I have written below essay for Masters in Business/Data Analytics program. Please recommend if any corrections are required :)
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If I were to look for a single determining factor that really set the stage for greater accomplishments it has to be my love and my ability with Mathematics. In many ways Mathematics demanded that I look the problem in front of me in the eye. I thank the wonderful tutors I had and also my genes. Was it only the high scores and being a topper at SSC level and the 100% in Higher Secondary that mattered? Certainly not, it was much more than that. There are many life truths that emerged from my eager pursuit of the subject.
I realised that problems must be tackled squarely and that I could not substitute the one accurate solution with anything else. Working on problems taught me to look beneath the surface, always. Apparent complexity could get solved through a simple solution and the simplest problem could turn out to be exceptionally complex. The uncertain could be, I realised , broken down easily into manageable parts and addressed as single blocks. I have never ceased exploring and experimenting in the branch, carrying my aptitude for Quantitative Mathematics to the engineering course as well. In fact, the skills only grew more enhanced as could be seen from my top scores in Math Analysis, Chemistry being the other subject that I loved.
I enjoyed the undergraduate journey and progressed well through the semesters. I had my favourites though, and 'Wireless and Mobile Communications' was a subject that had me entirely captivated. It was the evolution of mobile networking that interested me the most. Mobile network operations, route protocols, the technologies currently used, were all areas I delved into at great length.
My efforts were always to match precept and practice, examining application aspects in real situations being my main concern. For the high levels of experiential learning and depth of understanding I enjoyed lab sessions especially in C, C++ and Data Structures subjects. VLSI being a fascinating process of placing hundreds of thousands of electronic components on a single chip, the concepts bearing deep relevance on modern computer architectures, I was keen to augment my theoretical base. I based my final year project on the technology and upscaled my understanding of the latest and most advanced techniques for maximising performance.
---------------------was, a fine effort during which I learnt the art of team work, gathered practical understanding of real time VLSI circuits , and also maximised time and available resources effectively through rigorous planning . An equally profile enhancing curve was the 4 weeks in-plant training at the REGIONAL TELECOM TRAINING CENTRE, BSNL. Working in a real functional setting being guided to navigate switching, transmission, wireless communication, telecom operations and management domains was an enriching experience. I had the opportunity to interact with senior personnel and experts whose lightness in approaches in a highly connected and complex scene were truly inspiring.
It was yet another stroke of luck that my first and only project at Accenture was in the telecom domain. After an initial training in the basics of JAVA, ORACLE - SQL, Unix, Software functionalities , Operating Systems I was assigned to the KPN - Netherlands project as Software Engineer.
Billing Revenue Management processes, tools to enable these including Oracle - BRM ,Scheduling Tools (CAWA) , Siebel and Fusion Tools became my central preoccupation almost overnight. I set out to master key concepts in the context of the specific sector, gaining understanding of the logic at work. Further, I examined the billing and invoicing processes and realised that huge volumes of data are involved. This is where I started working with Data based real time scenarios.
In due course the very contemporary and captivating domain of Analytics opened up as a possible future course. While achieving alignment to the corporate world was not a challenge , I was more particular about capitalising on the training received in the real time environment. I worked hard in the team, stretching my limits, taking on added responsibility and proactively resolving data corruption issues independently. Once I spent an entire night on my own at work, making amends before a critical issue escalated. The next day did bring unreserved praise from my manager and admiration from team members. This was not , however, the highlight. It was my recognising a newfound passion for the new field.
As the months passed I was able to improvise and improve on existing processes, automate tasks and reduce man hours for the team, work with huge amounts of data, normalizing data and arriving at simple solutions.
I began to perceive a bright future for myself in the Business Analytics field when I built a rich vocabulary through extensive and highly productive interactions with the clients. I realised that I did have innate skills to understand the requirements of the business model, and tie together the various interdependent modules as well as users. I did a fair amount of self-directed reading in the field and gathered how with the most sophisticated tools I would be able to explore data to find new patterns and relationships, utilise my inherent mathematical skills in statistical and quantitative analysis , and forecast through predictive modeling.
Online articles and white papers have been my steady diet for a while now and I am quite sure that a research career in Data Mining would be my ultimate destination, after a successful professional stint. I have been a top scorer all through my academic life, now I aim to be a subject expert in my area of interest. Being a knowledge worker, engaged in the generation and sharing of expertise is what excites me now.
The university of -----------offers a world class program that I intend to be a part of. The department has captured the essence of the discipline and formulated a curriculum that meets every modern demand, equipping the student body to contribute to high performance settings in their professional roles. The art of unlocking value from data will be what I master through the most rigorous modules under the best faculty, thought leaders and academic giants themselves.
Over and above the mere range of information and subject competencies, I seek a differentiator degree, a new experience in a new geography, and an alternative position.
