Aditya Mahajan, a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Analytics student from IIM-Calcutta, IIT Kharagpur, and ISI-Kolkata who is currently employed by Kearney as a Senior Data Scientist, made a paradigm shift from engineering to data analytics as his core subject after graduating from IIT Roorkee in Electronics and Communications engineering.

Often not so, many undergraduates develop an interest in other realms during their working experience after their undergraduate, but how does one go about with such a career shift & how does it help one?

Aditya’s journey is quintessential, reflecting his choice and inclination towards another subject that ultimately made him shift from engineering to data analytics.

Here’s a sneak peek at our interview with Aditya, where he talks about his journey –

1. What was your prior work experience before taking the PGDBA course at IIM Calcutta?

I worked for three years before joining the course at IIM Calcutta. For two years, I worked in Bharti Airtel as a Product Manager in the Network Analytics and Digitization team. After that, I worked for Oyo as a Business Analyst, identifying how the company could maximise its sales and revenue.

2. Why did you decide to pursue this Data Analytics course from IIM Calcutta after having an undergraduate degree in Engineering?

Switching from engineering to data analytics was purely based upon my fascination and inclination towards the idea of how data can be used for various things, analysis and contribute towards a direct growth. My mind started inclining toward data from the time I was working in Airtel as a Product Manager. I realised what impact data could have, and that is where my journey toward data analytics started. I shifted towards this area in Oyo and started making dashboards with my team. To get more hands-on experience and detailed formal education in this field, I explored and found this course and went ahead with it. 

3. Where did you do your internship, and how did you know about this opportunity?

I completed my Internship in EXL as a Data Scientist consultant. It was through an on-campus recruitment drive. I was part of core analytics, I took care of different clients worldwide and understood how they could grow their business. Handling projects for US clients, understanding which marketing channel will help them the most and using data for the same was a part of the job role.

4. What advice do you have for an engineer considering taking up this course?

My advice would be that anyone interested should analyse and understand the significant difference between both the courses. Data Analytics is not a managerial course that gets you a management position with people working for you but more or less is always connected to the technical aspects. It involves intense statistics and mathematics, including management.

Some aspects also require you to code to crunch the data and make it easier to comprehend. 

Apart from this, knowing your core interest and where you are inclined is also something you should consider before deciding on shifting.

5. Could you state your experience at IIM Calcutta in a few words?

I learnt that the world goes around ‘Management’, and if you know it better, you will grow better.

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