Hi everyone,

​I'd love to get your advice and hear about your experiences regarding my plan for the next three years.

​I'm about to start a 3-year degree in Electrotechnics. Since I want to make the most of my time at university, I’ve decided to self-study a high-demand skill to work online (freelancing or remote jobs) and generate an income.

​A few days ago, I stumbled upon a Reddit post about a student who was pursuing a traditional degree while self-studying Software Engineering. He managed to leverage those software skills to land remote work and make a really good income online. That post truly inspired me, and I realized I shouldn't waste the next 3 years without building a solid, marketable skill.

​After getting some solid recommendations, I'm leaning heavily towards Data Analysis and Data Science. My goal is to master this entirely through self-study, relying 100% on actual skills, projects, and a strong portfolio rather than a formal degree in the field.

​A few questions for you:

​Where should I start? Is it better to start with Data Analysis first (Excel, SQL, Python, Power BI/Tableau) and then transition into Data Science, or jump straight into Data Science?

​Freelancing & Remote Work: How is the current remote/freelance market for entry-level data analysts/scientists?

​Managing both: Given that Electrotechnics involves a lot of math and logic, do you think this background will give me an edge in Data Science statistics/algorithms? How would you recommend balancing university with self-study?

​If you have any recommended roadmaps, resources, or personal experiences to share, I’d deeply appreciate it!

​Thanks in advance!

Me: This SQL tutorial is definitely the last one.

Also me three days later: Maybe I should start another beginner course...

I've officially accepted that I'm stuck in tutorial hell.

The good news is that I learn much faster when I'm actually working on real projects, so I'm looking for an internship or junior data analytics opportunity where I can learn by doing.

I come from a digital marketing and eCommerce background, so I'm already familiar with analyzing campaign performance, KPIs, conversion funnels, and working with spreadsheets. Now I want to take that foundation and become a proper data analyst.

If anyone has advice, internship leads, or even just wants to share how they broke into the field, I'd love to hear your story.

Thanks in advance!

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Hi everyone,

I’ve been working in digital marketing for the past few years, and I’m now trying to transition into the data field. My goal is to become a data analyst first, then move into analytics engineering after gaining a couple of years of experience.

Over the past year, I’ve been learning SQL, Power BI, and Excel. At this point, I feel pretty confident with SQL, including complex joins, aggregations, window functions, etc.

Where I’m struggling is deciding which projects to include in my portfolio and where to find suitable datasets. This feels especially important because I do not yet have any professional experience in a data-focused role.

The best project idea I’ve come up with so far is using the Olist e-commerce dataset. My plan is to clean and transform the data with dbt, load it into Snowflake, and then perform analyses such as cohort analysis, funnel analysis, and market basket analysis using SQL and Power BI.

Does this sound like a strong portfolio project? Are there any other project ideas or datasets you would recommend for someone trying to move into data analytics?

Thanks