How To Succeed With Analytics: AnalytixLabs Alumni Speak Of Their Dramatic Career Transitions
Students are embracing data science courses to fuel their career and growth in their professional lives. While tapping into data science training certifications is a great way for a career switch, only the right course can set one on a path to success. At a time when organisations across the board are looking for a cadre of new tech professionals, it has become an absolute must for individuals make analytics work for them through sustained learning. But what’s the most crucial benchmark professionals or fresh graduates should follow in choosing a data science certification that can make or break their career. Most analytics programmes are designed keeping in mind the current industry requirements. Well, the right certification should not only provide demonstrable skill but the right mix of tools and techniques backed by a high placement rate. AnalytixLabs, led by a team of IIT, IIM and McKinsey alumni, has earned considerable success in delivering advanced data analytics capabilities and enabling transitions across a range of domains — from social science researchers to advertising and marketing executives. With a placement success rate of over 85% (from pool of eligible candidates), AnalytixLabs, based in Gurugram and Bengaluru, has distinguished itself with its breadth of in-depth courses and successful transitions. Looking for a head-start in the analytics domain? It doesn’t matter whether you have a degree in computer science or not. AnalytixLabs’ well-structured programmes and hands-on training can prepare you for a career in this buzzing field. In this article, we profile 10 professionals who got a head-start in the analytics domain with AnalytixLabs. 10 Successful Transitions From AnalytixLabs To Inspire You To Kick-start Your Learning Journey: Jumping From Non-Computer Science Background Into Data Science 1) Transition From Manufacturing Sector To A Global Customer Data Science Leader: Dhruv Aggarwal, lead analyst at Dunnhumby, a global leader in customer data science, made a jump after a two-year work experience in the manufacturing sector. He has been with Dunnhumby for over three years and his work is geared towards retail, customer science and loyalty analytics. Aggarwal, who is from a non-CS background was coached and mentored by Sumeet Bansal, CEO and co-founder at AnalytixLabs and Chandra Mouli, chief data scientist at AnalytixLabs. The duo not only trained Aggarwal in business analytics fundamentals, but also helped him build a robust profile before applying for jobs. The learning path of the course was so well-designed that Aggarwal landed a job within two months of completion. “The institute also helped in building my resume, conducting mock interviews and providing Q&A material, which helped me in cracking multiple interviews,” he said. Classroom Experience: According to Aggarwal, the course was conducted at an appropriate pace and enough time given to him to complete assignments and clear doubts from previous sessions. “The content was extremely relevant to industry practices and the structure of the course helped me in gaining a strong foundation,” he said. Case Studies: The case studies provided by AnalytixLabs gave him a hands-on experience of working on datasets equivalent to real problems faced in analytics companies. Aggarwal’s exposure to these case studies was the reason he was able to land the first and second analytics job successfully. Learning Curve: One would imagine a person from a non-CS background would have a steep learning curve, but Aggarwal emphasises that the course was structured so well, that non-programmers found enough time to practice, especially the programming bit and understand the fundamentals effectively. Archish Rai Kapil, Data Analyst, Air India 2) From History Major To Data Analyst At Air India: If there is any success story that has a potential for maximum impact and should inspire a league of humanities and social sciences students, it’s Archish Rai Kapil’s story. His transition from a History BA (Hons) graduate to Python programmer at Air India is astounding. When Kapil embarked on his learning journey, he only knew advanced Excel but soon racked up a slew of certifications from AnalytixLabs in SAS and R. Currently, he works at Air India and analyses data using Python. Classroom Experience: How does one go from a complete starter to a thorough analytics professional? “The course, to put it simply, was the right thing I needed. Not only did we learn about which tools to use, but we also focussed on the actual ramifications when working in the field of data analysis. The experience of the instructors is what prepared me along with the case studies that gave an insight into what actually goes in the industry,” he shared. Case Studies: Kapil shares how he built his analytics foundations and understood the complex aspects of predictive modelling such as regression, decision trees, etc, and never felt that he came from a non-CS background. “Later, I went for the Base SAS Global Certificate, and I was supported and solely guided by AnalytixLabs and was able to get certified,” said Kapil. Learning Curve: According to Kapil, the programme was so well-structured and instructors were so co-operative that he never felt he came from a non-CS background. “I called up and went to a lot of places, often got sidelined due to my Non-CS background, however, eventually it was AnalytixLabs that showed me the support and I enrolled in their Business Analytics course where I learnt SAS and R,” he said. He reveals that the best part about his learning journey was that it was not done in a copybook manner but with a sense of pragmatism, bearing in mind the industry’s requirements and the various backgrounds the students came from. Mid-Career Transitions Rohit Aggarwal, Data