How To Grow An Analytics Career

Last week, in my blog post "Thinking MBA for Career Growth? Hang on...," I touched some nerves among All Analytics community members over the question of whether or not analytics professionals seeking career advancement would be better served by an MBA or a Master's in statistics or another advanced degree.

The opinions were varied and equally passionate on both sides of the argument.

One community member wrote, for example, that an MBA has been a disappointment:

I'm a generalist and my MBA has not done much for me. I'm beginning to think that I would have done better if I had specialized. I have noticed that the generalists are passed over for more specialized skills in different areas. And even I am finding it hard to decide the best jobs for me.

Another community member, on the other hand, pointed out that pursuit of an advanced degree wasn't necessarily warranted (or maybe even advisable):

"You don't need to get a degree to learn advanced statistics or business management. Indeed, university professors will teach you outdated material."

I was thinking about this thread as I reviewed notes from a recent conversation I'd had with Radhika Kulkarni, VP of advanced analytics R&D at SAS (this site's sponsor) and our latest Women in Analytics featured professional. (Read our Q&A with her.) Kulkarni shared some great advice for professional development that's applicable to this discussion.

Read the rest of this article on All Analytics.