From 12 Interview Rejections and a 4- year Career Gap to a Successful Data Scientist!

Ashutosh Behera is now a successful Data Scientist at Prudent Technologies and Consulting Inc (one of the top IT consulting firms specializing in Data Science, Cyber Security and Enterprise CRM)

Ashutosh Behera graduated in electrical engineering in 2016. After graduation, he worked at Amazon for 2 years, followed by setting up his own start-up, but he could not continue after 4 years. Now, he wanted to switch his stream into the technical field and started searching for an IT job with a regular income but received many rejections due to a lack of experience in the technical field and a career gap.

Ashutosh's Transition to Data Science and OdinSchool

Ashutosh learnt that he could study Data Science and enter the technical world but did not know how. So, he started searching for a course but soon understood that there were too many data science courses out there. This made him feel apprehensive about finding the right course.

While searching, Ashutosh read different kinds of reviews on Quora as well. He could see that OdinSchool's data science content is really comprehensive and up to date with the industry. I also heard one of the lectures by their product lead and got really inspired to join.

Ashutosh's Journey at OdinSchool

As Ashutosh was from a non-CS educational background, he felt very nervous. However, today, he would proudly say that he has rock solid foundation in data science. 

The best part is when they take weekly assessments, they understand your weak points and personalize their teaching accordingly so that they can overcome the hurdles. They never teach/interact in 'made for all' mode. Even the capstone projects are personalized, like; if one is interested in Deep Learning, then there is a project designed in that area so that the project helps to grow further. And there is always additional guidance to better your subject!

At one time, he had to submit a project and could not comprehend how to go about it for almost a week. He became very anxious and wrote almost a 2-page mail to his instructors. " I got a response within 24 hours from the trainers themselves, which was very quick. I felt relieved because had they delayed the response; my fear would have multiplied, affecting my studies."

As stated earlier, Ashutosh developed a career gap of 4 years before joining the course, due to which his candidature was being rejected continuously.

I was not even allowed to appear for the interview. OdinSchool's placement team never gave up on me and analyzed the situation. They helped me with mock interviews and with my resume design in such a way that my career gap stopped affecting my interview and played as an advantage for me!

you might also want to read how a molecular biology scientist became a data scientist

Ashutosh's Advice for All the Data Science Aspirants

1. After working 6 months in the role of a data scientist, I can only say that your self-study, a mentor and guidance are needed in the field of data science, especially when starting out. It is always better to join a professional data science course to launch oneself as there is an industry expert to guide you.
2. Always remember, it is the only practice that can make a man perfect! Practice Python and SQL as much as possible.
   

Ashutosh's Inspiring Interview