Lekhana - Helping Professionals Transition To Data Science And Analytics (Data Analyst and Influencer From India)

 

Lekhana

My role as a data governance analyst is to oversee data to basically secure and protect the data. The most enjoyable part of my job is to understand the entire lifecycle of data and help the organization to make better decisions while handling the data.


1. Tell us about yourself and your background?

Lekhana started her career in data from a non-technical background. She pursued her Masters' degree in Data Analytics and landed her first job as a Data Science Analyst within 8 months of her Master's program.

But the real world was completely different from the theoretical knowledge she was learning in her Master's program. She was fortunate enough to get a Mentor in her first job who guided her through learning and gave her real-world experience. Since then she always wanted to give back and help people move into data and that is where she started storytelling by data. She has helped over 250+ professionals transition to data over the past 1 year with a full-time job.


2. What is Data Science and why is it needed in today’s world?

Everyday we create roughly 2.5 quintillion bytes of data and we need a way to make sense of this data. That is where data analytics comes in place. Data science takes this a step further and uses statistical modelling and computation to build predictive models, automation, etc to predict what can happen in the future, and automate manual tasks all using data. This is why you see the increase in data science today.


3. How can one know that Data Science is their cup of tea?

Having mentored over 250 + professionals over the past 1 year some of the most common advice I give for those who want to move into data is to understand why you need to move into data(this shouldn't be because of the hype). I have seen some of my students who have bought these expensive data courses and they realize that they don't like data science. Are you a problem solver? Do you love programming? these are some probe questions to start with.


4. Can anyone make a career in this field or some prerequisite skills are needed?

I have seen that anyone can make a career in this field. Especially in data analytics I personally have seen a lot of people here in the USA make a career in analytics even without an undergrad degree. However, for data science, an undergraduate degree with a background in mathematics is best suited to learn quickly and finding a job.


5. What do you most enjoy about your job?

My role as a data governance analyst is to oversee data to basically secure and protect the data. The most enjoyable part of my job is to understand the entire lifecycle of data and help the organization to make better decisions while handling the data.


6. What all courses and skills should one do to get into this field?

For those who are looking to transition to data science, I would suggest starting small. Maybe watch some YouTube tutorials on data science. Focus on building programming skills if you are from a non-technical background and if you are from a technical background I would suggest you start focusing on model-building skills in data science.


7. Does one get the prerequisite knowledge and skills of data science in college?

The prerequisite skills in data science are mathematics that is in college. So I would say if you have an option to choose statistics, take that if you are looking to transition to data science.


8. Any book recommendations for data enthusiasts?

For statistics - Practical statistics for data scientists by Peter Bruce and Andrew Bruce

For data science from a business perspective - business data science by Matt Taddy

For python - Introduction to Machine Learning with Python: A Guide for Data Scientists by Andreas C. Müller and Sarah Guido.


9. How does one know if this is the right field for them?

If you enjoy solving problems and love programming!! Then data science is definitely for you.


10. Elaborate more about this field and what is the future of Data science?

The future of data science is strong. If you are in this field there is a fear of getting automated which is not true. Maybe in the next 20 years, there are chances of some parts of data science being automated but with automation comes more jobs and there are human elements in data science like the business understanding which automation cannot replace.


Bio-

Lekhana is a Data Governance Analyst at a Fortune 500 company in the USA and she is also the founder of Storytelling by Data. Driven by a passion for education and mentorship, she takes pride in providing the best mentoring and coaching to professionals who are transitioning to data science and analytics. As a Founder of Storytelling by Data, her goal is to help transition 5000 professionals to data science and analytics by 2023.

 

Interviewed By - Shashank Sehgal