Big Data. Machine Learning, AI. Sexiest Job of 21st Century – Career of the Future.

If there were ever time to learn, grow, and innovate in the Analytics world, it’s now!

At a time when the Indian IT sector is facing several threats like automation, visa regulations, layoffs etc., Ronnie Screwvala’s ed-tech company UpGrad, is preparing professionals to transition into the promising and emerging field of data and analytics. Through its 11-month PG Diploma Program in Data Analytics delivered in partnership with IIIT-B, UpGrad is not only helping its students to upskill & stay relevant in the digital age, but also ensuring effective transitions at larger pay-scales, a boost in confidence and knowledge expansion.

According to Prof. S. Sadagopan, Director, IIIT Bangalore, the one-of-its-kind, academically rigorous and industry relevant program goes beyond classroom learning with industry-relevant case studies. “The program has provided a great head start to the first cohort to become future leaders in the analytics space,” he said.

While the program seems to have a solid curriculum and industry connect, the real proof lies in the actual number of transitions/placements for a majority of professionals. Already half-way into the placement season for its first batch, we spoke to members from both UpGrad & IIIT-B regarding the placement numbers.

Reaping success: Top Companies where UpGrad graduates got placed

As per our conversation with the UpGrad Program Director, Rohit Sharma, the team from UpGrad and IIIT-B put in more than 2000 hours of mentoring and interview preparation, fostered a relationship with 200+ companies, sourced Job Descriptions from over 160 companies, facilitated 170 interviews and helped 115 students received unique interview opportunities.

Since placements have started, 50+ students have successfully transitioned to analytics roles – ranging from beginner roles like data analyst to intermediate roles like data architect/data engineer to advanced roles like Vice President across legacy IT consultancies, media, boutique analytics firms, healthcare, manufacturing & more. The Big 4 auditor PwC, engineering powerhouse Cyient, American automotive supplier Harman and healthcare giant Philips are some of the most coveted companies among many others (you can see the complete list at the end of this article).

“Some very good brands have interviewed and selected our students, and this is only going to improve going forward. Recently, some students have been absorbed into top-tier analytics advisory firms like Fractal Analytics, Opera Solutions and WNS” – says Rohit Sharma, Program Director at UpGrad.

These career transitions reinforce the program’s commitment to provide a steady stream of well-rounded, industry-ready analytics professionals.

“The more hands-on exercises you do, the better it is for us. And with UpGrad candidates, we felt that they have a decent level of conceptual understanding and have done a lot of hands-on exercises. Would be happy to have more people joining us in the future.” – says Dr Nilesh Karnik Chief Data Scientist at Aureus Analytics – a niche 4-year old company that build big data based B2B products in the insurance space.

Analytics India Magazine sifts through the different personas to find out what clicked and connected with the students who hail from varied backgrounds. Following are some of the success stories:

Transitioning to a career in analytics

For Sajal Roychowdhury, a risk analyst at Amazon, who has secured a job with online shopping portal ShopClues as Business Analyst, the peer to peer interaction at UpGrad helped a lot during the course. “It is brilliant to collaborate and learn with others even though it is an online program. IIIT-B is a good brand to have and the curriculum of the program is solid,” he said.

IT professional with 9-year experience shifting gears to Data Engineering

Manshul was working as a consultant at TCS when he decided to take a plunge into analytics even after 9+ years of experience.

“Initially I was quite apprehensive about the program quality and given my 9-year experience, how would I keep pace with young people in my batch. But my experience has only been rewarding. From program content to networking to career support, this program offers an end-to-end solution. I got placed in Opera Solutions as Sr. Data Engineer through UpGrad IIIT-B career support. ” says Manshul Goel, Sr. Data Engineer, Opera Solutions.

Switching from Digital Marketing to Media Analytics

Having worked with a data science team at Performics.Convonix, an internet marketing company in India, Murtuza Vahanty decided to sharpen his core skills with UpGrad’s course. The program has helped him switch to an analytics role within the firm.

“Considering I had no background in mathematics or programming, UpGrad gave me a good starting point in the analytics space. Very convenient for working professionals – covers all important aspects in analytics, both theory and practical and in a very structured manner. You don’t have to look and do anything else because everything is served on a silver platter,” he shared.  

Women in Analytics

While this field is largely male dominated, there has been a steady rise in the number of women who have made a foray in data and analytics.

Aiswarya Ramachandran, a former Research Assistant at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore will now be beginning her role as News Analyst at Thomson Reuters. In the last three years at IIS Bangalore, Ramachandran worked extensively on social network analysis and call record data analysis. She also had a stint at IT major TCS as Assistant Systems Engineer.   

Jayaradhika Janaradhan who secured a job as Analytics Manager at Philips is backed by 11+ years’ experience in data analytics, reporting and business consulting. The former Product Owner at Intel sharpened her analytics skills with UpGrad’s cutting edge PG Diploma in Data Analytics that armed her with the latest analytics tools and techniques and helped her transition to a senior-level role with the healthcare major.

Speaking to these graduates revealed why UpGrad & IIIT-B program has been a game-changer for them. Some of the strategic factors in the program outlined by students are:

• a diploma from an accredited college like IIIT-B
• well-built, in depth course content backed by excellent IIIT-B faculty
• best practices on interviews and resume building exercises
• hands-on exercises to strengthen the application of concepts learnt
• ease for working professionals to strike a balance between work and study

In case you’re looking to transition your career to analytics, admissions for the July 2017 batch are open. Enroll here.

Here are some of the leading companies that offered jobs to UpGrad’s Data Analytics graduates:

• Shopclues
• Aureus
• Thomas Reuters
• Big Info Labs
• WNS Global
• Aureus & User Ready
• Soc Gen
• WyzMindz
• Continental Automotive
• Netmagic Solutions Pvt. Ltd. (NTT Comm)
• WIPRO
• Times Inc
• EY
• Cyient
• Harman
• Amex
• Phillips
• PwC
• Dentsu Aegis
• Fractal Analytics
• Opera Solutions