Ashutosh Kumar, VP Analytics at Capillary Technologies

Analytics is one of the fastest growing fields now days and graduates aspiring to get into this field have made the right decision. To succeed in this field I would suggest the following things to them

• For freshers aspiring to get into analytics:  At the fresher level, there is a scarcity of good jobs as compared to the supply of freshers wanting to get into analytics. For people who want to get into analytics should focus on learning statistics and understanding business logic. The basics are no rocket science, and people who hold an edge above the others will find it easier to secure their dream job
• For freshers into analytics: focus on your technical skills. In analytics business sense and quality of insight is valued the most but unless your technical foundation is strong you will not be able to do anything. And the best time to master the skills is the beginning of your career
• For experienced professional (2-3 years):  I interview a lot of people who have an experience of 2-3 years in analytics, yet their scope of knowledge and expertise is very much limited. The excuse that they have is ‘this was not done at my organization so I did not learn it’. Analytics field is very vast and is evolving at a very high pace. It is good to develop an area of expertise but one must not be restricted only by their on job training, but work on their own to learn the latest tools and technologies in analytics.

Sushant Gupta, CEO at SG Analytics

My advice to new graduates is do not just get into the analytics field because it is very hot! You need to have the right skill set to succeed as an analyst. A combination of quantitative/statistical skills, domain understanding and skills with data management technologies are necessary but not sufficient factors for success.  Apart from these soft skills, the ability to see a bigger picture are going to be the key differentiators which would separate men from the boys.

Anunay Gupta, Co-founder & Head of Analytics at Marketelligent

Spend atleast 2 years learning the fundamentals of analytics, be very hands-on and understand the business that you are working with.  Very often I see folks who view analytics as knowing SAS or SQL.  And that is a very wrong viewpoint.