Upskilling is essential in today’s ever-changing world. Read further to learn about Pricecon Bera’s journey with Great Learning’s PGP Data Science and Business Analytics Course in his own words.
I hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Technology & a Master’s Degree in Business Administration. I worked as an Enterprise Manager for the past four years with Vodafone Idea Limited. Consulting Clients & helping them go for the best products & services from the organization were a few of my key deliverables. One of my key deliverables was to present the Advisory reports to C-Level executives, where I had to majorly use Excel & PowerPoint.
As there were big words in the market such as Data Analytics, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, I was curious to know more. I started looking at internet portals to understand what this is all about, and I got to know how Business and Government uses data. Simultaneously as time passed by, I started taking more & more interest in Data Science which is when I thought of a transition into the Analytics field. I started applying for entry-level jobs where I could learn on the job & implement my skills at the same time. However, I did not get through after multiple interviews as I did not have any technical skills.
I thought of doing a course in Data Science, but having specialization in Telecommunication, I was more inclined towards a course with minimal coding but maximal data analysis. I went through multiple articles, websites, blogs, reviews to know which course was better. I had shortlisted a couple of courses, but Great Learning was offering me everything which I was looking for. Even after a lot of research, I still had my doubts, but there is always a saying, “Curiosity Keeps Leading Us Down New Paths”. 11 months into the course, I can say PGP-DSBA happened to be a turning point in my career transition as I moved from Service Role to a Techno-functional Role. It opened a huge horizon of opportunities for me.
It became really challenging to balance both work & studies at the same time, but the Online learning medium helped me a lot. I did not go through the entire videos at once, and I divided those into parts for the entire week to maintain a balance. The mentor sessions really helped me a lot, as I had very little technical knowledge. I used to have a lot of questions & doubts but nevertheless got my concepts cleared. All the factors, such as weekly quizzes, monthly projects, leaderboard etc., played a very major role in my journey. The curriculum has been designed in such a way that students can learn at their own pace as it has covered almost everything about Data Science from all business perspectives.
Today I can say for me, and this is just the beginning as I start to explore more into the field. Even though there is coding involved, it does not feel like you are a hard-core coder. I love it when I get to deep dive into a pool of data & derive insights out of it. Mentors played a very crucial role in the journey. They were all very helpful in clearing any doubts. The only key point is that- be ready with all your queries because only then you would gain confidence & would have the zeal to push yourself to the limit to become the best version of yourself.
My advice for all those who are either looking to start their career in analytics or someone who is looking to make the transition into analytics as a career- PGP DSBA is your course but remember you have to push yourself consistently throughout the course because you would get demotivated, you would feel low when you are unable to understand the concepts, you are unable to understand the errors in the program etc. Don’t lose faith & keep pushing yourself to the limits. Remember, once these 11 months are over, you will be the better version of yourself.
Last but not least, remember “A little Progress Each Day would add up to Big Results” because this line has helped me a lot each day in my journey.
