This course is intended for Data Engineers with at least 1-2 years of experience and a basic knowledge of data engineering concepts.

This course is for you if:

1. You've used dbt in the past but still don't feel fully comfortable with concepts or workflow

2. You need to get prepared for a new (or existing) job where dbt is required

3. You've been asked to build a project from scratch for a team

Note: If you're brand new to SQL, database concepts or data engineering in general - this course isn't for you.

It has quickly become one of the most popular data transformation tools in the market. And there is an increased demand for developers who know how to use it.

I can tell you from first hand experience this is true today.

By learning dbt you'll not only pick up a new skillset but also be introduced to a new way of thinking about how modern analytics teams should operate.

Most companies are more than willing to reimburse for continued education and trainings, yet a lot of people never even ask.

In fact, many companies have money budgeted specifically for this purpose.

It's a small expense for a great investment in your skillset. If you are unsure, I would definitely ask.

The only must-know is SQL. If you are not comfortable with this language then I wouldn't suggest enrolling in this course.

It is recommended that you have a general understanding of data warehouse concepts (facts, dimensions) and basic programming (loops, variables, etc).

However, even without those you can still complete this course as we will touch on them as we go along.

I will be walking you step-by-step through each topic and building a project from scratch along with you.

Here are the tools we will use (all free to you):

1. Visual Studio Code (editor for writing code)
2. Python (dbt is a Python package)
3. Git (needed for local version control)
4. GitHub (needed for hosted version control and workflow automation)
5. Snowflake (cloud database for storing data)
6. dbt Cloud - Trial (managed cloud platform for dbt)

As a student, you also get your own virtual machine (pre-built with Python, Git & VS Code) and access to your own Snowflake database for 6 months.

The only 2 components that will require you to sign up on your own are GitHub and dbt Cloud. However, both will be free and you may use an existing account if you have one.

We've all had the experience of being excited to learn a new tool, only to run into random errors while trying to install.

Not only is this annoying but can cause you to give up before ever getting started.

dbt has pre-requisites for using dbt Core, and its impossible to know what environment each student is working with. 

By providing a pre-configured environment, we can avoid those potential issues and instead keep you focused on learning dbt - not troubleshooting.

Plus you won't have to install anything on your actual computer.

Here's what you can expect:

After you enroll, you'll get an email with URL and login credentials for both a hosted Virtual Machine and Snowflake database server.

These come at no additional cost to you and can be used for 6 months.

After 6 months, the passwords are reset and you'll lose access.  

All I ask is that you do not use these tools for anything other than this course. If any non-course related activity is found, you will lose access immediately. 

Here are more details about the environments:

Virtual Machine:

• A Linux virtual machine hosted on a Google Cloud Compute instance but accessed through a separate URL with a clean interface.
• Designed based on templates provided by coder.com
• Pre-configured w/ Python 3, Git and VS Code

Snowflake:

• A cloud database server with a dedicated role, database and warehouse for each user.
• Each user gets access to a pre-populated raw database that will be used as data sources for the project
• Each user also gets their own empty database to use to deploy tables/views created with dbt

As a final note - there will be no "dbt" related items pre-installed on the machine and we will be installing it from scratch on your virtual machine.

We'll also be discussing the design of the Snowflake environment in detail so you are well aware of how & why it's setup a certain way. 

After this course you should feel comfortable working on dbt projects right away.

However, remember that dbt is open source and packed with many subtle features. It would be impossible to cover them all in one course.

Like any skill, it will take you more time and practice to become an advanced user. But this course will set your foundations.

The free training from dbt Labs is excellent and I would absolutely recommend it to others who prefer not to pay for additional training.

But here are the main differences:

Time

To complete all of the free dbt Labs trainings will take you 15+ hours.

This course can be completed in half the time (~7-8 hours).

You'll get the most important and commonly used topics in a time-effective way based on my real-world experience leading dbt implementations.

Consistency

The dbt Labs modules have been added over time and cover a wide variety of topics.

But that means they are also not presented in the context of a single end-to-end project, but rather separate modules. 

This course uses the same same datasets and project throughout so it's easier to follow along.

dbt Labs modules are also recorded by different people.

This course is completely recorded by me (Mike) so you will get a consistent experience.

Tool Selection

Most of the dbt Labs modules are based on using dbt Cloud, which is their SaaS offering.

While you may use dbt Cloud on the job, you may struggle if you need to use dbt Core (CLI) and are unfamiliar with it.

In this course, we will start with teaching everything on dbt Core (CLI) and then move to dbt Cloud.

That way, you are more well-rounded and can confidently use either option.

This course will also cover more on non-dbt specific topics such as Github Action (CI/CD), Snowflake (database) & Prefect (orchestration).

Guides and Templates

You will receive custom-built guides and files to help you on future implementations.

This is based on my personal experience and will save you a ton of time.

Other Costs

Aside from the free modules, the cost for official group-based dbt Learn training is currently > $1,000 and limited to 2-3 days on a specific schedule.

I actually participated in a dbt Learn training a few years ago and it was great!

But you will get similar results from this course, in a more affordable and self-paced way.

You can also collaborate with myself & other students by posting/responding to comments on any lesson.

Teaching Style

You may have found me from my YouTube channel or other content and like the way I explain data engineering topics.

Just like my other content, my goal with this course is to give you the most important information in a way thats easy to understand and to the point.

I'm also not affiliated with dbt Labs and therefore am able to approach topics from the perspective of the typical dbt developer.

If you like the way I teach, I think you'll enjoy the course too!

There are a TON of great dbt videos on YouTube created by both myself and other content creators. 

While you can learn pretty much anything from YouTube, you are going to spend significantly more time trying to put all the pieces together on your own.

Not to mention you may not be learning in the right order.

This course will give you a step-by-step guided path for learning dbt in the right order.

You'll also get your own virtual machine environment, Snowflake database and project datasets to work with.

In short, you will learn more in less time and in the right order.

If for any reason you are unhappy with the course, you can request a refund and will get 100% of your money back - no questions asked.

Click the Access button below get started right away!

I look forward to seeing you there.

Cheers,

Mike