Becoming a Data Analyst is a promising career choice in 2025, especially for those starting with zero experience. As organizations increasingly rely on data-driven decision-making, the demand for skilled data analysts is surging. This post will guide you through the steps to kickstart your career as a data analyst, highlighting free courses that can help you gain the necessary skills and knowledge.
Table of Contents
About the Data Analyst
Data analysis is the process of inspecting, cleansing, transforming, and modeling data with the goal of discovering useful information, informing conclusions, and supporting decision-making. Data analysis has multiple facets and approaches, encompassing diverse techniques under a variety of names, and is used in different business, science, and social science domains. In today’s business world, data analysis plays a role in making decisions more scientific and helping businesses operate more effectively.
Eligibility Criteria
Become a Data Analyst with Zero Experience in data analysis.
Why Choose a Career as a Data Analyst?
The role of a data analyst has gained immense popularity due to several factors:
High Demand: As businesses accumulate vast amounts of data, the need for professionals who can analyze and interpret this data is growing. According to industry reports, there are approximately 97,000 vacant data analyst jobs currently in India.
Lucrative Salaries: The average salary for a data analyst in India ranges from ₹4.5 lakhs to ₹12 lakhs per annum for entry-level positions, with experienced analysts earning significantly more. In fact, top performers can earn upwards of ₹50 lakhs annually.
Diverse Opportunities: Data analysts are needed across various sectors, including finance, healthcare, e-commerce, and technology. This diversity allows professionals to explore different industries and find their niche.
Skill Development: Working as a data analyst helps you develop valuable skills in statistical analysis, programming, and data visualization—skills that are highly sought after in today’s job market.
Skills Required to Become a Data Analyst
To succeed as a data analyst, you need to acquire a mix of technical and soft skills:
Statistical Analysis: Understanding statistical methods is crucial for interpreting data accurately.
Programming Languages: Familiarity with programming languages such as Python or R can enhance your analytical capabilities.
Data Visualization Tools: Proficiency in tools like Tableau or Power BI helps present your findings effectively.
SQL Knowledge: SQL is essential for querying databases and extracting relevant information.
Critical Thinking: The ability to analyze problems critically and make informed decisions based on data is vital.
Here are 1
1. Intro to Data Analysis
Learn data analytics for free with this Intro to Data Analysis course. I joined in this course to examine the material, and I discovered that there are three classes and one project.
Typically, free courses don’t include projects. However, this course offers one dataset analysis project. You must examine the provided dataset, and then you must provide your findings.
You will learn the steps involved in data analysis as well as the well-known Python modules Pandas and Numpy throughout this course. After reviewing its material, I can state that this program is suitable for those looking to get a fundamental understanding of data analysis.
What Will You Learn?
Data Analysis Process
NumPy and Pandas for 1D Data
NumPy and Pandas for 2D Data
Final Project: Investigate a Dataset
Course Link Click Here
2.SQL for Data Analysis
This SQL for Data Analysis course teaches SQL for Data Analysis and is also entirely free. If you want to study or brush up on your SQL skills, this is the course for you. SQL is used for handling data.
I signed up for each of these courses, then I checked the calibre of the content. Therefore, when I enrolled in this course, I discovered that it was a thorough course with 7 lectures.
The first session goes over the fundamentals of SQL, including Why SQL Is Important, Types of Statements, SELECT & FROM, LIMIT, ORDER BY, WHERE, Arithmetic Operators, and a host of other subjects.
The two lessons that follow discuss SQL Joins and Aggregations.
This course also covers table expressions, persistent derived tables, and subqueries. The lecturer, Derek, then
What Will You Learn?
Basic SQL
SQL Joins
SQL Aggregations
SQL Subqueries & Temporary Tables
SQL Data Cleaning
Advanced] SQL Window Functions
Course Link Click Here
3. Bayesian Statistics: From Concept to Data Analysis
This University of California course, Bayesian Statistics: From Concept to Data Analysis, is free to audit, but it is not intended for novices.
They have organised the course into a 4-week plan, which I discovered when I free-audited the course to assess the quality of its content.
They discuss Bayes Theorem and fundamentals of probability in the first week’s lesson plan. This week, you will also study about binomial and Bernoulli distributions.
The videos aren’t extremely long, so I don’t see why they separated it up into four weeks. The majority of the videos last 6 to 10 minutes.
You’ll learn about statistical inference the following week. Python is not used in this course; instead, R programming is. The introduction to R programming is covered in a separate video.
Skills you’ll gain
Bayesian Statistics
Probability & Statistics
General Statistics
Probability Distribution
Course Link Click Here
4. Data Analysis with R
Learn how to analyze data using R programming in this free intermediate-level course, Data Analysis with R. When compared to free classes on other sites, I discovered that Udacity’s courses are of comparable quality.
There are 9 lessons and 1 project in this course. Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) Basics are covered at the start of the course. The lecturer outlines the benefits of learning EDA as well as its objectives.
A separate lesson on the fundamentals of R programming follows that. This article describes how to install RStudio on Mac and Windows, RStudio Layout, Demystifying R, R Markdown Documents, etc. but does not go into great length about R programming.
Exploration of one variable, two variables, and numerous variables will be covered in the next six lectures. Additionally, each session concludes with problem sets.
What Will You Learn?
What is EDA?
R Basics
Explore One Variable
Problem Set: Explore One Variable
Explore Two Variables
Course Link Click Here
5. Exploratory Data Analysis in Python
Complete courses are not free on DataCamp. All courses’ first lesson is the only one that is free. Similar to that, you are given free access to the first lesson of this Exploratory Data Analysis in Python course. As a result, you will learn how to read the data, check for errors and special instances, and prepare the data for analysis in the first lesson of this course.
You will learn more about the Data Cleaning procedure in this first course. You can view this free lecture as a YouTube instructional, but it won’t provide you a thorough understanding of data analytics.
This DataCamp function irritates me. They ought to either lock the entire course or offer the entire course for free. But we are unable to
Course Link Click Here
6. Data and Visual Analytics
Another free course for studying data analysis and visualization is available in this one. This course requires some prior knowledge of statistics and maths. Beginners should not take this course.
This course consists of 13 lessons. This course’s lecturer is Guy Lebanon. He has been in the industry for more than 20 years. In this course, he employs the R programming language.
You will start by learning the fundamentals of R programming. The basics of R programming are thoroughly covered in this course. You will also comprehend the similarities and differences between R, Python, and Matlab.
You will learn how to process and visualize data after studying the fundamentals of R programming. Additionally, the lecturer discusses logistic and linear regression.
Regularisation is the course’s main lesson.
What Will You Learn?
Course Information
R Basics
Netflix Interview 1
R Programming Language
Course Link Click Here
How to Gain Experience in Data Analyst?
While completing these courses will provide you with foundational knowledge, gaining practical experience is equally important:
Internships: Look for internships or entry-level positions that allow you to apply your skills in real-world scenarios.
Projects: Work on personal projects or contribute to open-source projects that involve data analysis.
Networking: Join online communities or local meetups related to data analytics to connect with professionals in the field.
Career Pathways in Become a Data Analyst
Once you’ve completed your training and gained some experience through internships or projects, you can explore various career pathways:
Junior Data Analyst
Business Intelligence Analyst
Data Scientist
Data Engineer
Market Research Analyst
Conclusion
Becoming a successful data analyst with zero experience is entirely achievable in 2025 thanks to the abundance of free online courses available today. By enrolling in these courses and developing the necessary skills, you can position yourself for success in one of the most sought-after careers in India.
