Free resources to learn data science if you're not from a technical background

This is specifically for people in non-tech careers who want to transition into data without paying for a bootcamp first.

Start here (free):
- Kaggle Learn: bite-sized data science courses, completely free, includes Python, SQL, ML basics
- Google Data Analytics Certificate (audit for free on Coursera): structured and job-focused
- StatQuest with Josh Starmer on YouTube: best visual explanation of statistics and ML concepts I've found

When you're ready to practice:
- Public datasets: data.gov.my (Malaysian government data), Kaggle datasets
- Build one or two small projects using Malaysian datasets, this differentiates you from generic portfolio projects

For SQL specifically (often the first thing employers test):
- Mode Analytics SQL Tutorial (free)
- SQLZoo (free, interactive)

Honest timeline: 6—12 months of consistent part-time effort to be ready for a junior data analyst role. Don't let anyone sell you a "learn data science in 3 months" bootcamp at RM8,000.