advantage of this? Given that "the customer is the most important point on the production line," you can delve even deeper into customer segmentations and truly understand who your target market is.

3.   Recursive Queries

Last but by no means least is recursive queries. Here you will learn about Common Table Expressions (CTEs), which allow you to break your query into smaller, more manageable chunks. This makes your code more readable and easier to work with, thus boosting your coding effectiveness. Find out more in our article Get to Know the Power of SQL Recursive Queries, which explains why these are a must-have in your SQL toolbox.

Why Should You Take an Advanced SQL Course?

Our Advanced SQL track is the internet’s only fully interactive advanced SQL learning path at the time of this writing. It includes SQL’s most up-to-date features; these will undoubtedly help you advance your career. The knowledge and skills you will gain in this course will go beyond anything you can find online.

When you're done with our Advanced SQL track, read our guide on how to practice advanced SQL with our platform for even more advanced SQL learning opportunities.

So, what are you waiting for? Sign up for free on our platform and prepare to take your career to the next level!