SQL Training & Classes for Employees: Review Corporate Training Options

SQL is an in-demand skill across professions and industries. This robust, easy-to-learn programming language is considered by many employers to be the most in-demand skill for an employee to have. SQL knowledge is vital in product management, data science, software engineering, business analytics, and data analytics, among other professions. Employers who invest in SQL training for their employees provide them with a skill set that will benefit the organization as a whole and make them more well-rounded, marketable employees for years to come. Read on to learn about what to consider when looking for corporate SQL training options and to learn about the options that are available for onsite and online training. 

What is SQL?

SQL, or Structured Query Language, is a standard language used to communicate with relational databases. Organizations across industries rely on SQL to access and work with the data contained in their databases. Important business information about products, customers, or orders is just some data an organization may store in a database. Among its many uses, SQL has applications for searching, updating, and maintaining databases. It can also insert or delete records from databases and change the database's actual structure by creating or deleting tables and objects.

SQL operates on local intranet or internet systems and can be used on laptops, PCs, servers, and some mobile devices. Even though SQL is considered to be a relatively simple programming language, it is a powerful tool for helping users retrieve the specific information they need within a large database. Those working with SQL don’t need coding skills and can instead use basic keywords such as “update” or “select” to perform data queries.

Some of the most-used relational database management systems that use SQL are Microsoft SQL Server, Ingres, Access, and Oracle. 

Read more about what SQL is and why you should learn it.

What Can You Do with SQL Skills?

For anyone who works with data, SQL knowledge is a must. Many fields and disciplines use this language to communicate with relational databases. SQL’s flexibility is designed to help you use statements based on English to query a database in multiple ways. Because SQL is the most-used database language, nearly every organization that has to store relational data relies on SQL, including major corporations such as Amazon, Google, and Uber. In addition, websites such as Facebook use SQL to store back-end data and process data.

SQL has a wide range of built-in functions that are useful for data analytics:

• SQL COUNT can count how many rows are in a table
• SQL MAX provides a way to select the highest value for a given column
• SQL MIN lets users choose the minimum value for a column
• SQL SUM totals the values in a column
• SQL AVG can calculate the average within table columns

In addition, SQL has other useful applications for handling large volumes of data:

• It can add, update, or delete records within a database
• SQL can create new databases
• SQL users can add new tables to an existing database
• SQL can create views or stored procedures in a database
• It can establish permissions on views, tables, and procedures. 

Benefits of SQL Corporate Training

If your job involves handling data or computer programming, SQL knowledge is an essential skill for your employees to have. Studying SQL can greatly help any professional perform various tasks, such as quickly automating workflows, handling big data, or finding answers to complex questions. Most organizations seek to find answers to complex business questions as they expand. This is why having a query system in place for deriving valuable insights from different data sources is essential to helping the organization remain competitive. 

SQL can even build on your employees’ Excel skills so they can complete tasks more efficiently and in much less time. Because SQL can perform all Excel spreadsheet functions, as well as others, it’s often the preferred tool for data tasks. Because SQL is considered a universal data language in data analytics and data science, corporate SQL training is valuable to organizations of all sizes that work with data. Excel works better with small and medium-sized datasets. Problems can arise in Excel when this application is asked to handle large data volumes. The program can begin to run slowly or even crash. If your organization processes large datasets, SQL can quickly and robustly manipulate large datasets, which leads to more efficient data extraction.

As more organizations work to remain competitive in a world that’s quickly becoming digitalized, it’s important they provide training for their employees on the skills needed to work in this evolving digital environment. One such skill is SQL. A Stack Overflow survey in 2021 found that SQL is the fourth-most popular technology overall and the number-one technology for managing databases. Large corporations like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon each use SQL for database management. In addition to big tech enterprises, SQL is widely used across industries in both small and large organizations for data management. Based on job openings posted on LinkedIn and Indeed, SQL remains one of the most in-demand skills a job candidate can possess when applying for a data position, regardless of their industry. With corporate SQL training, your employees can manipulate and extract large volumes of data, even if it’s stored in different tables. Additionally, SQL can combine data from different tables on relational databases, then run a query on the resultant merged data. 

Who Benefits Most from SQL Corporate Training?

Data-driven companies are three times as likely to see substantial improvements to their decision-making process when they rely on data science tools, which can help them learn more effectively and efficiently from their data. SQL is a powerful tool for democratizing data science within an organization because it’s considered an intuitive and relatively easy-to-learn programming language, even for those who don’t come from a non-technical background. When even a few employees within your organization are trained to use SQL for basic querying and self-service analytics, it’s much easier for them to efficiently find answers to business questions and support these answers with data. This is why everyone within an organization benefits from corporate SQL training, from employers to employees. Even the customers reap the benefits, with a better quality products or services delivered in a shorter time. 

