Analytics- "The Need of the Hour"

Sheeba Rajam heads the Customer Advocacy, Operations and Talent Acquisition at TEG Analytics. She has nearly 15 yrs of work experience across industries like Hospitality, Publication, Education, Oil and Gas, Technology, and the latest being Analytics. Being in the analytics field for almost 5 years, she says, “There is always something new to learn in Analytics”.

In an interview, she shares her recruitment experience and her expectations as a Talent Specialist.

1. What is the biggest challenge you face as a Talent Specialist?
   The biggest challenge is there is always a greed factor that kicks in because there are many people outside who are scouting for talent. While people get an opportunity a lot of them jump in for money. Stability is the need of the hour. Learn before you make a decision and focus a little more.
   The next bigger challenge I face is that people leave quickly without learning anything, especially the younger generation. They want to learn and try something new every time. Money is the factor but learning and acquiring knowledge also counts in
2. What are the skills you look for while hiring?
   “Connect the dots” that’s the theory. You should have it in you to get the logic and understand the problem. Attitude also plays a big role. You may have the best skills and grades but if you don’t have the right attitude that will take you nowhere. Go with the right mindset and stick to it.
3. Do you hire people from management background?
   We hire predominantly from engineering background but few from management too. It’s a mixed ratio. I believe every experience counts. It depends on where the organization is at that time. From example-if the organization is working on a retail project and, there is somebody who has a background of retail we will look into the business expertise because he will have the business domain understanding. Along with analytics knowledge, it is also important to have business knowledge.
4. How do you hire currently?
   We do not go for campus hiring currently. We do a lot of walk-in interviews and referrals. The hiring happens 2-3 times a year. We also provide internships depending on the requirements. Minimum 3 months duration is considered.
5. What kind of project your company deals with?
   Every project we do is interesting! Currently, we are working on products and services of three verticals- CPG, Healthcare, Energy and Utilities this year. Working on building and enhancing the products based on whatever inputs we get from the clients.
6. What initiatives do you think our education system should take to prepare for the freshers?
   Real-life skills much needed. Theories and their practical applications are there but when people come to the corporate world it’s different. Adapting to it out of college life is tough. While teaching I wish our education system also teaches some life skills and how to go about the corporate world. That’s the need of the hour.
7. What is your advice to the analytics aspirants?
   Be confident about yourself. Do a lot of learning. Get to know about the latest technologies in the market. Participate in Kaggle, make use of multiple channels, step out into the world, go out with complete passion and make a change. People will hire you for the change that you bring into their organization not for what you are showing on your resumes.