Scientist, IBM 1) Making The Big Leap To Data Science: There is always a time when you feel you hit a roadblock in your career. This is exactly what led Rohit Aggarwal, now a Data Scientist at IBM, to AnalytixLabs. “With the limited knowledge I had about analytics, I felt I was hitting a roadblock and hence needed a thorough and quality mentoring,” he said. Classroom Experience: The course at AnalytixLabs was well-structured and relevant to the industry’s requirements. “I gained knowledge and skills on the latest cutting-edge tools and technologies and the mentors also helped in preparing for interviews. This was a big leap in my career and AnalytixLabs played a big role in helping me transition to a data scientist role,” he said. Case Studies: The data sets shared during the course for hands-on projects, assignments, and for demonstration during the training sessions were near real-time, he shared. This was more of experiential learning and gave them the exposure to work on real-world problems. Learning Curve: As a person with a CS background, Aggarwal had a smooth learning curve and picked up the fundamentals effectively. However, he did point out that timely doubt clearing sessions and one-to-one coaching played a big role in accelerating the learning process. Tarun Bhavnani, Data Scientist, TCS 2)From Finance To Data Scientist At TCS: Tarun Bhavnani, presently working as Data Scientist with TCS wanted to make a switch from the financial sector to analytics. “I was working in the financial sector at the time and using analytics to some extent. But I wanted to make a transition to the field of advanced analytics,” he said. A computer graduate and an MBA by training, Bhavnani found the course very useful and application-oriented. Classroom Experience: According to Bhavnani, the course gave him a thorough understanding of the skills required to learn and to use them in real-life cases. “The faculty at AnalytixLabs is very experienced and proactive. They were able to clear the doubts easily and outline the opportunities I would encounter in future,” he said. A key feature of AnalytixLabs’ programmes is the hands-on sessions, through which learners can understand real-life applications, the tools and their scope, he explained. Learning Curve: Even though Bhavnani has a CS background, he admitted that the course curriculum is quite challenging and is like learning a new language altogether. Avinash Jha, Senior Consultant, NCS Pte. Ltd 3) Switching Up The Ladder After 6 Years: Avinash Jha was looking to break into the data analytics field after six years in the industry as a Developer and Business Analyst when he came to know about AnalytixLabs. “All my concerns like changing career path after 6 years, opting for SAS or Big Data, job search, salary were effectively addressed by Sumeet Bansal in the first visit and I was sure I had come to the right place. Moreover, it was also not a drain on pockets compared to other courses. They were of the same duration and had less content,” Jha said. Currently, he is working as Senior Consultant at NCS Pte. Ltd, Singapore. Classroom Experience: In terms of classroom experience, Jha reveals the online sessions as are as good offline classroom classes. “The course content was crisp, covered enough material to make us equipped with SAS, analytics and statistics without being overbearing. The assignments provided after each session helped a lot to give a feel of on-job experience. Along with theoretical concepts, every assignment included practical scenarios using big datasets,” he said. “Even though I had zero on-the-job industry experience prior to getting my first job as a Data Analyst, it never felt that way due to the exhaustive learning and practice materials of AnalytixLabs. And to date, I keep referring back to Advanced Statistical modelling content from AnalytixLabs as and when required as part of my job,” Jha shared. Case Studies: There were case studies on topics such as data modelling and covered scenarios from multiple business background like Telecommunication, automobiles, healthcare among others. This also helped during interviews from companies from different sectors. “The assignments were discussed in details and the faculty explored multiple ways to approach the solution,” he said. Learning Curve: The faculty took special care to make the learning easy for people from a non-programming background. According to Jha, even the most advanced topics like statistics were explained in non-technical terms. This makes the gradual progression from basics to advanced level smooth, easy with detailed help provided for every topic, adds Jha. Early Stage Transitions Amit Anand, Consultant, Accenture AI 1) Jumpstarting A Career In Analytics: Amit Anand, currently working as Consultant at Accenture AI was looking for a head-start in the analytics domain and found AnalytixLabs to be the right for upskilling. “I transitioned to analytics quite early in my career. The course had already equipped me with certain nuances of analytics and then I built on that platform through on the job learning at Accenture consulting,” he said. Classroom Experience: Talking about the classroom experience, Anand shared that during the course, he got the chance to work on several close to real-world cases, wherein the students leveraged actual datasets. “This gave me an opportunity to hone my coding skills and visualise the problem statement more comprehensively,” he added. Learning Curve: Anand comes from an industrial engineering background and has an MBA. “With little practice I was able to pick up SAS and R programming quite comfortably, said Anand. Priyanka Sachdeva, Assistant Manager, EXL Service 2) Switching From A Career In Audit To A Global Analytics Company: Priyanka Sachdeva was already having a successful stint as an Advisory Analyst at Deloitte India when she decided to switch to analytics