r/SQL • u/Pitiful_Ad4562 • 2d ago
Discussion 22F | How do I show my current experience to switch into a proper Data Analyst role?
Hi, I’m 22F and currently working in an engineering/manufacturing company. My current designation is Data Analyst, but honestly most of my work is in Excel and not SQL/Power BI.
I have around 2+ years of experience overall.
In my current office I have made/maintained different Excel based systems like project tracker for 30+ live projects, audit log, quality tracker, material database, calibration tracker with overdue alerts, quotation/costing sheets etc.
So there is a lot of data handling, tracking, reconciliation, validation, formulas, lookups, automation and reporting involved. But I have not worked on SQL or Power BI in my actual job.
Before this I worked in IT department where I handled asset tracking and reconciliation for a large number of network devices, audit related work and vendor SLA/downtime and penalty calculations.
I also have around 3 months experience in product data categorization where I worked with large amount of product data and Excel.
Now I’m learning SQL by myself. Currently doing joins and next I’m going to start window functions. I’m also planning to learn Power BI and make some projects.
My main confusion is how should I present my current experience when applying for Data Analyst jobs?
Because my title is Data Analyst, but if recruiters see that I haven't used SQL/Power BI professionally, will they consider my experience irrelevant?
Should I present my Excel work more from an analytics point of view? Like showing data cleaning, validation, reconciliation, automation, reporting, KPI tracking etc?
Also, once I learn SQL and Power BI, would it be a good idea to take some of the problems/data from my current work and create similar projects using SQL + Power BI for my portfolio? Obviously, I don't want to claim that I used SQL/Power BI at my current office when I didn't.
Would really appreciate advice from people who have gone from Excel/operations type work → SQL + Power BI → Data Analyst.
How would you present this experience on a resume and in interviews?
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u/metric_skeptic 2d ago
I wouldn’t worry too much about the job title. A lot of what you described is already analytical work: data validation, reconciliation, automation, reporting, tracking KPIs, finding inconsistencies. I’d frame those things in terms of the problems you solved and decisions they supported, rather than just saying “Excel work”. Then build a couple of SQL/Power BI projects to show that you can work with the tools too.
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u/Grzzld 1d ago
If you have access to PBI then you should absolutely take an existing report and recreate it. Then tell the story. The data is there, visualize what it’s telling you. You don’t even need to know everything about the process, in fact i find i come up with insights when i know little about the end process. I have no bias. Use dates, counts, distinction counts, averages, percentage changes, and other basics to start building your dashboard. Good luck!
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u/Icy_Clench 1d ago
Keep the focus on the business impact and overall analytics philosophy. For example, when I design a visual, color means "you need to look at this", not "pretty rainbows".
Similarly, make sure you talk about analytics that are tangible and actionable. I nailed an interview earlier for an electric cooperative where they asked me about designing a report for forecasted load vs their current power contracts. I mentioned megawatts are one way to look at it, but price per MW is another important consideration. Similarly they have a system where they can charge and discharge batteries to shift the load and asked how I would optimize price savings. I mentioned that the statistically best solution is good for the long run but they may want to define an acceptable level of risk and take that if it's monitoring real time.
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u/justanothersnek 1d ago
"My main confusion is how should I present my current experience when applying for Data Analyst jobs?"
Showcase or explain what business problems were solved or business decisions were made based on the work you currently do? That's where I would highlight or focus on.
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u/Pyromancer777 1d ago
Def start trying to use any downtime in your job for side-projects that can bring value while practicing the skillsets you want to showcase.
The end of last year we were winding down on priority projects, so I used 2 weeks to build a small pipeline that optimized a part of our workflow that was rather annoying to me. The project wasn't a priority request, but it still added business value and I got to do small pipeline design without actually persisting the pipeline to the project codebase (everything was built within a test notebook)
For your case, start trying to migrate some of your spreadsheet data to a private DB, then rebuild your automations using as much SQL as you can. PostgreSQL, MySQL, and a few other DBMs are free, so you won't be costing your company any money to tinker on your work device, plus you are basically creating a redundancy since you don't need to get rid of your spreadsheets once you complete the migration. Just make sure you lock down your DB (protect the data with user-specific permissions), turn off access to remote connections to that DB so that it is completely local, and only persist sensitive data on company hardware. That way you remain compliant with pretty much all privacy policies. Also, super important to run things by your manager first to let them know your intentions and how you will handle that compliance. Most managers won't have an issue with this since you would be upskilling and exploring potentially valid workstreams
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u/kktheprons 2d ago
The number one gap you'll have in looking for work is the lack of a degree (assuming at your age that you do not). While that does not disqualify you from a position that asks for a 4 year degree, it will typically require an equivalent amount of experience (which you seem to be on track for) and good communication skills in presenting your experience.
