In our column ‘A Day In The Life Of’, we are trying to step into the shoes of the awesome techies from various organisations who are working in Emerging Tech areas like big data, data analytics, artificial intelligence and the internet of things, among others.
This week Analytics India Magazine decided to talk to Arushi Mishra a consultant at Fractal Analytics, about her life as a dedicated techie who also an anime fan. An alumnus of Meghnad Desai Academy of Economics, Arushi talked to us about her experience of working in a constantly evolving sector.
Describing her true talent as “extracting insights from data” Arushi starts her day at 6.30 AM, digging her way out of the chores to the sound of her favourite tunes. Saying that one of the best things about working at Fractal Analytics was the flexible and “chilled out” work atmosphere, Arushi says, “The focus of our organisation is not how many hours you work, it’s about meeting the deadlines of the project with high-quality work.”
A big fan of morning jogs, DIY projects and the cinema, Arushi admits that her work does end up affecting her personal life — in however small a manner. She explains, “If there is a problem with the data that I cannot resolve at that point of time, or the code fails, I feel the need to stop everything and only focus on the issue at hand. That means stretched working hours, forgetting to eat, stress! However, I get compensated with good sleep and a day off if I manage to resolve the issue. I have a very appreciative and understanding team.”
When asked about what her work consists of, Arushi promptly replies with, “A bit of almost everything!” She explains, “My work consists of data extraction, cleaning, harmonisation, reporting, and providing insight as well as helping the clients by answering the specific business question. We use a lot of different tools like Knime, SQL, R; and visualisation tools like Spotfire and Tableau for dashboarding.”
Arushi is currently working on reporting the FMCG market for the entire APAC region and advising the clients on a go-market strategy based on consumer behaviours and market performance. “We also aim at continuously developing new solutions to automate the processing of data to find insights. There is a lot of focus on learning different skills and techniques throughout the year to keep ourselves accustomed to what’s new in the industry,” she says.
When asked whether her current employers were making full use of her talent, she said, “Fractal Analytics is giving me an opportunity to constantly challenge myself. Although my true expertise is in generating insights. Fractal made me realise how important it is to ensure the quality of data as well as accuracy; how to read data; gain business understanding; understanding the measures available. Once I gain expertise in one kind of skill, I am being tested at a new skill.”
However, Arushi, who is an alumnus of the Meghnad Desai Academy of Economics, does feel like she has more to offer her company. “When it comes to data science and analytics, you can never be at the flatter part of the learning curve. I am yet to show my company how well I deliver insights based on forecasts and machine learning,” she says.
“My goal at the moment is to complete my training in Machine learning. As my background is in Economics and data analytics, I need to gain technical expertise to separate myself from IT experts in my company,” she says, signing off.
