6-Months Data Analyst Roadmap - Beginner Friendly

Data Analysis

What is data analysis? the process of inspecting, cleansing, transforming, and modeling data with the goal of discovering useful information, informing conclusions, and supporting decision-making.

Why is it important? It is crucial in 2025 and after because it enables businesses to make informed decisions, optimize operations, enhance customer experiences, and stay competitive. In a rapidly changing market, data analysis provides real-time insights, allowing companies to respond to trends and plan for the future. It also helps in identifying inefficiencies, improving productivity, and understanding customer behavior for personalized solutions. 

Keeping in Mind, what will happen after 6 months of Learning:

• Strong foundation in Excel, SQL, Power BI/Tableau
• Ability to clean, analyze, and visualize data
• Multiple free certificates (Great Learning, Simplilearn, Sololearn, IBM Cognitive Class)
• Capstone projects & portfolio ready for job applications.

6-Months Data Analyst Roadmap

Month 1 – Foundations (Excel + Statistics + Data Mindset)

Objective: Learn core statistics and Excel for analysis.

• Week 1:
• Descriptive statistics: mean, median, mode, variance, standard deviation
• 📘 Resource: Khan Academy – Statistics & Probability

• Week 2:
• Excel basics: formulas, formatting, sorting/filtering
• 📘 Resource: Excel Basics – Great Learning ✅ Certificate

• Week 3:
• Pivot tables, charts, conditional formatting
• 📘 Resource: Excel for Everyone – freeCodeCamp YouTube

• Week 4:
• Project: Sales data analysis in Excel
• 📘 Dataset: Kaggle – Superstore Sales

Month 2 – SQL for Data Analysis

Objective: Query, filter, and aggregate data.

• Week 5:
• SQL basics: SELECT, WHERE
• 📘 Resource: SQL for Data Science – Great Learning ✅ Certificate

• Week 6:
• Aggregations: GROUP BY, HAVING, ORDER BY
• 📘 Resource: Mode SQL Tutorial

• Week 7:
• Joins: INNER, LEFT, RIGHT, subqueries
• 📘 Resource: Sololearn SQL ✅ Certificate

• Week 8:
• Mini project: E-commerce SQL queries
• 📘 Dataset: Kaggle – E-Commerce Data

Month 3 – Advanced Excel & Data Analysis Tools

Objective: Go beyond basics in Excel, learn data cleaning & automation.

• Week 9:
• Advanced Excel formulas (VLOOKUP, INDEX-MATCH, IF statements)
• 📘 Resource: Excel Advanced Functions – Great Learning ✅ Certificate

• Week 10:
• Data cleaning & preparation in Excel
• 📘 Resource: Excel Data Cleaning – YouTube

• Week 11:
• Excel automation basics (Macros & Power Query)
• 📘 Resource: Excel Power Query – Microsoft Docs

• Week 12:
• Mini project: HR analytics dashboard in Excel

Month 4 – Data Visualization & BI Tools

Objective: Learn visualization and dashboarding.

• Week 13:
• Data visualization basics: bar, line, pie, scatter plots
• 📘 Resource: Fundamentals of Visualization – IBM Cognitive Class ✅ Certificate (visualization theory, no Python focus)

• Week 14:
• Tableau basics: importing data, charts, dashboards
• 📘 Resource: Tableau for Beginners – Great Learning ✅ Certificate

• Week 15:
• Power BI basics: creating reports, dashboards
• 📘 Resource: Power BI for Beginners – Simplilearn ✅ Certificate

• Week 16:
• Mini project: COVID-19 Dashboard in Tableau/Power BI
• 📘 Dataset: Kaggle – COVID-19 Dataset

Month 5 – Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) Without Coding

Objective: Apply SQL + Excel + Visualization for analysis.

• Week 17:
• Cleaning and preparing real-world datasets (Excel/Power Query)

• Week 18:
• Exploratory analysis with SQL + dashboards

• Week 19:
• Statistical testing (correlation, regression basics – conceptual)
• 📘 Resource: Khan Academy – Correlation & Regression

• Week 20:
• Mini project: Netflix dataset dashboard in Power BI
• 📘 Dataset: Kaggle – Netflix Movies & TV Shows

Month 6 – Capstone Projects & Portfolio

Objective: Apply everything in real-world scenarios.

• Week 21:
• End-to-end Excel analysis project (sales/HR/finance dataset)

• Week 22:
• SQL + Visualization project (business insights dashboard)

• Week 23:
• Capstone project: Choose a domain (retail, finance, healthcare) and create an analysis report + dashboard

• Week 24:
• Build portfolio in GitHub/Notion + earn a professional certificate
• 📘 Resource: Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate – Coursera (audit free, certificate via financial aid and/or paid).