Graduate Studies Blog
MSC BUSINESS ANALYTICS
MSBA Alumni Leverage Data Analytics Practicum Prepares Industry-Ready Professionals
In today’s data-driven business landscape, individuals with the know-how to extract insights from data are in high demand. Professionals from diverse backgrounds are embracing this new wave of opportunities and taking the leap into the world of data analytics.
For those without a technical background, an MSc in Business Analytics (MSBA) serves as a springboard for a career in data. At Nanyang Business School (NBS), the MSBA programme equips participants to be industry-ready with a curriculum informed by the latest technologies. Participants also get hands-on experience through a built-in internship and a data analytics practicum, helping them smoothly transition from the classroom to the workplace.
We spoke with three MSBA alumni who have made bold career change into business analytics. Here, they share how their industry exposure through the MSBA programme has spurred them on to success in new career paths.
Oh Ee Ching — Discovering “diamonds” in big data
As a project officer in NTU’s School of Biological Sciences, Oh Ee Ching’s work involved running experiments and analysing the results. Over time, she found herself growing more interested in data analysis than conducting experiments.
“I was always fascinated by how data shapes our decisions. It’s akin to processing raw diamonds to uncover the gem,” she shared. “COVID-19 also led to a boom in digital transformation, which piqued my interest in technology.”
Having decided to pursue an MSBA, the curriculum offered by NBS caught her eye with its unique data analytics practicum. Participants can gain industry exposure by taking on a three-month internship in their third trimester. “I appreciated how the curriculum focuses on applying knowledge in professional settings, not just theory,” she said.
Ee Ching’s practicum experience paved the way to her current position as a Business Architecture Analyst at Accenture. Having secured an internship at the global consulting giant, she quickly honed her skills in people management — from understanding clients’ business requirements to translating those needs into the technical domain for developers.
“Everything I learnt during the practicum was valuable, but if I had to name just one learning, it would be people management,” she explained. “This skill comes from experience, which I wouldn’t have been able to pick up in class. It’s essential to our work at Accenture, since we’re fundamentally IT consultants tasked to transform client systems and functions.”
While the MSBA programme has armed her with the technical skills to transform data into solutions, Ee Ching believes her biggest takeaway was the ability to adapt to any situation.
“Our professors imparted to us soft skills like resourcefulness, communication, and asking the right questions,” she said. These skills have proven useful in her dynamic role at Accenture, where she needs to pick up concepts fast for ever-evolving projects and challenges.
In one memorable project, she was called into a high-pressure meeting with her managing director and a client to discuss the design of a system she was unfamiliar with. “It resembled a massive mind map of multiple complicated systems,” she recalled.
By asking thoughtful questions and drawing on concepts learnt in class, Ee Ching quickly understood the system and offered recommendations on re-designing it. “The MSBA programme has given me the confidence to handle such obstacles,” she concluded.
Lee Jiun Kai — From healthcare to data analytics
After seven years of working as a pharmacist, Lee Jiun Kai decided to explore the newfound opportunities unleashed by the rise of big data. “In the current market, I feel that business analytics offers more opportunities for growth and development,” he explained.
Coming from a healthcare background, Jiun Kai was looking for an MSBA curriculum that could fill the gaps in his technical knowledge. He also needed a programme that would offer robust career support to smoothen his career transition.
“The MSBA programme at NBS focuses on technical skills like programming, which are highly relevant in the industry,” he shared. “Another decisive factor that led me to choose NBS was its strong networking opportunities with professionals and alumni support, along with dedicated job-hunting assistance from the Graduate Studies Career Development Office (GSCDO).”
With the help of the GSCDO, Jiun Kai was able to secure a practicum internship that propelled him into the business analytics field, bridging the gap between his pharmacy background and his analytics learnings. As a Business Analytics Intern at pharmaceutical corporation Johnson & Johnson, he performed data visualisation and optimised reporting templates to aid strategic decision-making by leaders.
“I learnt to leverage my existing healthcare knowledge in a new domain,” he said. “At the same time, it was a great opportunity to apply my data analytics skills in a real-world business context.”
The data analytics practicum was not the only chance that Jiun Kai had for hands-on learning. To practise the advanced programming skills taught in class, the go-getter embarked on his own personal project: developing an algorithm for cryptocurrency investment.
“My transition from healthcare to business analytics was challenging, primarily due to my lack of experience in coding and programming,” he explained. “This project enhanced my understanding of the theoretical concepts learned in class, making my transition smoother.”
Today, he relies on this hard-earned programming knowledge in his day-to-day work at fintech startup Trovio. As an Investment, Operation, and Risk Analyst, he develops and optimises quantitative code and strategies to enhance investor returns.
“The fundamental programming logic I learned in the MSBA has proven invaluable,” he affirmed. “The programme’s rigorous training has made me competitive in handling diverse aspects of operations, investment, and risk management.”
Swastik Mishra — Thriving in the future of automation
Despite his budding career in the financial sector, Swastik Mishra never lost sight of his interest in data science. “I always wanted to have a technical career,” he shared.
When he chanced upon an online sharing session led by MSBA alumni and current participants at NBS, he didn’t hesitate to sign up. “During the webinar, I noticed that the NBS curriculum was more technical than other schools, with advanced programming and data visualisation modules,” he recounted.
This technical rigour was exactly what he needed to widen his career options. “I wanted to enter a technical field but didn’t know whether it would be as a data analyst, data scientist, or even a quant trader,” he explained. “I observed that the NBS alumni had gone into a range of technical roles, which reassured me that I’d have a good variety of options.”
Through the MSBA programme, Swastik built a strong foundation in the cutting-edge technologies that are disrupting today’s business landscape. Not only did he gain theoretical mastery of key skills like programming and database management, he also benefited from hands-on experience in the latest tools through his data analytics practicum.
As a data science intern at Zurich Insurance, he learnt about automating processes with Microsoft Azure — something that helped him stand out in subsequent job interviews. “Not many people get exposure in working with Azure, so my practicum experience definitely helped,” he said. “Overall, it broadened my horizons in the data science space.”
Demand for automation is soaring in APAC and beyond, as businesses tap into AI and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to accelerate growth. Swastik’s proficiency in automation through the MSBA programme continues to give him an edge in his current role as a Data Analyst at Rapsodo Sports.
Rapsodo Sports develops sports analytics technology to empower athletes to improve their game. Before Swastik joined, the sales team would perform cold outreach by manually compiling the contact details of professional athletes. Swastik applied automated web scraping techniques to this time-consuming task, enabling his colleagues to generate a comprehensive outbound sales leads database in a few clicks.
“I’ve been able to bring something new to the team, thanks to modules like Robotic Process Automation in the MSBA programme,” Swastik shared. “I’ve become the ‘go-to guy’ for automated web scraping at Rapsodo, and my work gets direct recognition from leaders. Thanks to the MSBA, I’m able to stand out in my company.”
Achieving career change with an MSc Business Analytics
For Ee Ching, Jiun Kai, and Swastik, the MSBA experience was key to unlocking new paths in their careers. Despite hailing from diverse industries, they gained the technical foundations and industry readiness they needed to pull off a successful career change.
The MSBA programme at NBS prepares participants to excel in the future of business, with a rigorous curriculum backed by hands-on industry exposure. With the MSBA, you too can soar in new career directions no matter your background or experience.
Find out more about our MSBA programme here.
