Google Data Analytics Certificate Experience | Are Google courses and certificates useful?

Although data analysis is a very popular major nowadays, Data Analysis and Data Sciences are still very emerging fields. Many people gradually discover their passion for data after entering the workplace for a while. Then through self-study, you can become a data scientist. Analyst? This series of articles will introduce skills learning and professional certificates related to data analysis. This article will share my experience in obtaining the Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate and how it helped my career.

What is Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate?

Data Analytics Professional Certificate is a data analysis professional certificate course launched by Google. As of March 2023, more than 1.4 million people have completed the course on the Coursera platform. After completing a series of online courses and exams, users can obtain official certificates issued by Google and share them on different platforms such as LinkedIn.

The course content is mainly designed for beginners with zero experience and foundation, and is taught by Google employees. The video content is vivid and provides a large number of example exercises and exams, which can help learners strengthen their foundation. If you want to systematically understand data analysis and the actual workflow of Data Analyst, this course is a very good choice.

Read more: How I become a data analyst | Canadian work experience

How long does it take to obtain the Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate?

If you follow the official recommendations of Google Courses and attend 10 hours a week, it will take about six months to complete the entire course. However, because it is a pre-edited video course, the class time is more flexible and the playback speed can be adjusted completely according to personal progress. I was still studying full-time when I was getting this certificate. I could only attend classes at night and on weekends. It took me about two months to complete the course ahead of schedule.

Cost of Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate

When enrolling, learners need to subscribe to this course from the Coursera platform for a monthly fee and continue to subscribe until they have completed the entire course. After the seven-day free trial period, Coursera will charge US$39 (CA$65) per month. The sooner you complete the course, the less the overall cost will be. Since I took the entire course in two months, I only paid CA$130 in total.

Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate course structure

This certificate is divided into eight topics and covers the basics of data analysis theory and workflow, and introduces the application of tools such as Google Spreadsheet, Excel, BigQuery, SQL, Tableau and R.

The eight topics are:

1. Foundations: Data, Data, Everywhere - basic theories of data analysis

2. Ask Questions to Make Data-Driven Decisions - Define problems and research directions

3. Prepare Data for Exploration——preparation and data collection

4. Process Data from Dirty to Clean——Data sorting and cleaning

5. Analyze Data to Answer Questions——Data analysis

6. Share Data Through the Art of Visualization - Data visualization and reporting results

7. Data Analysis with R Programming——Use R language for data analysis

8. Google Data Analytics Capstone: Complete a Case Study - Example exercise project

Each of the above courses contains approximately three to five weeks of content, with diversified teaching in the form of instructional videos, further reading articles, practical exercises, tests and examinations. The lectures are conducted by Google employees, and the teaching language is in English, but there are subtitles, so it is not too difficult to understand. In addition, Google has also prepared a system for practicing writing SQL and R language in the course. There is no need to install separate programs on your own computer. Overall, the course design is very comprehensive and practical. Although you must complete all eight topics to get the certificate, you can also arrange the order of classes according to your own needs. I personally recommend completing the eight topics in order, because learning the basic concepts first can help you master deeper theories and techniques more easily later.

Is the Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate useful?

This certificate course is targeted at beginners. Even Excel and Google Sheets are introduced from the simplest functions and formulas. It is an affordable choice for those who want to expand their interests in this area. However, for people who already have relevant academic qualifications or knowledge about Data Analytics, the level may be too shallow, and the Python language has not been taught. Therefore, before I officially looked for a job as a Data Analyst, I further studied on platforms such as Udemy and Codecademy. SQL, R and Python.

Although it is impossible to ensure that you can find a Data Analyst position after taking this course, it also contains some instructional videos on the job search process, resume writing skills, portfolio preparation, mock interviews and salary negotiation, and also provides an official system to The certificate is digitally authenticated from the Credly platform and placed on Linkedin and resume, which can increase relevance to the position you are applying for.

Read more: How to write a resume that can secure an interview in Canada?

Summary: Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate Experience

Overall, this certificate course is a very good self-study resource. Unlike other scattered information on the Internet, Google provides a complete and comprehensive course structure that can help beginners understand the overall concept of Data Analytics first, and then cooperate with other self-study materials. Not only does it give people who want to switch careers as Data Analysts a clearer direction, it is also a very interesting field to learn as a hobby.