Workshop

SQL in a Day: From Zero to Answering Real Business Questions

Dr. Sharon-Y Veerayah-McGregor

Ph.D in Applied Math, Coaching Data/AI

From never written a query to answering real business questions on data

Do these sound familiar?

  • Waiting on others for data? Your questions sit in someone else's queue for days.

  • Stuck in spreadsheet chaos? Endless exports, broken VLOOKUPs, formulas, and no idea which version is right.

  • Froze when you opened SSMS (it you do not know what is SSMS, you will know it in this course)? You got access but had no idea where to start.

  • "SQL required" on every job post? It's the one skill between you and the interview.

  • Rusty from years ago? You half-remember GROUP BY but not why your join doubled the numbers.

  • Tutorials didn't stick? Watching isn't doing.

What makes this different?

  • Real T-SQL: the exact SQL you'll use in SSMS at work, not a different dialect.

  • Zero install: a free browser editor that works on any laptop, with no IT ticket.

  • Type, don't paste: you type every query, so the skill stays with you.

  • Realistic data: missing values, cancelled orders and other traps you'll meet at work.

  • Instant self-checks: every exercise tells you whether you got it right.

  • Real business requests: finish by solving tasks from Marketing, Finance and Operations.

  • Taught by an actual database admin.: your trainer uses SQL Server every day.

What you’ll learn

A hands-on SQL session for analyst - beginners and returners. This session takes a learner from zero SQL to confidently writing queries.

  • Structured Query Language (SQL) and its importance in the data world.

  • Explain what a relational database, table, row, column, primary key and foreign key are.

  • Transform data with string, date and NULL-handling functions, and create categories with CASE.

  • Summarise data with built-in functions; Combine tables with JOINs, including finding "missing" records

Workshop agenda

  • Welcome, goals and tool setup

    You will type a lot today. By the end you will write queries that join four tables

  • Module 1: How databases work

    Goal: learners can describe a table and understand why data is split across several tables.

  • Module 2: SELECT, aliases, ORDER BY, TOP

    Goal: retrieve exactly the columns you want, in the order you want.

  • Module 3: Filtering rows with WHERE

    Goal: return only the rows that match a condition. WHERE is the SQL version of the Excel filter button.

  • Module 4: Functions, NULLs and CASE

    Goal: clean, combine and categorize data inside the query.

  • Module 5: Aggregation, GROUP BY, HAVING

    Goal: turn detail rows into summary numbers, the SQL equivalent of a PivotTable.

  • Module 6: JOINs

    Goal: answer questions that need data from more than one table. A JOIN is a VLOOKUP that works on whole tables.

  • Module 7: Subqueries and CTEs

    Goal: break a hard question into smaller steps.

  • Module 8: Capstone - business questions

    Scenario given: students will successfully make decisions by now

  • Module 9: Wrap-up and next steps

    Recap and explain it back in your own words. Ready to SQL!

Learn directly from Sharon-Y

Dr. Sharon-Y Veerayah-McGregor

Dr. Sharon-Y Veerayah-McGregor

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Train AI, SQL, PowerBI, Python; SSRS; Data Sc., AI, Claude; Eng. Adv. Math

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Who this workshop is for

  • Novice:

    Never written code; comfortable with spreadsheets.

    Concepts first, one keyword at a time, lots of 'Try it now' moments.

  • New to SQL (heard of it):
    Uses Excel, Power BI or reports; has seen SQL.

    Maps SQL to spreadsheet ideas (filter, pivot, etc)

  • Returning/ Refresher:

    Wrote SQL before; rusty or used something else.

    Stretch exercises, T-SQL-specific habits, CTEs and the capstone.

What's included

Dr. Sharon-Y Veerayah-McGregor

Live sessions

Learn directly from Dr. Sharon-Y Veerayah-McGregor in a real-time, interactive format.

Lifetime access

Go back to course content and recordings whenever you need to.

Community of peers

Stay accountable and share insights with like-minded professionals.

Certificate of completion

Share your new skills with your employer or on LinkedIn.

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