70-461, 761
Querying Microsoft SQL Server with Transact-SQL

I would concentrate on learning SQL first, and then go for the exam if you want to. However, the exams will no longer happen on 1 July 2020.

As a start, you will need to understand the 6 clauses of the SELECT statement.

If you do want to do this, I cover this in some detail of the first 2 sessions of my 70/461 and 70/761 SQL Server course(the link will give it to you for the cheapest price).

However, if you want to go for the full certification, then you would have to do all 7 sessions in the course. Then I would take a measureup.com test to see how well you are doing.

I hope this helps.

Phillip

This one is highly rated: https://www.udemy.com/course/the-complete-sql-bootcamp/

I took this one and found it good, author is a bit dry (British): https://www.udemy.com/course/70-461-session-2-querying-microsoft-sql-server-2012/

Book wise, you cannot beat Itzik Ben-Gan: https://www.amazon.com/T-SQL-Fundamentals-3rd-Itzik-Ben-Gan/dp/150930200X

Can you reach out to your company's Business Intelligence manager(s)?

If you want to make an internal move, start there. They will probably want you have deeper Epic experience than SQL, as SQL is fairly easy to learn.

I highly recommend Storytelling with Data (beginner) and The Data Warehouse Toolkit (advanced) to develop a well rounded analyst/reporting skill set.

Python is very general purpose, and has served me well, and can be used as an ETL tool. If you're a Microsoft shop, then SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) will be crucial as well.

But you're here for SQL, so I personally suggest avoiding certifications, but learning topics. HERE is a good summary of some skills and concepts to be aware of. With a few weeks/months of study its fairly easy to get to Intermediate level in SQL.

Pick a SQL version and run with it to learn on. I suggest T-SQL since the documentation is extensive and has some of the best teachers.

https://www.brentozar.com/training/t-sql-level/ https://www.brentozar.com/training/think-like-sql-server-engine/ https://www.amazon.com/T-SQL-Fundamentals-Itzik-Ben-Gan-ebook/dp/B01J89I7PI https://www.udemy.com/course/70-461-session-2-querying-microsoft-sql-server-2012/

1. Bought this and currently going through it. This is MS SQL Server

https://www.udemy.com/course/70-461-session-2-querying-microsoft-sql-server-2012/

1. Already took this. This is PostgreSQL

https://www.udemy.com/course/the-complete-sql-bootcamp/

1. Just bought this last night so I can learn MySQL and do data analytics

https://www.udemy.com/course/advanced-sql-mysql-for-analytics-business-intelligence/

1. I also bought this, started it but planning on finishing after I finish above. This one goes through several backend including node.js

https://www.udemy.com/course/node-postgresql/

These are some of the courses I’ve taken or is taking. You can google Udemy Promo code and should be able to find some code that will bring the price down to around $10-$12 or so. Just gotta try few out to see which works but I always get my udemy courses for this price.

I have been diving head first into data science the last few months, and thought you might find a bit of insight into my journey so far useful, especially as I have been using Udemy a great deal to further my knowledge, and have enjoyed the current sale going on right now as well!

SQL - This is the answer. Learn this, now. Everyone else is right. Coming from a heavy math background (B.S. in math, did a lot of set theory and discrete math) I naively thought I understood databases better than I actually did. I really struggled finding ways to practice SQL, until I completed "The Ultimate MySql Bootcamp" by Colte Steel on Udemy. This gave me the exact foundation I was looking for, and I feel ready to move on to more intermediate SQL concepts, and know how to get there.

- https://www.udemy.com/course/the-ultimate-mysql-bootcamp-go-from-sql-beginner-to-expert/

- Next step - https://www.udemy.com/course/70-461-session-2-querying-microsoft-sql-server-2012/

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R - Learned basics of R and plotting with ggplot in a weekend. Found R a bit clunky coming from python, with no real advantage for my purposes. I would NOT start learning R until you have a mastery of python. I feel like I wasted a weekend that could have been better served learning python at a deeper level.

Note: R is a fantastic language, and I did love the concept of the "grammar of graphics" with ggplot. Just doesn't fit into my learning schedule atm when there are more useful things I belive I should be learning.

- https://www.udemy.com/course/data-science-and-machine-learning-bootcamp-with-r/

Tableau/Power BI - Useful but probably not what you need right now. Could easily learn basics in a weekend, but may struggle if concept of databases is weak. Before I understood database schemas a bit better, this only served as a clunkier excel for me. I have not done any tableau courses and am less experience than with Power BI, but both essentially serve the same purpose as far as I am aware. The course below taught me to use it much more effectively, and I appreciated the practicality of the course being one big encompassing project.

- https://www.udemy.com/course/microsoft-power-bi-up-running-with-power-bi-desktop/

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Excel - Absolutely vital or completely irrelevant depending on what you do. Excel is the bridge to people who freak out when you mention data science. For myself, I work in financial services company in an operations training role. Python, R, SQL, Tableau; I can't use any of these at work. I can do basic report automation through Excel though, in a way my coworkers can understand and work with. In a real data science position, I would think Excel becomes a bit redundant. I don't feel right recommending any courses for excel I didn't take myself, but there are a bunch of great ones on Udemy I am sure.

Hope this helps! :)