SQL Skills You Need for Data Analyst Jobs

Job descriptions say 'SQL required' — but which SQL? Here's the concrete checklist hiring managers actually test for analyst roles, roughly in order of importance.

Key Points

• Core querying: SELECT, WHERE, ORDER BY, LIMIT without hesitation
• Aggregation fluency: GROUP BY + HAVING with all aggregate functions
• JOIN mastery, including spotting when rows silently drop
• Window functions for rankings, running totals, and period comparisons
• Data cleaning: NULLs, string functions, date handling, CASE bucketing
• Portfolio proof: 2–3 documented SQL projects on real datasets beat certificates