At INSAID, we create accomplished and empowered Data Leaders. We groom our students to dominate the world of Data Science and AI and reshape their future. We value what our students bring to the table. We share their vision and support them during their journey and ensure that they carve a niche for themselves.
We’re proud to have tutored exceptional students all across India. Today, one such exceptional student, Raja Krishnan stands in the spotlight.
Student Name: Raja Krishnan
Current Organization: AT&T
Batch: GCD – August 2019
Total years of experience: 13 years
Malvika: Hi Raja, before we begin, could you tell us more about your current work profile and your career trajectory so far?
Raja: Yeah, so currently I’m working as a Senior Specialist- Technical Support at AT&T Communication.
Not only Unix, I also handle the storage and backup steps here. I’ve been with AT&T from 2014 so around 5+ years.
I completed my diploma in Computer Engineering and I started as a Desktop Field Engineer at HCL. I was responsible for fixing all desktop-related issues for all banking and government officials.
I was then promoted to Hyderabad where I was responsible for support to corporates like Mahindra and as a Team Leader, I was managing more people.
After 5 years at HCL, I moved to HP. I supported thousands of the Linux/Unix servers which were located in the US & UK like General Motors for 2 years.
Malvika: What got you interested in Data Science & Machine Learning?
Raja: We used Orkut before Facebook. So then I was surprised at how Orkut is making recommendations of friends.
I speculated maybe suggestions are made based on my Gmail account. And then finally came to curious about when Amazon started me, My attention then was caught by Amazon’s recommendations.
I was watching videos on Data Science and that led me to better recommendations so in a way Data Science led me to Data Science.
Malvika: What all tools and packages in Data Science & Machine Learning have you mastered in your Data Science & AI program at INSAID so far?
Raja: Python is definitely the most helpful tool. The most useful packages here are NumPy package for calculations and Pandas for data processing.
I have learned visualization tools like Matplotlib and Scikit Learn. Currently, I’m reading about TensorFlow.
Malvika: What are some of the initial challenges you faced when you got started on your Data Science journey and how did you overcome it?
Raja: The main challenge was to overcome all inhibitions when it came to switching career tracks to Data Science. I started reading some Quora blogs on how people transition from their field.
So I motivated myself, many people even from mechanical background move into Data Science. I have scripting knowledge only but I am not a pure coder to program something like that.
Malvika: What are the current trends and applications in Data Science that you are most excited about?
Raja: When it comes to applications, we are using fraud detection in credit card transactions.
When it comes to Healthcare, an eye retina scan might predict cardiac arrest and also cancer detection. Google’s driverless cars are also an exciting initiative.
Malvika: Which are some of the blogs that you read? Which are the top two Data Science & AI influencers you follow?
Raja: The primary blog I read is Medium.
I like following queries on Quora. It’s a very useful platform for sharing people’s insights and
analysis.
Malvika: What is the goal of Data Science? In your view, how has Data Science evolved in the last few years?
Raja: The goal of Data Science is to fix the known issues and to find and fix the unknown business problems.
As Data Scientists, our focus is to find the hidden issues of the data. We can find out value from data and based on that predict the future also.
Malvika: At INSAID, students are encouraged to build high-quality GitHub profiles. Have you built a GitHub portfolio and how do you think this will help you?
Raja: GitHub profile is really useful for me after doing my projects I started integrating it on GitHub. I was using the platform for the past two years.
I have now understood how to use the platform to display my projects in a structured way.
Malvika: Crafting a great Data Science resume is a critical part of getting shortlisted for Data Science roles. Tell us some ways in which you have improved your resume as part of Data Science Career Launchpad.
Raja: I need to thank Nikhil for that.
Before attending the session, my resume was 4 pages long.
I spent two or three nights drafting that 4-page resume and I witnessed it first hand that the recruiter did not read my resume at all. he just asked me to walk through it.
After attending the Launchpad session, I re-worked on my resume, based on the pointers shared in the session and now I have a resume I can be proud of.
Malvika: What is your advice to anyone wanting to start a career in Data Science?
Raja: Do not give up after reading buzz words like algorithm names.
Understand the applications of the field and how it fits in your area of choice. Gather quality content from the internet and have patience to get through.
Malvika: How has your journey with INSAID been so far? Do you have any comments on how the curriculum has been structured, the faculty and the support team?
Raja: Suchit has been great.
He lays a proper foundation for Python and statistics and has 100% patience to explain to each and every person.
I frequent the INSAID YouTube channel and watching Manav’s videos. So after that, I got a lot of new information regarding the different roles in Data Science i.e. role of junior engineer, senior data scientists and Chief Data Scientist and whatnot.
He addresses all queries and takes up topics accordingly from the user comments and that is very interesting to watch out for.
Malvika: Thank you for your time, Raja. All the best for your futu re!
