From Mechanical Engineering to Data Science: My Career Took a Drastic Turn

By - Prithviraj, Board Infinity Alumni

1. My Early Career Background

I am a 24-year-old from Kolhapur, Maharashtra, which is my hometown. I pursued Data Science. I did my engineering in Pune.

I was working as a Junior Design Engineer with Gomati Engineers in Pune, where I was involved in designing Special Purpose Machines (SPM) that automate tasks. Some parts of my work at Gomti did require me to deal with data which exposed me to Data Science - A field with great opportunities. Upon researching Data Science courses, I stumbled upon Board Infinity’s website and from there my career took a drastic turn.

2. Learning Experience at Board Infinity

I was confused about whether or not to go for a course when I could learn all over the internet for free. But, one of the main things that made me rethink my decision was - Placement Support that BI offers. When you are starting from zero, you need a little push, Board Infinity was that push for me. In order to thrive in a competitive environment, BI was an important initiative that could show me the way to opportunities! Also, I believe paying for something makes one more serious about it and so I needed this induced discipline in my life because I was going to study and also continue my work simultaneously.

If you ask me about the career transition, I wasn't someone who didn't enjoy my job. I liked my job as a mechanical engineer but liking what you do and deciding how far you have to go doing that is really important. I wanted to grow in this field but I wasn’t able to find any good opportunities in the field.

Data Science attracted me because it was an upcoming field that was based on Statistics & Math and so the growth opportunities were unlimited. I thought I related to the field as I had already started working on Data Analysis, Sentimental Analysis for clients, etc.

At Board Infinity, the coaches were really helpful. My favorite classes were - Machine Learning & Deep Learning. There was a Coach who said something and it motivated me a lot. He told us his college story. He said he was a part of a Kaggle Competition in the second year and he scored the third position from the last. While in his fourth year, he again participated in the competition and acquired a position in the top 20.

3. Placement Process

When the placements started, coaches helped us with the preparation. They would conduct our mock interviews, give us necessary feedback, and help us to work on them. I was not very confident 2 months before the placement but with the rigorous placement preparations, I was all set to face any interview. Finally, I got placed in Ugam Solutions as an Associate Analyst. Five years from now, I see myself as someone who is the best at what he does. Someday, I would like to integrate Mechanical Engineering and Data Science and build something. That way, I would be able to follow both my passions. My dream company is Boston Dynamics.

For me, Data Science is like playing a video game. The more you play, the better you get.

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