Presenting to you the INSAID Spotlight Budding Data Science Leader interview series. This is a series of interviews of budding data science leaders, enrolled with INSAID in different courses. These students coming from diverse backgrounds and even different fields, have rich experience in their own domains. They have interesting views to share with the world, their experience in the industry, what brought them to the field of data science and many other such interesting aspects. These interviews will enrich the readers about the insights, trends and many other related points.
In a recent conversation, we spoke to Sawan Gupta who is enrolled in the GCD program at INSAID.
Name: Sawan Gupta
Current Organisation: nThrive
Total Experience: 13 years
Batch: Global Certificate in Data Science (GCD) January 2019.
Ankita: To start with, could you brief me about your educational background and the professional experience that you have had so far?
Sawan: I have done BSc from IGNOU and after that I did my MCA and joined an IT company as a .net developer. For the last nine years, I was with Sapient. Last year, I joined nThrive as a Senior Data Engineer. With this company, I changed my profile too; was an SQL developer but now I am a data engineer. Overall, I have 13 years 12-13 years experience. nThrive Global Solutions, which is basically a US healthcare company. They develop product and analytic services and sell them to the hospitals.
Ankita: How did you enter this Data Science and machine learning field?
Sawan: When in Sapient, I was working with the same client as in my present company, for around eight years. They proposed that they wanted to analyze data. So I came into analytics and created some MicroStrategic dashboards because I have more business context of the application and the data, the insurance and healthcare data of Canadian insurance companies. I was working like both a developer and BI professional.
I wanted to completely switch from being a developer to the data professional. This is why I was looking out for an opportunity to enhance my learning and get into a job too. So, I joined the data science course at INSAID.
Ankita: Could you help me understand your course at INSAID; what all things have you covered and the progress so far?
Sawan: We started with statistics and probability. After this, we moved on to Python and then started working on algorithms. Once done with this, we will move to the EDA and applications of machine learning; where can we use it. I have also studied supervised learning and some algorithms like linear regression, logistic regression, random forest and KNN.
Ankita: What all tools and packages in Data Science & Machine Learning have you mastered so far?
Sawan: I cannot say that I have mastered anything as I am learning. I know NumPy and Panda very well. With respect to machine learning, I am using Seaborn packages and trying to explore it more.
Ankita: Like you mentioned that you are working on several algorithms, is anyone your favorite and why?
Sawan: Linear regression is my pick and I am focusing more on it. Linear regression is trying to find out any value that is realistic. This is a tangible value and not some hypothetical stuff. This relates to the real world.
Ankita: Okay. So, my next question is- what is the goal of Data Science?
Sawan: The goal of Data Science is to help businesses take informed decisions so as to contribute to their growth.
Ankita: Are there any blogs that you read?
Sawan: Medium is my pick. I read 1-2 articles in a week and make sure that I stay updated with all the latest trends in the market.
Ankita: At INSAID, students are encouraged to maintain high-quality GitHub profiles. Have you also built a GitHub profile? How do you think this will help you?
Sawan: The trends are changing now. When a recruiter is looking at your resume, they are looking at your code as well. They want to know what research did you do. This becomes even more important because Data Science is not like a field that you read and apply something, instead you have to research.
It’s not about being a PhD but how deeply we dealt with data. Having a GitHub profile will mean that the recruiter can quickly have a look at the work we have done; practical work, including research work, algorithms used, codings done etc. This definitely makes you stand apart and increases your chances of getting selected.
Ankita: My next question to you would be- 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 a part of Data Science Career Launchpad.
Sawan: In the Career Launchpad session, I got to know several important points like keeping a brief resume, including keywords etc. This will definitely change my existing resume and make it even more effective.
Ankita: My last question to you would be- What will be your advice to anyone who wants to start a career in data science and who is actually a fresher in this field?
Sawan: If a fresher is entering in this field, he or she should focus on the problem to be solved; think through and you will have your way. He or she can very well work on any algorithm or learn Python, which is very easy even for a fresher but thoroughly understanding the problem to be resolved is the most important thing to do.
Ankita: So, anything that you would want to share about your journey at INSAID so far any feedback anything that you would want to share?
Sawan: Everything is fairing out well at INSAID. We get regular mails about the class’ progress; where we are and what is left to be done. The automation mail system is working great for us.
Ankita: Thanks for that feedback. It was nice talking to you. Thanks a lot for your time.
Sawan: Thanks. Bye!
