In the military, we all know, you learn how to fight, how to push past your perceived limits, even how to make your bed. But there's at least one thing most of us rarely imagine soldiers and sailors learning to do: wading through their inboxes.

Analytics have been important to sports at least since the first coach timed players in the hundred-yard dash, but some pro leagues have embraced statistical game analysis much faster, and more effectively, than others. Lagging behind professional baseball, basketball and soccer has been football, mired in good measure by the sheer complexity of the game. That's changing, and fast.

Whether you are an IT pro looking to add data analytics and data science skills to your repertoire, or you are looking to make a career change from IT to the data analytics field, here are seven tips that can give you a head start.