Best Way to Develop Data Analysis Skills?

It's no secret that the job market in consulting is trending towards data science with the pandemic acting as a huge catalyst towards this shift. I studied traditional business and finance concepts throughout my undergrad and have thought to pivot into a more data-oriented role. I initially thought I could develop this skill set within the firm in my post-graduate years since assignments are the quickest ways to learn, but the pandemic threw a wrench into that plan.
iI don't intend to compete with computer science or math majors, but to give myself a better chance for analyst positions at consulting firms that tend to look for students who've had some experience in SQL, Python, R, PowerBI.
With that said, I know the tools at my disposal are: (1) Coursera, (2) Youtube, (3) LinkedInLearning, (4) Google, (4) Institutional Certificates (CFI's Business Intelligence Analyst certificate for instance)
What is the most efficient way to pick up skills in data science?Tl;dr: I need to learn basics of data analysis for better chance at recruiting, how should I approach it? 

 

I'm finding this to be the case myself - firms like PwC expect you to have basic or intermediate understanding of SQL and PowerBi specifically. 

​​​​​​I don't know much of the courses on Udemy, do you have any recommendations or courses you've taken that have been helpful?

 

I've not taken them myself (I'm a dinosaur) but know many who have. Udemy is similar to Coursera. Just go to their website and search the classes. Tons of useful content catering to all levels of users. I know my son took an Excel and SQL class and found them useful. The shortcuts and modeling skills learned in Excel were pretty impressive considering just spending a few hours per day for a week or so.

 

SQL is extremely easy, trust me. It takes 2 weeks to learn and get good at all basic, intermediate and some advanced syntaxes. 

Then you go to Kaggle, download some datasets, and get some practice.

The bad thing about SQL is the no visualization part (you can write functions in SQL, but those functions are heavy and dumb). If you want more, learn Python or R as a next step. 

Persistency is Key
 
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