I took up the Specialized Diploma course
Last year, I applied to study for a part-time course at one of the Singapore polytechnic schools. I submitted two applications, Specialized Diploma in Big Data Management and Specialized Diploma in Business Intelligence and Business Analytics. In the end, I received an offer letter. I got offered the latter one.
Many colleagues advised me to drop this course and go for a certification in AWS and move into Big Data or Data Engineering field that I always curious.
The main difference is the standard between university and polytechnic school. One would go in-depth and industrial related to prepare a person to the workforce, and another one is to deliver the fundamental knowledge for students.
My background
A little bit about my experience, I have been working on databases development and management since 2011, mainly on MSSQL, MySQL, a little bit on PostgreSQL and Oracle before I moved into NoSQL database in the year 2017. I learned and used the MongoDB.
Previously, I was a Software Engineer before I became a Database Administrator (DBA). Some of my DBA’s tasks involved data analysis, such as sales trend analysis and user retention analysis. It led me to grow my interests in Data Science and Analytics.
Now, I am working toward my new career path, the Data Engineering, Big Data, AI and Data Analytics field after years of mastering the data management.
Why I chose Specialized Diploma?
I chose to take up a specialized course instead of going to apply for a Master degree because I wanted to move into the industry with relevant knowledge within a year. The course began in April 2019, and I completed the course earlier this month, March 2020. I was a BI Developer when I took up this course.
Five months into the course, I took up a new job, and I worked closely on Data Engineering’s job scopes. Besides working on the data preparation pipeline, I am working on data management and governance too. This experience opened my eyes into another area of data that I am keen to explore it after I have completed my self-learning in Big Data.
Encouragement from fellow coursemates
I am lucky enough to have a group of great coursemates who liked to share their knowledge, opinions and experience during the lectures. It allowed me to understand how other industries use data analytics to help businesses. It shared what the challenges faced by them and what did they want to do with the skills learned from this course are.
The course was quite fulfilling because I got to learn different tools and concepts from Business Intelligence, Data Analytics to Machine Learning. These helped me to understand clearly the differences between being a BI Developer, Data Analyst, and Data Scientist. Of course, there is also a role called Data Engineer.
I would like to share my bits of knowledge through this website. Also, I would like to encourage more women into this industry. I am open to volunteer my time to guide anyone, especially women who wants to get started in the tech industry.
