The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra mile that one is willing to cover. When we are ready to go that extra mile, we make a difference. Here’s Gautam Zindal, a member of the Coding Ninjas alumni community who would be a definition of being smart and a wise human being in this competitive world and how! Let’s get into the blog to know about his journey a little more.
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About Gautam Zindal
Gautam has completed B.Tech in mechanical engineering from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology situated in Roorkee. He is now associated with Myntra as a Data Analyst.
Apart from the academics, he loves to go trekking and spend some good time playing badminton with his friends.
Journey with Coding Ninjas
“So, we have a very good coding culture at IIT, Roorkee. Nine out of ten students learn to code while in college. Watching them, I got curious and got my hands into coding. I was searching for some good course which could help me and it was then when I came across Coding Ninjas.”
“Also, the course was in Hinglish which is a mix of both English and Hindi for the students like me to relate better. I remember, I took the Introduction to C ++ and Data Structures course and learned the basics of coding from there itself. Hence, the journey from the basics to the advanced level was very smooth for me.”
“To add on, I used to solve questions from different websites which made my concepts clearer and helped me crack interviews. It was one of my friends who introduced me to the Coding Ninjas platform after which I researched about it and amazingly, I was convinced about the same. It was really a great journey for me.”
Are the lessons learned at Coding Ninjas still helping you?
“Not exactly! As my job here is not related to coding, however there is SQL which is also a coding language and I use that at times. Above that, I would say that the basics which I have learned at Coding Ninjas are of great help even now. I apply those basics here at Myntra while working on different projects. Also, when I sit for any interview, whatever I have acquired from the organisation happens to be my strongest point.”
What did you do differently to bag an offer from Myntra?
“What I believe is that, when you want to crack an interview you have to show to the interviewer that you are different from everyone else. I believe that I have very good coding skills but, apart from that I prepared a presentation on how to remove a bug from their app. While giving the interview, I asked them if I could show it to them. After watching the presentation the interviewer was pretty much convinced and impressed. So, you have to go that extra mile to stand out.”
What does a typical day look like at Myntra?
“At Myntra, we have a hybrid work culture. My day typically starts at 10.30 AM. First of all, I check what are the projects we have in the pipeline according to which I make a priority list. Thereafter, I work on the task assigned to me for the day. We even go to the gaming arena to chill for sometime. Around 2 PM, we go for lunch which is followed by meeting different teams to know their requirements from us. Then we have a good brainstorming session after which for 3-4 hours we work on data mining and that’s how a day looks like at Myntra.”
Do you think ChatGPT can be a threat to your designation as a Data Analyst?
“No, not at all! Because the work we do requires a lot of manual thinking like how we have to proceed and what are the further processes we have to follow. There isn’t any predefined path that we need to follow and everything depends upon the project on which we are working. Sometimes we have some of the past data to reflect on, however, at times we have no data.Therefore, at that time we have to build everything from scratch, be it the dashboard or the metrics. However, ChatGPT can help us in various ways.”
What kind of projects do you work on at Myntra?
“We have a huge chunk of data for everything like for example say, you ordered a product and you want to return it, so, in how many days the delivery agent will come to pick that up or say, you had a refund process initiated so what kind of experience you have had. Each and every case has data associated with it.”
“Our aim is to escalate the user experience and as everything has its cost, this too has its own. We have to analyse the duration a product is taking to be delivered is making the customer satisfied or will they come back to shop with us. Every step we take is related to the growth of the company and increasing the comfort quotient of the user experience.”
What are the skills required to grow beyond the role of a Data Analyst at Myntra?
“Alright, so if you ask me I would say moving towards the product side would be a great decision. Also, if you have the knowledge of data analytics like SQL, you can switch to a product management role which is in high demand. Apart from that, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence can help you enter the Data Scientist domain.”
What makes you unique on a personal front?
“In my opinion, I work pretty hard and someone like me can really sustain in the industry. Above that, I believe I have the ability to bounce back after a low phase in life. That is something I feel sets me apart from others.”
What are your strategies to overcome professional challenges?
“According to me, you will have to help yourself. There will be no one to teach you, there will be people to guide but they won’t pin point you like you have the teachers in Coding Ninjas. Even today when I am stuck using some of the software, I can’t expect anyone to teach me. Rather, I take out some free time and work on it. Now there’s a whole lot of debate about work-life balance, but I would say that during your initial stage use your time to sharpen your skills. This will help you in future. Once in a lifetime everyone will have to work hard in their life.”
Any career building ideas for the budding coders ?
“Do Learn to code properly as it is a much needed skill in today’s time. Be it a Software Engineer, Product Manager or Data Analyst, if you know coding it is easier for you to jump from position X to Y. Secondly, try to be skillful and optimistic.”
School of thought that you follow in life
“‘The pen is mightier than the sword.” We all are warriors but we don’t have a sword or a gun, but we do have a pen. Pen represents ideas and intelligence and through these two a lot of changes can be made.”
Message for the Ninjas’ family!
“The management of Coding Ninjas is so transparent and helpful that I will always be grateful for having such an amazing experience. Moreover, if someone is getting an opportunity to be guided by Ankush Singla Sir and Saloni Ma’am, then, he/she is the luckiest. Lastly, the communication process with every faculty was very easy and effortless. Though I have used other platforms, none was close to the experience I had with Coding Ninjas.”
Summing it up!
This was Gautam’s journey from Coding Ninjas to Myntra and we hope this blog is helpful for you. Also, if you wish to share your journey with us then do reach out at alumni@wordpress-blog.centralindia.cloudapp.azure.com
