Free Vs Paid courses for Analytics

The Confusion

“Raghavan, Should I go for paid courses or use free courses to upskill in data analytics/data science?”

This is a very common question that I get in my LinkedIn DMs, especially from those who are coming from a non-IT background.

To answer simply, it’s a trade-off between time and comfort/money.

Free resources

Some of the best resources for upskilling are available for free on the internet (YT videos, blogs, free courses, etc.) If you have enough time to surf the internet, search and learn the right content, and connect the dots to build a solid understanding, you need not spend a single penny for upskilling.

I never spent a single rupee on courses to upskill myself. I‘d like to call myself a ‘Self-made data analyst’ (not to brag, but it’s kind of true). I started upskilling during my 2nd year of MTech and had right amount of time to learn, prepare, do projects, and apply for jobs while graduating.

So, if you’re a college student in pre-final/final-year looking to get into analytics and have enough free time, I’d suggest you use free resources to upskill yourself in the analytics tools of your choice.

Use this link to my LinkedIn post where I’ve compiled all the free resources that I’d used to learn various analytics tools.

Paid courses

But not everyone has the luxury of having enough free time. If you are a working professional and don’t have enough time to learn on your own, then you can go for paid courses.

The benefit of paid courses is that it’s structured and provides you with a better understanding in a shorter period. You are paying money to someone who has already done half the work for you.

Note: But you need to do due diligence before choosing a course and see whether it’s worth the money.

If you’re looking for paid training, go in the below order of preference:

In-person training >> Online live training >> Pre-recorded courses

The cost depends on the nature of the course. Pre-recorded courses are cheaper while in-person training is costlier but you can learn quickly. So based on your budget and available time, you can choose which one works best for you.

I hope this post helps answer the query of choosing free vs paid courses in analytics.

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