{"490731":{"#nid":"490731","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Alumni Spotlight: What It Takes: Preparing for a Career in Analytics","body":[{"value":"\u003Ch5\u003EBy \u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Hale\u003C\/strong\u003E, Analyst, Enova International, ISyE Class of 2015\u003C\/h5\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt took only one analytics-related class at Georgia Tech\u2019s Stewart School of Industrial \u0026amp; Systems Engineering (ISyE) for me to realize that I wanted to go into analytics. Like many undergrads, when I entered school I had chosen a general concentration in industrial engineering because I didn\u2019t know exactly what I wanted to do at the time. But after learning about basic modeling techniques and realizing the diverse array of fields I could explore with an analytics-focused degree, I was hooked.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlmost a year into my career, I feel fortunate to have graduated from a school that has directly prepared me as well as two of my colleagues who also graduated from Georgia Tech, Abisht Raviprakash and Vinod Cheriyan, to succeed in our careers. From coursework to extracurriculars, we\u2019ve pinpointed unique knowledge and experiences we\u2019ve gained from our time at ISyE that have set us up for success as we grow our careers at Enova International, a technology and analytics-driven online lender in Chicago.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETake Advantage of Broad Coursework\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne thing that Georgia Tech does really well is offer a broad range of coursework. Every single industrial engineer takes a fairly wide breadth of classes beyond their concentration. For instance, an introductory course to forecasting and regression gave me the model-building skills I need to write the models that oversee our sophisticated, automated underwriting process at Enova International. A data visualization course gave me the tools I\u2019ve needed to successfully present information to our executives in a way that is both visual and meaningful.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECoding was another indispensible skill I learned through coursework and side projects. Having a basic understanding of a programming language \u2013 for me, it\u2019s Python \u2013 has enabled me to work much more efficiently in my current role. Even something as simple as pulling data into a spreadsheet can save tons of time if I do it myself rather than relying on someone else with specialized knowledge.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGain Real-World Experience\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile textbook learning is invaluable, at some point theory stops and practice begins. Thankfully, through my Senior Design project, I was able to put my knowledge into practice and work on an analytics solution for a large telecommunications company. We were tasked with optimizing their network so that they could fit more data onto the same infrastructure.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe project taught me both people skills and technical skills that help me perform my job at Enova today.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMost valuable was learning how teams that are working on large-scale technical projects interact with each other. On the Senior Design project, eight of us were working together, so we had to learn how to efficiently decide who would be best at each task based on our individual strengths. We also learned how to interact with executives, both in a formal presentation setting and in sessions for data gathering purposes. The lesson: Much of our success was determined by knowing what to ask, when to ask it, and when to figure it out ourselves.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis has translated to my job at Enova, where I\u2019m often working on a multi-department project designed to identify a business opportunity or answer a question such as, \u201cWhat product should we launch in this state?\u201d It will also come in handy as Enova begins to offer its analytics as a service to external clients through \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.enovadecisions.com\u0022\u003EEnova Decisions\u003C\/a\u003E. Knowing how to successfully contribute to large-scale projects has been essential, and also has enabled me to continue to expand my knowledge by constantly working on new things and learning from others. I get to go deep in the data, but I\u2019m also getting inputs from others and able to watch the entire project lifecycle unfold.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EComplete Personal Side Projects \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen hiring analytics team members, companies look for passionate individuals who have gone the extra mile. The best way to show you\u2019re interested in analytics and a great way to get practice in it is to take on a personal side project. Plus, these can be really fun. For instance, there is a website called Kaggle where businesses post a problem that they want modeled. Anyone can submit a solution, everyone\u2019s answers are ranked, and sometimes there is prize money to be won. It\u2019s a good way to check your progress in a real-world scenario.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENever Stop Learning\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech does a great job of teaching students how to teach themselves, and this is a critical skill for those going into analytics. It\u2019s a new field that is still changing, and because of this it\u2019s never boring. I was fortunate to find a company that offers a flexible rotation program for new hires that are recent grads, so I was able to try a few different roles at Enova before landing in my current position on the portfolio analytics team.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAside from surrounding myself with colleagues who bring great insights and perspectives and learning from them, I keep up with the latest analytics developments by attending meetup groups, reading online content, and always being on the lookout for new programming languages and techniques to try. