Here is how you're gonna become a data analyst in 2026.

Here is how you're gonna become a data analyst in 2026. Watch this video till the end if you're really serious about your career. First thing I want you to do is look up SQL. If you have never coded before, I want you to go watch this video on YouTube. This will teach you the basics of SQL and this will be like your beginner course. The next thing I want you to do is I want you to go to this website called W3Schools and I want you to start practicing what you learned in that YouTube video. Next, I want you to learn Excel and I want you to watch this video on YouTube. Look up this title and learn Excel. Okay, this is my lunch. It's salad with salmon. It also had goat cheese on it. I told them not to put because I just don't like the flavor of goat cheese. Currently in LA, I was going to go eat out, but I have $36 room credit which I need to use and I love salmon. Salmon. So, you have learned SQL, learned Excel. Now, I want you to pick one reporting tool and the reporting tool that I would recommend is Tableau because Tableau has a lot of external resources where you can go and learn. For example, this one. Pick Tableau, download it on your computer. They have like free software that you can download and play with and start building some reports. By now, you have done SQL, Excel, Tableau, which is one of the reporting tools. Then, I want you to go and read blogs because now you're gonna figure out how people who are data analysts and working in the industry communicate their insights and findings and what kind of problems they're solving. Oh my god, the salmon is so tiny. Let me show you. So tiny. I want to try it right now. It is good. I was thinking they would bring me proper utensils, not like a to-go lunch, but I'm not going to complain. Now, you have learnt 99% of the skills that a data analyst is supposed to know. Now, depending on where you are, in which type of roles you are interested in, it's possible that they might require coding language such as Python. Look at the job market. Do most data analyst jobs that you want to target requiring Python? If yes, then I want you to master Python. The library name is Pandas. So, learn Python Pandas and basically the hack here is that use your SQL code that you've written and try to translate that into Python. That's literally one of the best ways that you can do this. Going back to SQL, definitely make sure that you are going intermediate. Like intermediate level SQL is not going to get you that far in the current job market, so you need to have like intermediate to advanced SQL. Not good. I don't like it. There is a sushi place that I really wanted to go. Now, I'm thinking I should have gone there. Now, you have learned the skills, but remember, learning the skills is just the first step. It's not going to get you the job. Now, you need to start practicing everything that you have learned and you will do that by building projects. HackerRank is one of the place where you can actually go and it will give you problems. Build that project portfolio. I'm sure you have heard this like 200 times. I'm going to tell you one more time that it is having projects is very, very, very, very important. So, let's say once you have done the projects, you have learned the data analytics skills, you are competing in the current job market and getting your first job is going to be hard. Like I'm not going to sugarcoat it. For somebody who has 11 years experience, has big tech names such as Amazon and Google, like even for me, when I apply to jobs, it's competitive out there. Like I don't hear back from everyone. If you're starting with a blank resume, it's going to be tough, so just to set expectations there. One of the best thing that you can do is like find that first job strategically. For example, when I started, like I started with a super blank slate resume. I was struggling to get my first internship. Then, I started reaching out to local startups in my area and I told them like give me this two-month internship. I will build this project. I did the research. I will build this project for you, you don't have to pay me. That internship literally was one of the best decisions I made because they gave me a really shiny recommendation. I also got to have practical experience that helped me get my next internship, which was at Amazon. Money is important, but also think strategically, think long term. One more skill that I would add to your toolkit is learn how to use AI in your day-to-day job, whether that is for writing SQL code, debugging the SQL code with AI using ChatGPT and what not. And that's how, my friend, you will become a data analyst in 2026. Let me know which role I should cover next. Data scientist, data engineer, or something else.