Governors State University

Training Success Elements

Exercises build your competency and confidence and give you a feeling of accomplishment.
Realtime AI-based contextual assistance is available, whenever needed.
You get personal coaching and instructional support throughout your training.
You never miss training sessions because of family and work responsibilities.
You are fully qualified and job-ready, when you graduate.

Overview of Training

This cornerstone training program is designed for you, if you are determined to become a skilled Data Analyst. It provides you with enough practice and theoretical knowledge to make you job-ready when you graduate. It also teaches you the soft skills employers look for in job applicants. Upon completing the training, you are ready to start a successful new career in Data Analytics.

Data Analytics can’t be learned in a few weeks by passively watching video tutorials and then doing some exercises on your own. It is an advanced skill set which can only be mastered with a significant amount of closely supervised practice. NCLab’s proven training method is called Instructor-Assisted Learning By Doing. You learn actively from Day 1. After gaining confidence in one topic, you move to the next one. The progression has been improved and tuned for many years, and it is so smooth that you never get lost. And, you are never alone. Our highly responsive instructional support team composed of professional Data Analysts, college instructors, and former NCLab trainees stands by to promptly assist you with the coursework if needed.

The Data Analyst career training program takes approximately 320 hands-on hours. You are assigned a coach who prepares a personalized roadmap and training timeline for you, and then works with you for the entire duration of the training. Because your training is self-paced and individualized to your schedule, you are able to build a consistent training routine with your coach that does not interfere with your work and family commitments.

Coursework

To begin with, given that Data Analysts work extensively with numbers, they must know some math. If, in consultation with your coach, it is determined that you need a basic middle school level math refresher, our optional Workplace Math course provides hands-on review and practice to bring you up to speed. In small and simple steps, we review how to work with whole and decimal numbers, fractions, percentages, proportions, simple and compound interest, unit conversions, and solve simple workplace-related math problems. The course includes several ACT WorkKeys Applied Math practice exams. After completing this course, you are ready to take the ACT WorkKeys Applied Math exam, which is highly valued by employers.

With an appropriate math foundation in place, you begin your Data Analyst training with an SQL Fundamentals course where you learn about data and databases, with emphasis on Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMSs), which are used in virtually all industries and organizations to store data about employees, products, services, inventory, financial transactions, etc. You learn how RDBMSs work, how to make basic queries, how to do extracts, how to use aggregate functions, how to create and manage tables, and how to use basic joins.

In a real company setting, RDBMSs tend to be large, complex, and messy (they often contain damaged and/or incomplete data). To successfully handle such databases, training continues with Advanced SQL. This course teaches you how to use conditional expressions, work with text including search-and-replace operations, formulate subqueries and advanced joins, and how to define and use SQL functions.

You continue your Data Analyst training with a comprehensive Data Literacy course, in which you learn all about:

Data sources
Data types
Data relationships
Data structures
Sorting, filtering and grouping, data and
Other fundamental techniques of Data Analytics.

You learn basic and advanced spreadsheet operations, including data visualization and analytics, using Google Sheets and Google Data Studio. You learn how to create interactive dashboards and reports. You also learn the fundamentals of data mining, statistical methods, data analysis, and data visualization. Finally, you learn about data governance, quality, and controls. Upon completing this course, you understand how data is acquired, stored, manipulated, analyzed, and used to make better business decisions.

This training is followed by a Capstone Project in which you use all of the skills you’ve acquired and become comfortable with the work environment that you will be in in your first job. The completed project in your resume will show potential employers that you have the skills and experience they are looking for.

If you want to strengthen your resume by getting some exposure to Python programming, then you can add an optional Introduction to Python and Python Data Analytics Minimum courses.

Advanced Data Analyst Training

Upon completing the Data Analyst Training, you can either get a job as a Data Analyst or continue by taking a follow-up Advanced Data Analyst training program that makes you a job-ready Python Data Analyst. This program includes an optional Introduction To Programming course for trainees who have no prior experience with computer programming, a Python Fundamentals course, a full complement of Python topics, a Capstone Project, and a CompTIA Data+ Prep Course that prepares you for CompTIA’s Data+ exam. More information is available upon request.

Developing Soft Skills

At the same time as you develop Data Analyst (hard) skills, during your coaching sessions and during your communications with your instructional support team you also develop soft skills that employers put a major emphasis on. These include professional communication, time management, critical and logical thinking, problem solving, perseverance, and adaptability, among others.

What Our Trainees Say About Us

I love my new job!

“My boss encouraged me to take the training and now I’m really glad I did because I’m now doing data analytics work full time.” L.L.

I love going to work every day!

“Thank you for giving me the competency and confidence that I needed to get a dream job. With my limited formal education, I had serious doubts that I could master SQL and Python but learning by doing worked perfectly.” G.K.

Perfect teaching method

“As an adult with a busy schedule and the need to work around banking business hours etc.: this method of teaching is perfect for me and I would recommend it for basically anyone on any subject.” F. V.

Superb way to learn

“I really enjoyed the self-paced format of this training program. The material was presented clearly and concisely and allowed me to focus longer on concepts that were difficult, while glancing over concepts I was already familiar with.” A.C.

I really learned a lot

“I really learned a lot and have found a new passion towards data science and analytics I didn’t know I had.” M.N.

This is how I like to learn

“This is how I like to learn, at my own pace. I like the bite-sized tutorials and I feel a real sense of accomplishment when I complete the exercises that follow them.” M.J.

Totally worth it

“I just completed 3 courses: SQL Fundamentals, Advanced SQL, and Predictive Data Analytics with Python within the estimated hours that they had advised. It was a lot of work, but totally worth it!” Q.B

Great training!

“I watched videos, read short tutorials, viewed examples, ran demo programs, and then performed exercises that demonstrated my comprehension of the subject matter.” S.L.

The training is really great!

“Not easy but really informative. Practical experience was what I wanted and I feel that I got it.” F. Z.

The program is great

“I cannot compliment enough any training that involves students actually working on the problems rather than just listening.” A. S.

Compliments to the NCLab team

“Please extend my compliments to the NCLab team if you can, and keep advocating for this type of learning, if at the very least as an option for people like me who learn well this way.” F. A.

You do a great job explaining the concepts

“So far I’m enjoying the course. You do a great job explaining the concepts and the logic behind each step (the explanation for the difference between WHERE and HAVING comes to mind)!” R. C.

I’m really enjoying this class

“The emphasis on working at your own pace removes the stress of a normal class, and I can work around my other classes. NCLab is much better than similar programs, such as DataCamp. Not only do I learn the material, I retain it. Each lesson uses all or most of the previous concepts, which provides additional practice and ensures that you don’t forget the previous material. This is one of the most enjoyable and informative programs I’ve taken.” N. L.

I am thoroughly enjoying the training

“I feel like I am learning a skill, much more than I felt in other courses. The use of repetition, doing programming in pieces, and the entire way the platform is laid out are far superior to how my university teaches their main, introductory, programming courses. It is too bad that the philosophy of academia is standing in its own way.” K.L.

Try Our Training — We’re Confident You’ll Love It!

We have a powerful free assessment tool that helps you determine whether you are a natural to become a Data Analyst, using our learn-by-doing career training program. Fill in a Get-In-Touch form with the word “assessment” and we’ll make it available to you right away.