Hire Education is a series that showcases stories of student success through experiential learning.
Ambily Treesa Varghese
Ambily Treesa Varghese has learned to see the future.
But St. Clair College's Data Analytics for Business program offered her more than the ability to identify and manipulate emerging trends, she said.
It also amplified her new skills through multiple hands-on learning experiences and national networking opportunities.
"They have very comprehensive coursework for the program," said Varghese, an international student from India. "Most of the programs I looked into didn't have all these elements included. St. Clair had machine learning and all those new technologies that are required to be a data scientist. That was interesting. The comprehensive coursework was what attracted me the most."
The two-year program gives graduates the skills and experience to collect, curate, and take advantage of raw data to solve problems and predict future patterns for business decision-making.
There are career paths in virtually all sectors that range from data analyst to digital marketing, and self-employment opportunities such as data analytics consultant.
A vital aspect of Data Analytics for Business, like all St. Clair programs, is that it takes students out of the classroom to ensure they have practical experience before graduation.
Varghese forged new industry relationships when she attended the Celebration of Women in Computing Conference in Toronto.
She was a member of the team that won first place in the Data Analytics category at the University of New Brunswick's National Data Challenge. Another St. Clair College team placed third.
She is also president of the College's Data Analytics Club, which organizes and hosts student competitions throughout the year. They teamed up with Rocket Mortgage Canada to present the most recent challenge.
"Through these challenges, we've been able to meet a lot of industry experts," said Varghese. "We do speaker sessions where we've had the opportunity to have people who work in companies come and talk to the students in our program."
Varghese said she is also gaining important experience through the program's capstone project. Capstone projects are a culminating academic experience that marks the completion of a student's education, designed to apply the expertise they have gained in the program to a final project. The capstone project in the Data Analytics for Business Program requires students to complete a real-world challenge and present it to stakeholders.
The Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce is one of the organizations Varghese is working with for her capstone project. Varghese is using raw data to help predict future revenues for businesses and determine what services the Chamber should provide to its members. She is also helping redesign the Chamber's data analytics dashboard to make it more interactive and intuitive.
"We get exposure to what the industry is expecting," Varghese said of the Data Analytics for Business program. "This has been very helpful in improving my analytic skills and presentation skills, learning new things and conveying insights and findings to others. It has been a good experience meeting people, learning new things and applying the skills that we've learned, which I believe will help in my career path."