We have encountered this question quite often in the last few days, so we thought of writing a detailed post on this. Remember: profile building for PGDBA is also very important part of your overall admission preparation. Though it may not have a direct impact in your selection, it does play an important role in your overall success as a data scientist.
For cracking entrance exam of PGDBA (Post Graduate Diploma in Business Analytics) by IIM Calcutta, ISI Kolkata and IIT Kharagpur, the first and most important aspect is written test. Assuming you have prepared well for the written exam (If you need any help on PGDBA 2023 written exam preparation, check out this post) and you want to develop your profile for the overall admission process, we have a four step approach for you.
Read and Think Analytics
Read and study as much as possible on analytics. You may set up Google alerts on common terms or follow/subscribe any website which posts latest news and information on analytics and data science.
The idea for this activity is to understand different aspects of analytics, learn how companies use analytics in their day to day business operations and activities, and learn about the overall evolution of the industry.
This will help you in developing your thought process and mindset to appreciate the applications and use cases of analytics.
Study and Learn Analytics
Study various analytics concepts and complete a few online courses. The topics that you can choose are as below:
- Statistics
- SQL
- R/Python
- Tableau/Qlikview
Learn the basics of statistics and understand common terminologies and concepts in statistics. In terms of programming language, you may pick up either R or Python. Though Python has recently gained more attention, you may pick up either to develop your understanding. To understand visualization, learn one of the tools – Tableau or Qlikview. This will help in building your thought process for descriptive analytics – most widely used in the industry. Moreover, this will teach you how to look at data from different angles and how to make sense of it.
These topics will help you develop a strong foundation when you enter PGDBA or any other analytics course. If you want to get a certificate, consider the courses that offer a certificate at a low cost.
Practice and Showcase Analytics
Try a few hands-on projects/problems that you can talk about during your interview. These projects will give you a good hands-on experience to talk to anyone while discussing your interest and knowledge about analytics/data science. We have listed a number of projects on our website. You may pick up any one project depending on your choice of industry (Retail / Banking and Financial Services / Operations and Supply Chain / Restaurant Analytics). If you want additional ideas on projects, do let us know. We can help you identify the right project for you. You may also share your ideas in the comments section.
You may showcase these projects on your LinkedIn/Github profile or publish them on a blog. If you wish to showcase your article on AI Monks, we would be happy to help you.
Compete and Win Analytics
Participate in competitions – If you think you have gained adequate knowledge, you may take part in competitions and test your skills. If you get a good rank, you may show that in your CV. The most popular website to participate in data science competitions is Kaggle.
Even if you don’t plan to pursue academics in analytics but learn for yourself, these are the four main areas that you should focus. Please share your analytics journey in the comments section, we would be happy to learn from your experiences.
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