I am Devi Chandana, currently managing a team at the most innovative company in the world. I have an experience of 13+ years and have done an M.B.A. Around the middle of 2020, I decided that time has come for me to move on from my previous company that I had joined as an MBA intern. I did my research and being the project manager, I created a checklist and set out to fulfill all the necessary conditions. I got onto checking all those boxes and the only one that was remaining was learning new technologies and in that checkbox Data Analytics and Big Data were the keywords.
I got to know about the DSBA course through one of my friends. What appealed to me was that it was run in collaboration with University of Austin and that it was online. The content of the course too looked great. This was in December 2020. I was hooked. I went through the entire process and got myself enrolled. Then came the best news of my career. An offer from the dream company and of course I accepted it and moved to my current company in Jan 2022. That was one moment when I had second thoughts about continuing to pursue the course, the reason being the ability to manage a new course with a new job. As the intent behind joining the course was learning new technology, I decided to continue. Thus, began an amazing journey with Great Learning (all over again).
Course experience has been intense. The course is very well structured with significant focus on projects than on mere theoretical learning. It is with these projects that the theoretical knowledge becomes practical experience. Various modules cover all what is needed for a Data Analyst, though I wish some modules that are optional were not so. Every module has an individual assignment, a group case study, in-content quizzes, class participation and exams, and they are evenly spaced out. Also, the deadline for all modules are published in advance and you can plan your schedule around it. In case of doubts w.r.t. The course material, Great Learning, has proactively arranged for doubt clearing sessions. And last but not the least, I kept nagging my Program Manager, Saloni at all times. As the key focus for me is learning, I have been enjoying it a lot. All those weekends spent in case studies and assignments are well worth the effort.
I recently had a chance to interview students at a premier institute and my knowledge helped me talk sense, especially given that most of them had machine learning. There are numerous online courses available over the internet and I have enrolled myself in a handful of them, but have rarely managed to go beyond a few weeks despite my best intentions. The main issue is to keep the focus given all other commitments in life and career. This is where constant mails about the schedule, the progress made, the deadlines,, the availability of the mentors through phone, chat, WhatsApp messages have helped me a lot in maintaining my focus. Thanks to all the Professors/ Industry Experts for making this a great course. A special thanks is also due to all the unnamed teaching assistants.
All I can say is I have enjoyed and learnt a lot! To an aspiring program enthusiast, I’d suggest focusing on learning as much as you can. If you are good with your basics, things will fall into place. But be ready to forget that there is a term called weekend for the next 11 months.
