Ashish Khanduja

The strong foundation in statistics and predictive modeling, that I gained through the program, have helped me immensely in my current role.

Could you tell us a little about your background?

Before joining PGPBA program, I was into Software Testing profile and worked for companies like Oracle Financial Services and Goldensource Corp. It was then that I felt the need to move out from my current profile and go for higher education and aspire for better career options.

Why did you choose PGP-BABI at Great Lakes?

The field of analytics always interested to me and curiosity made me search more about it, its scope and different kinds of programs available for this domain in India. When I decided to join the analytics program at Great Learning, I researched a lot and found that the program was truly unique in its offering with no other institution offering a similar program in analytics. Great Lakes excellent credentials, collaboration with different companies and opportunity to work on a meaningful capstone project made me enrol for the program.

How is this program helping in your current role?

Well, being a part of the Analytics program was a rewarding experience, wherein, I learnt about different fields and applications where analytics play an important role. Being an engineer and totally unaware of functional knowledge, I got a glimpse of different domains like Marketing, Finance, Web and Social Media, E-Commerce etc. as well. In addition, the strong foundation in statistics and predictive modelling that I gained through the program, has helped me immensely in my current role as an analyst at Fractal Analytics.

Please describe your experience at Great Lakes

An indelible part of my journey in the program has been the Industry exposure that helped me understand and appreciate the actual work happening in the field of analytics. By interacting with industry experts, I understood the opportunities and challenges faced by the industry, and crucial insights on how I can build a career in analytics.

What is your advice to professionals aspiring to make it to Analytics roles?

Today, when I am working with Fractal Analytics as an Analyst, if there is one insight that I’d love to share with all aspiring data analysts, then it would be this: To be a Data / Business Analyst, its extremely important to possess knowledge of business context and basic analytical skills. Tools and techniques can be learned very easily but the most important thing is having an analytical problem solving approach and the application of various techniques. Anyone who is planning to move into Analytics industry should focus on basic techniques and their application in addition to one of the tools like SAS/R.