domain. A computer science graduate, Sachdeva wanted to get exposure in analytics tools like SAS and R. After working for over a year at Deloitte, she veered towards analytics training and soon landed a job as Assistant Manager at EXL Service, the New York-headquartered analytics firm. Classroom Experience: On her classroom experience, Sachdeva revealed that the application-oriented course is highly relevant. In addition to this, the assignments and data work put in developing models, enhances the students’ capabilities. Case Studies: For hands-on learning, the case studies and assignments often go in parallel and this boosts the learning experience. Learning Curve: Given that she came from a computer science background, it was not very difficult for Sachdeva to establish a connect with the exhaustive curriculum. “The learning curve stays steep till a point but after that we can pick up the concepts fairly well,” she said. Varun Shekhar RC, Senior Data Analyst, Chainalytics 3) Consultant To Senior Data Analyst: In his own words, Varun Shekhar RC began his analytics journey as a novice, with zero knowledge of data analytics. Hailing from a telecom domain, this engineering graduate started with a course on Data Visualisation and Descriptive Analytics by AnalytixLabs’ Lokesh Paliwal. Very soon, he covered the in-demand industry skills like VBA, SQL and Tableau. Currently, Shekhar is working as Senior Data Analyst at Chainalytics, among the top 100 analytics consulting firms. Classroom Experience: Talking about his classroom experience, Shekhar said the course is well-organised, and that there is continuity from one lecture to another. Students get access to videos and documents for 6 months post course completion. Class assignments, case studies are a major component of the programme and the faculty is extremely helpful in mentoring and preparing students for job interviews and placement assistance. Case Studies: Case studies are a major part of the programme and the students are given real-world datasets to work on a range of problems. Learning Experience: Talking about his learning experience, Shekhar said that AnalytixLabs has played key role in nurturing him for this competitive industry. “Today, if at all I am performing very well in my current job role, primary credit goes to AnalytixLabs,” he said. Sanchit Gupta 4) Switching From It To Consultant And Now Startup Founder: Sanchit Gupta was looking for a way to enter the analytics domain when he found AnalytixLabs course. The benefits were twofold — excellent course curriculum as well as great placement assistance. The highly qualified faculty with tons of experience behind them, made it all the more easier for me to go ahead with the course, he said. Classroom Experience: On his classroom experience, Gupta said that the course is very application geared with less of theory and more practical learning woven in to give us that job oriented experience. “We were given regular assignments to brush up our concepts. The challenging case studies on big datasets helped in getting the experience on solving real-world problems,” he said. Case Studies: The courses were well structured covering basics as well as advanced topics with hands-on case studies to lend industry exposure. Learning Curve: “Perhaps the best part about AnalytixLabs offerings is that courses are so well-designed that even a non-CS background person can come up-to-speed, if he/she is motivated enough to learn,” says Gupta. He added that the courses are very well designed for non-CS candidates and at no point he felt he couldn’t understand any concept. “All our doubts are cleared by the instructors and in less than 3 months itself, I could see a steep learning curve on both the business and technical side of learning analytics,” he said. Chalam PVS, Data Scientist, Snapdeal 5) Business Analyst To Data Scientist At Snapdeal: It was a during a Snapdeal training session that Chalam PVS, Data Scientist at Snapdeal experienced the team’s teaching abilities and command in data science. This spurred him to improve his knowledge and skill set by enrolling in Advanced Big Data Science course. “In my case, the course clearly helped me to advance my career opportunities within the Data Science team at Snapdeal. With their practical approach towards ML and Data Science, I could pick up challenging projects within my team right from the beginning of the course,” he said. Classroom Experience: Even though Chalam was sceptical about the online learning experience, he found the online classes very convenient and the small batch provided him the comfort and flexibility to clarify his doubts with the instructor as necessary. Learning Curve: Palam, an alumnus from IIT Guwahati didn’t the find the learning curve very steep, but he admitted he had to spend some extra time to catch up with learners from the CS background.
Students are embracing data science courses to fuel their career and growth in their professional lives. While tapping into data science training certifications is a great way for a career switch, only the right course can set one on a path to success. At a time when organisations across the board are looking for a […]
Check out of successful career transitions from AnalytixLabs that earned considerable success in delivering advanced data analytics capabilities and enabling transitions across a range of domains — from social science researchers to advertising and marketing executives.
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["AI", "ML", "data science", "analytics", "RAG", "Python", "R", "SQL", "Go", "API"]
Richa Bhatia is a seasoned journalist with six-years experience in reportage and news coverage and has had stints at Times of India and The Indian Express. She is an avid reader, mum to a feisty two-year-old and loves writing about the next-gen technology that is shaping our world.