sql-for-non-technical-teams

5 Benefits of Learning SQL for Non-Technical Teams

11/30/2020

We recently shared an announcement about Codecademy for Teams, a Codecademy for Business offering that unlocks technical training opportunities for organizations. We’ve seen our Codecademy for Teams customers learning all sorts of things, from web development to data science. In this article, we thought we’d dive into a language we’ve seen a lot of non-technical teams benefit from — SQL.

SQL is a programming language designed for managing and querying data held in databases. Understanding SQL can allow marketers, sales teams, product managers, and more to easily search their companies’ databases to get the information they need to successfully do their jobs, without having to rely on data engineers.

The benefits of learning SQL for sales teams, marketers, and product managers

We spoke to some Codecademy learners to find out more about how learning SQL has helped them in their jobs. Read on for 5 ways that learning SQL can benefit you or your team members.

Getting the most out of company data

One of the main reasons that non-technical team members learn SQL is so that they can get the most out of the data available in company databases. The right data can provide valuable insights about customers that can help sales teams be more effective, determine if marketing campaigns are working, help product teams understand how people are engaging with products, and more. But you can only glean these insights if you know how to access them.

Jorge Alejo started learning SQL after his company, dataPlor, joined Codecademy. Jorge tells us:

“I got started with SQL because I needed the ability to query my company’s database for sales sampling purposes. My initial goal was to swiftly pull useful data from our database using SQL. As I’ve developed more skills, I’ve created multiple, company-wide business intelligence dashboards, provided custom datasets for everyday operations, and assumed command of a variety of processes at the console level.”

Not only has Jorge’s work led to more effective use of data, it’s also earned him a promotion. He tells us, “My company has recognized my growth and I have since moved into data analytics for operations and business intelligence, which is now my main responsibility.”

Professional growth

Jorge isn’t the only learner that’s shared news of a promotion with us. Marco De Libero, a Senior BI Analyst, landed a senior-level job that required advanced coding skills after learning SQL and Python. Marco tells us, “I’ve built some exciting analyses that I could never have completed had I not been able to start my coding journey with Codecademy.”

Marco shared more about his coding journey with us:

“I didn’t have any coding background when I was hired by a former employer within the iGaming industry a couple of years ago. At the time, SQL wasn’t a skill that was required in the recruitment process like it is now for analysts. To perform very basic analyses, I needed to interrogate an old, slow, and basic software to retrieve my raw data in the first place. Furthermore, any advanced extraction needed a data engineer to do the job. I felt stuck in my day-to-day tasks.”

“I have always been curious about coding and the idea of sitting around without getting my hands dirty was something that I wanted to erase. My wake-up call was when my data engineer co-worker suggested that I pick up some SQL skills to provide me with some independence when completing my tasks. And that’s how I got started with Codecademy.”

Better communication with clients and engineering teams

Jessica Sarceda, a Product Director at Paradox, started her coding journey in college. She shared with us that this knowledge of coding has enabled her to better communicate with clients.

“I am in a very strategic and product heavy role, and through learning with Codecademy (SQL in particular), I can now better communicate with clients on their reporting requests, speaking to what’s realistic technically and map those reporting needs to engineering.”

“I have found that the more I can technically understand the scope of products I manage, the more likely the product is to be shipped at high quality.”

Jessica focuses on strategy in her current role as a Product Director, but she’s able to do her job more effectively because of her understanding of how things are built and how queries are run behind the scenes.

Being empowered to get hands on

Here at Codecademy, we don’t just teach technical skills — we’re learners too! Hannah Jun, an Email Marketing Manager on our marketing team, decided to learn SQL in order to be able to access business data in Looker.

“It wasn’t always easy to pull the data I needed because most of our existing dashboards were focused on product metrics and analytics, rather than marketing metrics. Learning SQL allowed me to go to the source and query directly into our tables to find the information I needed. It made me feel powerful to know I could find analysis that no one else could.”

Today Hannah uses the fundamentals of SQL to create razor-focused segmentation for Codecademy email campaigns and to query in Looker. She tells us, “knowing I can always get hands on is valuable.”

Showcasing the impact your work is having

Last but not least, SQL can unlock ways to showcase the impact that you or your team’s work is having. Data queries and dashboards can make it easier to illustrate your wins and report on progress on a regular basis.

Getting started

Interested in seeing what SQL can do for you or your team? If you’re starting from square one, our Learn SQL course is a good way to dip your toes in. Looking for something more advanced? Check out Learn Intermediate SQL for Marketers and Product Managers, How to Analyze Business Metrics with SQL, or How to Transform Tables with SQL.

Want to learn more about how Codecademy for Teams can unlock technical training for your entire team? Sign up below to speak with a member of our team to find out more or request a 14-day free trial.

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SQL Courses & Tutorials | Codecademy
SQL is the standard relational data management language. We live in a data-driven world, and there are many businesses that store their information inside large, relational databases. This makes SQL a great skill not only for data scientists and engineers, but for anyone wanting to be data-literate.

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