Crushing SQL in 3 Steps: My 6-Week Rehab Plan

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗕𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗿𝘂𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗠𝘆 𝟲-𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗦𝗤𝗟 𝗥𝗲𝗵𝗮𝗯 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻 Last week, I shared how I completely bombed my first SQL interview during my transition from academia. Here's how I fixed it. I realized that knowing R or Python didn’t make me fluent in SQL. I had to rebuild that skill from the ground up. 𝗣𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝟭: 𝗙𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 (𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀 𝟭–𝟮)  • 📖 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆: Go through the Mode.com SQL tutorial (Basics).  • 💪 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲: Hit a practice platform and grind "Easy" questions.  • 🎯 𝗚𝗼𝗮𝗹: Become fluent in simple operations. Muscle memory is key here. ---- 𝗣𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝟮: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 "𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱" 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗹𝗲 (𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀 𝟯-𝟱)  • 📖 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆: Complete the Mode Intermediate section.  • 💪 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲: Move to "Medium" problems.  • 💡𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝘂𝗹𝗲: Resist the temptation to look at the solution or ask AI. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴. At some point, you'll start seeing the patterns and quickly finding solutions. ---- 𝗣𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝟯: 𝗦𝗶𝗺𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀 𝟲-𝟴)  • 📖 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆: Finish the Mode Advanced section.  • 💪 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲: Medium-to-Hard questions in a timed setting.  • 🎯 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱: You don't have the luxury of running queries repeatedly in an interview. You need to write code that works on the first try. Practice writing solutions without running them until the very end.  ---- 💡 𝗠𝘆 #𝟭 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗤𝗟: Always start by imagining exactly what the final table should look like, then work backwards to the tables you have. Connect the dots in reverse. The bar for data science interviews is high: speed, accuracy, and efficiency are essential. It requires real effort, but I truly believe it is highly achievable. #DataScience #SQL #InterviewPrep #CareerTransition #Learning