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnalytics is an exciting and ever-evolving field, and I\u2019m looking forward to continuing to learn and grow as I progress in my career. I\u2019m grateful for the foundation ISyE provided with its challenging coursework and ample real-world opportunities outside of the classroom, and I\u2019d advise any student at Georgia Tech who\u2019s interested in pursuing a career in analytics to take advantage of all the school has to offer. You have world-class opportunities at your fingertips, so make the most of them!\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2 align=\u0022center\u0022\u003EInsights from\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Ch2 align=\u0022center\u0022\u003EVinod Cheriyan and Abisht Raviprakash\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Ch5 align=\u0022center\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EVinod Cheriyan\u003C\/strong\u003E, Ph.D. in Operations Research (2014),\u003C\/h5\u003E\u003Ch5 align=\u0022center\u0022\u003EM.S. in Operations Research (2012)\u003C\/h5\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECurrent role\u003C\/strong\u003E: Senior Data Scientist, Research Architecture and Platform Analytics, Enova International\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMost valuable classes\u003C\/strong\u003E: Coursework in statistics, optimization, and stochastics\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMost valuable experience at Georgia Tech\u003C\/strong\u003E: My Ph.D. research gave me familiarity with a wide range of algorithms and a great base in statistics and data analysis \u2013 especially with how to deal with imperfect data.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat Georgia Tech does best\u003C\/strong\u003E: The coursework is thorough and rigorous, and they teach the \u201cwhy\u201d behind the \u201cwhat.\u201d Because of that foundation, I can understand why things work and pick up new concepts quickly.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFavorite part of current job\u003C\/strong\u003E: We have a culture of managed autonomy, which means anyone \u2013 regardless of level or how recently they joined \u2013 can have a huge direct impact if their model is the best. I also love working with really smart people who are willing to help each other.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETop tip for current students\u003C\/strong\u003E: Two things: 1) Know the \u201cwhy\u201d behind the \u201cwhat\u201d (e.g., why is multicollinearlity considered bad for regression?) and 2) gain experience using real datasets \u2013 not just curated samples used in courses. There are many public data sets available that you can play around with to get practical experience.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch5 align=\u0022center\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbisht Raviprakash\u003C\/strong\u003E,\u003C\/h5\u003E\u003Ch5 align=\u0022center\u0022\u003EM.S. in Quantitative and Computational Finance (2009)\u003C\/h5\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECurrent Role\u003C\/strong\u003E: Analytics Manager, Portfolio Analytics, Enova International\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMost valuable classes\u003C\/strong\u003E: Coursework in regression analysis and corporate strategy\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMost valuable experience at Georgia Tech\u003C\/strong\u003E: I had a graduate assistantship focused on building an energy trading visualization map. It gave me exposure to computational skills and programming languages that I use today.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat Georgia Tech does best\u003C\/strong\u003E: The coursework is very well structured for an individual looking to go into analytics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFavorite part of current job\u003C\/strong\u003E: I have exposure to a ton of different projects and tools. I\u2019m given a lot of responsibility but also a lot of flexibility in building my own career structure.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETop tip for current students\u003C\/strong\u003E: Find something that you\u2019re passionate about and dig into it. Challenge yourself to improve every day.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThree ISyE alums, now Enova employees, give their perspectives on preparing for the many diverse careers in analytics.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Three ISyE alums give their thoughts on preparing for a career in analytics."}],"uid":"28766","created_gmt":"2016-01-26 12:06:33","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:20:31","author":"Shelley Wunder-Smith","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-01-26T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2016-01-26T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"490721":{"id":"490721","type":"image","title":"ISyE Alums, Now Enova Employees","body":null,"created":"1453831200","gmt_created":"2016-01-26 18:00:00","changed":"1475895248","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:08","alt":"ISyE Alums, Now Enova Employees","file":{"fid":"204440","name":"enova-guys---web-version.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/enova-guys---web-version_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/enova-guys---web-version_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":107085,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/enova-guys---web-version_0.jpg?itok=iiDBEUBm"}}},"media_ids":["490721"],"groups":[{"id":"1242","name":"School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISYE)"}],"categories":[{"id":"130","name":"Alumni"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7251","name":"analytics"},{"id":"169849","name":"Enova"},{"id":"426","name":"isye"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:shelley.wunder-smith@isye.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EShelley Wunder-Smith\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWriter\/Editor\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStewart School of Industrial \u0026amp; Systems Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404.385.4745\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["shelley.wunder-smith@isye.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}