Background
Sonika Shivani Vijaykumar (MSBA ’20) is an international student from India. Coming from an undergraduate background in Physics and Mathematics and an MBA from University of Wisconsin – River falls in 2019, Sonika and her teammates worked together with TCS World Travel, a luxury tour operator based in Seattle (MSBA Applied Project: Predictive Modeling using Clustering Model, Propensity model, and developing Tableau/Power BI dashboards to segment TCS World Travel’s customers based on behavioral and demographical data). Sonika had experience in Business Development before MSBA. She currently works for Milgard Center for Business Analytics as a BI & Data Analytics Consultant.
In a few sentences, tell us about your life before the MSBA program.
I love to travel, meet new people, and talk to them about their background and experiences, which made me pursue a career in Business Development. An MBA was a dream since my undergrad days, and I wanted to enhance my management skills, which led to me pursuing an MBA at the University of Wisconsin, River Falls. I started to connect dots between my business development experience and analytics. At this point, I knew I wanted to get into Business Analytics. Although I enjoyed management courses, I realized I was missing out on technical skills which would be required to become a successful Business Analyst.
What led you to choose the Master of Science in Business Analytics program at the University of Washington Tacoma?
UW Tacoma’s MSBA program is one of the top Business Analytics program in the United States. The program was innovative, course work was comprehensive, and it allowed me to work as a student consultant for TCS World Travel where I got a lot of exposure and insights into the world of analytics. After two years of my MBA degree, I was not ready to go for another two year master’s; Milgard’s one year program, along with an opportunity to intern while studying, was a smart and practical choice for me.
What were some of the highlights and challenges of your time as a graduate student?
The major highlight was my team, which had members from different backgrounds (Computer Science, Accounting and Data Analytics) from whom I gained a lot of knowledge and exposure. As a team we spent so much time into our projects that we became a family by the end of the course. Our hard work won us the Best Project Award at the MSBA Applied Project Showcase 2019-20. Of course, grabbing a bite to eat at Zeek’s Pizza during lunch breaks, networking with other classmates from various backgrounds over happy hours, and end of quarter assessments were among the many other highlights. One of my challenges was adapting to the program as it is fast paced. But I did overcome this with the help of my team members and my professors.
Where do you see yourself going from here?
Although I was a marketing analyst during my applied project with TCS, I also played the role of Project Manager where I had to communicate with the client and the team constantly. The MSBA program at Milgard has given me the opportunity to learn not just Business Analytics, but also Data Analytics, Applied Statistics and Business Process Management, which now has broadened my career opportunities along with pointing out the differences between each one of these. I see myself starting out in the role of a Business Intelligence/Data Analytics professional as I enjoy work that is data driven.
What advice would you offer to an incoming MSBA student?
“Diversity; the art of thinking independently together” – Malcolm Forbes
I believe in diversity and teamwork as they bring perspectives that can do wonders. Spend time with your team as much as possible, and you will be thankful at the end of the year for all the knowledge that you have gained. Making time for team discussions and working together was the key to my team’s success. Time is more precious than you think during this one year; make the best of it.