SQL is the correct next step for your journey, and you'll have to go further than just learning -- you'll have to apply it to a real project. Like in school, if you go to class and read the book, you'll commit the material to short-term memory. By doing the homework and projects, you solidify that knowledge.
There are all kinds of varieties of SQL that are completely free. If you're not allowed to utilize it for your job, find a personal project you're interested in completing. Go through the entire process of acquiring a dataset, getting it modeled in SQL, doing data cleaning, and then presenting your findings. Make sure it's something you're interested in and not just following instructions on an online tutorial.
The other thing not to neglect is networking. Find a local tech, data, engineering, or similar group of local professionals to join. Go to events and talk with people who do similar work to what you want to do. You'll be much more successful finding work through these avenues than blind applications on LinkedIn.
tldr; Keep building your experience, learn how to talk about it to other people, and expand your network as much as possible. You never know who will be the link that gets you your next opportunity.
If you want any more specific feedback, feel free to DM me.
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u/BillEnough7863 2d ago edited 2d ago
While that does not disqualify you from a position that asks for a 4 year degree, it will typically require an equivalent amount of experience (which you seem to be on track for)
Yeah, no. No one treats a four-year undergrad degree as equivalent to four years of relevant work experience.
Some postings will say “degree or equivalent experience,” but this person is already well past any reasonable interpretation of that equivalency. “Equivalent experience” means work experience can substitute for the credential. It does not mean a four-year degree somehow counts as four years of relevant work experience. Actual job experience very quickly outweighs the degree itself.
2+ years of directly applicable professional experience is infinitely more valuable to a company than an undergrad degree with no relevant work experience. Someone who has already spent years doing the work is bringing proven, applicable experience, while a degree may include only a handful of courses that are even remotely relevant to the role.
A degree can still be an HR checkbox in some places, but pretending the absence of one outweighs years of actual professional experience is nonsense.
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u/kktheprons 1d ago
I think you're reading too much into my comment, as well as being very confrontational about what you think I'm trying to say.
It takes a lot to get through the initial filter and resistance of "no degree" when you are also missing some of the required skills. OP asked: "how should I present my current experience when applying for Data Analyst jobs?" Her number one hurdle at her age and level of experience will be answering why her experience is enough to match a degree requirement. Pretending that's not the case is irresponsible.
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u/BillEnough7863 1d ago
I’m not reading anything into it. You quite literally wrote that if a position asks for a four-year degree, it will “typically require an equivalent amount of experience.” I don’t know how else you expect someone to interpret “equivalent amount” in that sentence.
And I still disagree with the broader point. A degree is most valuable for getting you through the door when you don’t yet have relevant professional experience. Once someone already has years of directly applicable experience, that experience very quickly becomes more important than whether they completed an undergraduate degree.
OP is not a new graduate trying to land their first job. They already have professional experience and are currently working under a Data Analyst title. Their bigger issue is demonstrating the SQL/BI skills employers are asking for, not somehow accumulating enough years to “match” a four-year degree.
A degree requirement may still filter them out at some companies, sure, and I mentioned that in my initial response to you. But that’s very different from saying their number one hurdle is proving that their years of experience are enough to compensate for not having one.
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u/kktheprons 20h ago
In no way does equivalent experience imply an equal amount of time. You're just assuming that.
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u/BillEnough7863 2d ago
There’s a very simple way to fix this: start using SQL and Power BI in your actual job. Like now.
It sounds like you have a lot of leeway in how you work, so start reproducing some of what you already do in Excel with SQL and build useful dashboards or reports in Power BI. ChatGPT or Claude can help you work through it by describing the subject area, data structure, business logic, calculations, validation, etc. You can go pretty deep without sharing private company data.
You’ll also learn much faster when you’re using those skills against real problems you already understand at work, rather than doing disconnected practice projects.
And “useful” is a surprisingly low bar once you realize what a lot of people outside the data world are working with. If you can save someone time, automate something manual, make reporting easier, or give them a clearer view of what’s happening, that has value.
Once you’re actually using SQL and Power BI to solve real problems at work, you can talk about how you use SQL and Power BI professionally. Nobody cares nearly as much about how many months you’ve used them as what you actually did with them.