Upskill... For free!

[Saritha]

Everyone says 'degree doesn't matter, skills matter' but nobody tells which skills actually land a job (non-tech). I'm a BBA Finance graduate. I've learned Advanced Excel, Power BI and I'm currently learning SQL. So what's next? Which skill should I pick to get a good paying job? Please don't suggest an MBA – I don't have the time or money and there's no guarantee of a job just by doing an MBA.

[Gopal]

The degree you chose may not match your goals, but you could try a founder's office role in a startup. Pick up as much AI and automation knowledge as you can and be friendly and helpful in conversations.

[Akshara]

Where did you learn Excel, Power BI and the other tools?

[Shilpa]

Look for entry-level BA positions – your background fits them well. Also pick up some basics of project management while you're at it.

[Subhash]

You can get jobs as a Business Analyst with those skills.

[Hemant]

Your post couldn't have come at a better time. I finished BCom in 2024 and am now doing an MCom, graduating around 2025-27. I took a one-year gap to prepare for a government exam, so my skills are a bit outdated. I'm worried I'm late – no job, limited skills, and I'm earning a little by tutoring kids nearby. I've just enrolled in a financial-modelling course and Infosys is running a women-focused AI program. Let's see where this takes me! If any seniors or juniors have suggestions, please share.

[Shivam]

You already have the skills for data-analytics roles. In my view, build two or three solid projects and start applying aggressively.

[Vikram]

The next skill you should focus on is simply how to get a job – and that can be learned. It means reaching out to your contacts, making new ones, building genuine relationships, asking for help with the roles you want in target companies, and offering help to others when you can. Your CV and interview prep are just basic hygiene. Best wishes!

[Samar]

I'm a BA graduate and everyone keeps telling me to prepare for UPSC, other government exams, MBA, MA, honours, law, journalism, travel-tourism or even go abroad. I did engineering at a tier-3 college during the pandemic for a year, but it didn't work out, so I took a gap year and then a drop year. Later I was clinically diagnosed with depression, took time to recover, and completed a BA from a tier-2 college. People keep urging me to 'upskill' even though entry-level jobs now demand a lot of experience and many roles are threatened by AI. They never specify which skills or domain to focus on. Good CVs still get rejected without referrals. What should I do next?

[Sneha]

The 'skills matter' advice is not helpful unless you know which skills actually get you hired. For you, SQL is the right next step and you're already on it. Combining Excel, Power BI and SQL lands you straight into Business Analyst or Data Analyst roles, which pay well for freshers in India today. The fastest way to get hired is a solid project: take a public dataset, clean it, run SQL queries, and build a Power BI dashboard. That single project on your resume shows you can use the tools, not just list them. Which industry are you targeting? That will shape how deep you go with SQL.

[Neha]

I was in the same spot after graduation – did Excel and Power BI but still didn't know what leads to jobs. My company ran a short upskilling program (NIIT modules back then) that focused on practical reporting and how businesses actually use data, not just the tools. The shift for me was not learning more tools, but seeing how they fit into real workflows – how reporting drives decisions, not just dashboards. After that, SQL and Power BI started to click together. You're already on the right path; just apply them to real business problems instead of adding random tools.