Staging environment

SQL for data science interviews

Anirban Bhattacharyya

Seasoned data scientist & educator

Master SQL for real-world data science interviews

Many aspiring data scientists know basic SQL, but struggle when faced with the kind of messy, ambiguous, business-driven questions that come up in interviews. The challenge is rarely just writing syntax. It is knowing how to translate a product question into the right metric, choose the right grain of analysis, join data correctly, avoid double counting, and explain your reasoning clearly.

That gap can hold back otherwise strong candidates. You may understand SQL concepts in theory, but still feel stuck when asked to calculate retention, analyze an experiment, or debug a flawed query in real time.

This workshop is designed to close that gap. Instead of teaching SQL as a list of commands, it teaches SQL the way it is actually used in data science interviews: through realistic product, growth, and analytics problems. Students will build confidence solving hands-on exercises that reflect real interview settings, from fundamentals to advanced topics like window functions and recursive CTEs.

The goal is to help students move beyond memorizing syntax and become interview-ready problem solvers who can write clean SQL, reason through edge cases, and communicate like strong data scientists.

What you’ll learn

    Workshop agenda

    • Welcome and Interview Mindset

      Set expectations for the day, discuss how SQL is evaluated in data science interviews, and introduce the problem-solving framework students will use throughout the workshop.

    • SQL Fundamentals + Hands-On Practice

      Cover core SQL building blocks like SELECT, WHERE, ORDER BY, CASE WHEN, DISTINCT, and NULL handling. Students will then solve beginner-friendly interview-style problems focused on filtering

    • Aggregation and Metrics + Hands-On Practice

      Learn aggregation and conditional aggregation through realistic business metrics such as active users, conversion, and revenue. Students will practice writing queries to answer interview questions

    • Joins + Hands-On Practice

      Understand how to combine tables correctly with joins, while avoiding duplicate inflation and logic errors. Students will work through hands-on problems involving users, events, experiment tables

    • CTEs and Subqueries + Hands-On Practice

      Learn how to break complex SQL problems into smaller steps using CTEs/subqueries. Students will practice solving more structured interview questions involving multi-step logic and cleaner query design

    • Break

      1 hr Lunch break

    • Window Functions + Hands-On Practice

      Cover advanced SQL techniques such as ROW_NUMBER, RANK, LAG, LEAD, running totals, and rolling metrics. Participants will solve hands-on problems involving ranking and first/last events

    • Data Science Interview Patterns + Hands-On Practice

      Apply SQL to common interview scenarios such as funnels, retention, cohort analysis, and A/B test summaries. This block emphasizes both query writing and business reasoning

    • Recursive CTEs and Advanced Topics + Hands-On Practice

      Introduce recursive CTEs through practical use cases like hierarchies and date generation. Participants will get guided exposure to advanced patterns that can help them stand out in interviews

    • Mock Interview Challenge, Debrief, and Q&A

      Bring everything together in an end-to-end interview-style SQL case. Participants will work through a realistic challenge, review solution, discuss common mistakes, leave with practical interview tips

    Learn directly from Anirban

    Anirban Bhattacharyya

    Anirban Bhattacharyya

    Seasoned Data Scientist with 10+ years solving product analytics at scale.

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    Who this workshop is for

    • Aspiring Data Scientists
      Learners preparing for data science and analytics interviews who want to build strong, practical SQL skills.

    • Analysts Moving Upmarket
      Data and business analysts who know basic SQL and want to tackle more advanced, interview-style problems.

    • Product-Focused Data Professionals
      Data scientists and product analysts who want to sharpen SQL for funnels, retention, experimentation

    What's included

    Anirban Bhattacharyya

    Live sessions

    Learn directly from Anirban Bhattacharyya in a real-time, interactive format.

    Lifetime access

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    Community of peers

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    Certificate of completion

    Share your new skills with your employer or on LinkedIn.

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    Private cohort

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    A dedicated cohort with a custom schedule and curriculum, tailored to your team.

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    $400

    USD

    Jun 28Jun 29
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