Whether you’ve taken a career break or not, transitioning into a new job role can be quite daunting. In today’s times, upskilling is extremely essential to power ahead your career. Learn more about Prerna Bhardwaj’s journey with Great Learning’s PGP Data Science and Business Analytics Course in her own words.
After completing my graduation in 2013, I started as a Software Developer at IBM. In a short span of time, I knew that hard-core coding was not something I can think of as a sustainable career choice for me. Rather, a mix of coding with the sight of my work impacting end-to-end is what I wanted to strive for. This was also the time when Data Analytics was ripe into the market.
I took a break of one year due to family reasons. It also gave me enough time to make up my mind to switch my career. I talked to friends in this field, browsed the internet, and gained a fair idea of the Analytics field. I came into corporate to start a new journey with a Healthcare IT company. It was a bit challenging in the beginning as I had no prior experience with roles involving Data Analytics. Learning on the job to develop my skills was the key to my success. Believe me when I say that ‘Discipline & Perseverance’ helps!
As I deep delved into Data Science, I took a Data Analyst role in Supply Chain Domain with a leading retail company. There, I realized that I can never get bored of numbers, Data is something I want to talk to. It would always cheer me up like a baby. But in a span of just four years, Data Science and Data Analytics had evolved a lot. In a cake of opportunities, there was a pie for everybody. Competition increased and I had to upskill myself because I knew that I had just touched the tip of the iceberg. Hence, I wanted to explore it completely.
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I always learn the best when I am in a physical classroom environment. I like to interact with my fellow classmates and faculty. That’s where Great Learnings kicked into my life. They offered group projects, industry experts, weekend classes, networking with people of different backgrounds, and journey to Data Science – all that a working professional like me would wish for. PGP- BABI systematic pedagogy gave fuel to the curious child inside me. It was difficult to keep oneself motivated due to the pandemic. I decided to dedicate one hour/day and push myself out of my comfort zone. Remember, that you enrolled to learn, unlearn, and relearn things, and not just for the sake of a certificate/degree. As they say ‘where there’s a will, there’s a way’ – I completed the course with all my heart.
As a woman, sometimes you have to take an extra mile to be at the same place as your male colleagues. I can recall one incident of my colleagues (of the same rank) facing some problems with a project, but they wouldn’t approach me to ask doubts. I kind of sensed that it was because of gender. Hence, I opened up during team lunch and dinners, utilized my communication skills, and overcame that unnecessary barrier.
I don’t think anything should stop women from embracing Data Science. The market has a huge requirement for people to extract information out of data. This need gap has immense potential to be fulfilled as long as someone has passion. My two cents to young female philosophers on how to switch to Data Science: first, get on to relevant Data Analytics platforms, watch videos and read tech blogs to never miss an update on how the data is becoming a star! Second, develop the required business acumen to enrich the tech-savvy person in you. Work on your ‘connecting the dots’ skills to tell a story through data. After all, presentation matters!
Professionally, the course helped me to transition into a better job role which allows me to apply my learnings and expand the domain horizon for me. Personally, it imbibed a habit of being curious and exploring new things. Being an alumnus, an opportunity to remain associated with GL as a mentor was provided to me, which I didn’t even know was my forte until I took my first session.