An estimated 94% of employees want to work for an organization interested in investing in their professional development. Workplace learning, or corporate training, in SQL provides employees with an in-demand skillset that will benefit them at your organization and beyond. Those with the ability to communicate with databases and extract meaningful insights from vast information stores not only help their employer operate more efficiently but have a transferable skill that can be applied in a range of professional roles.

New Skills or Upskilling?

Once you’ve decided to invest in corporate SQL training for your employees, you may wonder whether it’s best to train all employees with this language or to provide training to just a few individuals. Corporate SQL training should serve your organization’s objectives and needs. If your company is data-driven, it will benefit all employees to have SQL training since it will help them work faster and more efficiently when communicating with relational databases. However, if only one department within your organization is involved with data-related tasks, you may instead opt to train just those individuals. The information they receive during corporate SQL training can then be shared, as needed, with anyone else in the organization who would benefit from this knowledge.

Employers that provide free corporate SQL training for their employees invest in their intellectual capital. They also recognize the importance of reskilling or upskilling their workforce. This investment not only has immediate benefits but provides a skillset your employees will continue to benefit from for years to come. Ultimately, whether you decide to train all or just some of your employees in SQL, the many benefits of corporate training far outweigh the costs. 

Onsite or Online?

If you’d like to provide the employees at your workplace with corporate training, you may wonder whether to choose onsite or online SQL study. Onsite training typically involves someone with SQL expertise and real-world programming experience training your employees. Training occurs in a computer lab or similar space where your employees can access their computers. The instructor offers hands-on training and detailed explanations of core SQL concepts, like joining tables and writing data queries. Your employees can feel free to ask questions as they arise and receive in-the-moment guidance and feedback on the work they’re completing.

Another option for corporate SQL training is virtual study. Many organizations opt for virtual training because of the flexibility it affords. Online SQL training takes place in a live online format using Zoom or another similar teleconferencing platform. Similar to in-person study, an expert in SQL leads the discussion in real-time. This means that anyone attending the live online session can freely ask questions, even though the instructor is remote. elearning is becoming an increasingly popular training format in many fields and industries, particularly those in which your employees complete most of their work on a computer. Because SQL is a computer programming language, this topic is relevant to live online corporate training.

As more organizations see the benefits and convenience of elearning, this training option is projected to grow by 250% by 2026. Instead of employees having to attend in-person sessions to learn SQL, live online corporate training affords them the flexibility to study remotely. This is a particularly good option for individuals who don’t live near a major metropolitan hub or don’t have access to a local college or university. Virtual training requires no commute and can be completed from the comfort of your employees’ own space.

Training Options for Employees

If your employees would benefit from learning computer programming, several excellent corporate and onsite SQL training options are currently available from Noble Desktop. Interested employers can select from onsite training or virtual instruction in one or several of Noble’s classes, which are listed on its schedule. Noble can also create a customized curriculum that affords the flexibility of allowing you to sculpt the training your employees will receive around your company’s needs. Training options can also be tailored so that instruction is at the appropriate level for those who have prior programming experience, as well as for employees who are new to working with SQL. Additionally, flexible options for training can be provided to ensure that learning SQL won’t compete with any of your employees’ other professional responsibilities. 

Noble can provide all of your employees with SQL training, or you can choose to extend this training option to just some of those who work for you. If you’re interested in training multiple employees, group class vouchers can be purchased. These are available at a discounted price when purchased in bulk and allow you to decide which class or classes would be most beneficial to those at your workplace. Vouchers also provide employees with the flexibility to schedule their SQL studies around other personal and professional commitments and complete training as their schedule allows.

Noble offers SQL training in both long and short formats. For those interested in shorter study options, SQL Levels 1, 2, and 3 are currently available for beginners, intermediate, and advanced SQL learners. Each of these courses can be completed in just one day. Additionally, bootcamps in SQL and SQL Server are available, which provide more detailed instruction that takes place over the course of several days or weeks. 

Supplemental Training Options

In addition to the range of in-person and live online corporate training options, Noble Desktop also provides alternative SQL training options. By purchasing vouchers for Noble’s bulk enrollment classes, you afford your employees the flexibility of deciding when it’s best for them to learn SQL. This training option even allows your employees to schedule SQL study outside of your normal business hours. This learning format is a good option for employees who have busy schedules and must balance SQL study with multiple other commitments.

If you want to learn more about how Noble Desktop can help your employees learn SQL, contact Noble today.

Key Takeaways

• Investing in corporate SQL training is an excellent way not only to show your employees that you value their ongoing education but to provide them with a skill set that will benefit your organization and simultaneously contribute to their professional development.
• A range of training options is currently available in the in-person and live online format. Noble can come to your workplace and provide in-person SQL training. It can also run remote training sessions using a teleconferencing platform like Zoom, which take place in real-time. 
• For employees with busy work schedules, supplemental SQL training options are also available. These provide the additional flexibility of allowing your employees to schedule SQL study outside work hours so that it won’t compete with their professional responsibilities.
• Comprehensive corporate SQL training is available through Noble Desktop, either in person or online.