Analytics at Wharton
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The Journey to Become a Data-Driven Company
This fall, the Wharton Undergraduate Data Analytics Club (WUDAC) and Wharton Customer Analytics (WCA) held the inaugural Data Days Conference. Throughout the two-day event, more than 100 students attended peer-led technical workshops on machine learning, SQL, and data visualization. Students also heard from industry speakers who offered advice on starting a career in data analytics. Below are highlights from the first panel of the conference, The Journey to Become a Data-Driven Company.
30-Second Analytics Advice
“It is about balancing your superpowers as a data scientist. The bread and butter of analytics is obviously SQL, R, and Python, but there is a threshold for technical skills. In order to scale your value-add, hone your communication skills. Aside from effectively communicating the business insights, bring curiosity and probe beyond the questions being asked. This could generate an outcome that was not originally anticipated.”
– Lukas Vrana
Vice President of Marketing Analytics at Zillow
“When starting your career in data science, know the value-add that you bring as an individual to your company. Search for the pain points and show them that you are the one who is able to fix them and create business value.”
– Daniele Groccia
Vice President of Controlling, Analytics, Governance and Organization at Lidl US
“Aside from my passion for math and programming, writing and presentations were what helped jumpstart my career. My advice to students is to look for opportunities to write reports or grant proposals. It is a valuable skill that will serve you throughout your career.”
– John MacCuish
Senior Data Scientist for Audience Research at FOX Entertainment
Watch Panel
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Born from the advent of the tech industry, data science combines statistics, business, communication, and programming to optimize massive amounts of data. The Wharton Undergraduate Data Analytics Club (WUDAC) and Wharton Customer Analytics (WCA) collaborated to create the first-ever Data Days Conference, an event with the goal of demystifying this up-and-coming field.