Importance of Skill sets in Analytics

Zenefits is a US based company which offers cloud-based software as a service to companies for managing their human resources, with a particular focus on helping them with health insurance coverage. Zenefits helps more than 11,000 small and midsize companies empower their modern workforce, manage change and stay compliant. Performance and Compensation apps combine with advisory services and tightly integrated partner apps to radically simplify HR administration – reducing paperwork and complexity so companies can focus on starting, running and growing their businesses.

Alagiri Samy is working as a Product Manager for Data, Business intelligence & Advanced Analytics products at Zenefits. He started his career with Bridgei2i and that’s when he developed his taste for analytics. His love for data, metrics and story-telling has helped him contribute to the Open Data of Indian Government and also win the National Hackathon on Open Data organized by National Planning Commission. He has also been recognized as one of the Top 180 Data Science Bloggers by Data Science Central. His love for numbers has motivated him to continue in the field of analytics.

  1. What do you think is the biggest Challenge in Hiring in Analytics?
    Talking about the role of Data Scientists, there is no such professional education for it. Meaning there is no formal educational background. If we take the example of a Software Engineer, it is quite clear that the person should be from a Computer Science background. That simplifies the hiring process too. However that is not the same for a Data Scientist role.
  2. What is your Expectation in terms of Skill sets?
    We generally hire freshers from different institutions. Rather than looking at the grades or their background, we look for people knowing Fundamentals of SQL, about Databases, having Good Logical Thinking, Sharp Aptitude, and Problem Solving Ability and out of the box thinking.
  3. Do you think even Non Engineers can perform well in Analytics?
    As I said, there is no Educational background so yes I do believe that Non Engineers can perform extremely well in Analytics. We hire Management individuals into our team and also people from Mechanical, ECE, CS and EEE background.
  4. Do you think Online Courses and Certifications add an advantage?
    Yes but it depends on the individual too.
  5. Is Zenefits focused on Big Data and Predictive Analytics?
    Yes we are.
  6. Would you like to share about any ongoing interesting Project?
    We have a compensation management app which helps small businesses identify market competitive and fair wages by role, industry, and geography. The app poses questions during set up to help business users determine the compensation philosophy that best maps to each company’s unique priorities and values. Then it provides insights on salaries for new hires, new promotions and new roles as the company grows.  Further, it helps young businesses keep a pulse on pay equity across its organization, aligning pay to role and performance, which can all be tracked in the Zenefits platform.