Why It’s Never Too Late To Get Started In Analytics

A large proportion of people who sign up for programs with UNext are typically either just beginning their careers and looking for a fast start or have a few years of experience and are looking to build on that and elevate themselves to the next level professionally. But the real beauty of analytics lies in the fact that it can be picked up by anyone, at any stage of their career and allow them to change paths completely. This is something we discovered yet again when we spoke to one of the students from our most recent PGPDM batch.

Chetan Seth is a freelance consultant with about 15 years of experience. In that time, he’s worn many hats, most recently that of the CTO of a company in Africa. After 10 years of working overseas, he moved back to India and he’s now looking to implement Machine Learning successfully in his consulting work.

“I’d always been around data throughout my career but I’d never had to work with it beyond a certain point,” he told us. “I remember in my 2nd job, we’d used data extensively to adjust calls timings to the UK to improve our business efficiency. So, I definitely knew how useful it could be.

“But math was never something I’d been especially interested in. Coming from a Business Administration background, my involvement with numbers was fairly limited, so it was always going to be a bit of a challenge getting started in the field.”

As is always the case when learning a new skill, there are teething problems,# but Chetan believes that persistence is a sure-fire way to achieve what you’re working towards. “You have to keep working at it. I spent a lot of time on Google researching the topics that I didn’t fully understand. And after reading and re-reading things a few times, you do end up gaining a better understanding of the subject matter.”

When it came to picking the course itself, Chetan did his fair share of research. In the end, there were a couple of factors that made UNext stand out for him, over all the others.

“I’m someone who prefers structured learning, and the classroom setting was perfect for that,” he said. “Secondly, the University of Chicago curriculum and faculty were a big draw. And I’m glad to say the subject matter definitely lived up to the promise, and the course was delivered very well.”

Going forward, Chetan intends to find a way to incorporate his ML learnings into projects he’s taken up. And he’s under no illusions as to how critical it is to use data well in the present-day workplace. “I’ve come across enough business leaders who don’t have a clear idea of how to proceed when it comes to setting up data processes, and that poses potential problems later in the process,” he said.

“I’m glad I’ve got my fundamentals in place now, and I’m looking forward to seeing how I can use machine learning in different ways in my work.” Proof, if any more were needed, that it’s never ever too late to start learning something new.