How Biotech Grad Turned Into an Analyst: Scaler DSML Review
I never really planned to work in data science.
For the longest time, I thought I would build my career around biotechnology. I had studied biology after moving away from mathematics in school, completed my BSc in Biotechnology, and then tried to figure out what to do next. I even prepared for an MBA and took the CAT, but that didn't work out the way I had hoped.
For a while, I was working night shifts and pursuing my MSc in Biotechnology during the day. I was putting in the hours, but I couldn't see the kind of progress I wanted. I wanted better opportunities, better earnings, and, more importantly, a direction that actually felt right for me.
Then I came across a Scaler ad and joined a free masterclass on Tableau. I had never thought of data as a career before, but that session made me curious about what I could do with it. Eventually, that curiosity led me to a career change from biotech to data science and, later, to my role as a Business Analyst at Quantum Phinance.
I gave up on maths in 12th - here's how I ended up back in data
I actually liked mathematics when I was younger. Till Class 10, it was one of the subjects I enjoyed the most. But then I started preparing for JEE.
My JEE teacher had a very different way of teaching. He would sometimes skip four steps at a time while explaining a problem, and I found it difficult to keep up. Slowly, I started losing confidence in maths. It wasn't that I suddenly stopped liking the subject; I just began feeling that maybe I wasn't good at it anymore.
By the time I reached Class 12, I had pretty much decided that I wouldn't continue with mathematics. I thought biology would be a better direction for me, so I started looking at that instead.
My family had always imagined that I would become an engineer, so choosing biology was definitely a change from what they had expected. But I didn't really have a clear career plan at that point. I was just trying to figure out what made sense for me.
So I started looking into BSc admissions and eventually decided to go with Biotechnology. I thought that was where my next chapter would begin, but even getting into the right course didn't go as smoothly as I had expected.
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+1000 moreA BSc admission that went wrong, and the jobs that didn't pay
While looking for colleges, I came across Ismail Yusuf College and went there to ask about getting into Biotechnology. I was told that the Biotechnology seats were full, so a senior professor suggested that I take admission in Chemistry, Botany and Zoology instead. He told me that I could later be converted to Biotechnology.
I trusted what I was told and took admission.
I kept going back to the professor and asked about the conversion, but things weren't really going forward. Eventually, I realised that there were actually seats available in Biotechnology. The professor I had been speaking to was also the dean of the CBZ department, and from my experience, it seemed like I was being kept in that stream instead of being moved to Biotechnology.
At that point, I decided to leave the college midway. It wasn't exactly how I had imagined starting my degree, but I eventually completed my BSc in Biotechnology and moved on.
After graduation, I started looking for jobs. That's when another problem became clear. The jobs I was finding weren't offering the kind of earnings I needed. I was working, but financially, things were still difficult. As I put it, “थोड़ी हालत खराब थी”; things were honestly not in a very good place.
I started thinking that maybe an MBA could give me a better direction, so I prepared for the CAT and gave the exam. But my score wasn't good enough to take that route forward either.
So I went back to working.
At that point, I knew I needed to figure out something else. I just didn't know yet how much work I was about to take on while trying to find it.
Night shifts, an MSc, and a 5 am alarm: my life before Scaler
Going back to work wasn't really the end of the story for me. I still wanted to find a better option, but I also had to keep moving forward with what I had.
So I decided to do my MSc in Biotechnology while working a night shift.
My days became a little difficult to explain to anyone who wasn't living them. I would wake up around 5 or 5:30 in the morning and complete about four and a half hours of my work. Around 9, I would quickly pack my bag and leave for college, travelling towards Churchgate for my MSc.
After college, I would go back and finish the rest of my working hours. Then the whole cycle would start again.
It was tiring, but I knew I had to keep studying while also earning, so I tried to manage both at the same time.
The difficult part wasn't just the routine. It was the feeling that all this effort wasn't translating into enough progress.
I was struggling and putting in the hours, but I wasn't seeing enough output to feel like I was making my parents happy. I was working hard, studying, trying different things, and still wasn't where I wanted to be.
That's when I started actively looking for better earning opportunities and a different direction.
And somewhere in that search, I came across a Scaler ad that led me to something I hadn't really considered before.
Why one free Tableau masterclass changed my direction
I had already started looking for better earning opportunities when I came across a Scaler ad online. It led me to a free masterclass, and I decided to join without really knowing where it would take me.
The masterclass was about Tableau and data visualisation. I found myself getting interested in the idea of taking data, working with it, and turning it into something I could actually understand through visualisations.
What made it even more interesting was that data wasn't completely new to me. Coming from a science and biotechnology background, I had already worked around data to some extent. But I had never really thought about building a career around it.
That masterclass made me look at it differently. I started thinking about how I could collect data myself, analyse it and create visualisations from it. For the first time, data science felt like something I could actually connect with, and the fact that I didn’t need to have a tech background to learn more about it.
That's what made me start exploring Data Science and Machine Learning more seriously. I wasn't coming into it with a coding background or a clear plan. I just knew that I had finally found something that made me curious enough to take the next step.
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Once I started seriously considering Data Science and Machine Learning, there was another question I had to answer: whether I should actually take the course.
I spoke to my dad about it, and the first thing on my mind was the fee. For me, it was a very expensive course, and I wasn't sure if spending that much money on a completely new career path was the right decision.
I had already tried different things before this. I had moved from mathematics to biology, dealt with the college situation, completed my BSc, tried for an MBA through CAT, and was now working a night shift while pursuing my MSc. So naturally, I didn't want to make another decision without thinking it through.
I told my dad that the course was very, very expensive and asked him what I should do.
And then he said what I think I really needed to hear.
He told me not to keep stumbling again and again the way he had in his own life. If I genuinely wanted to do this, he said I should do it properly. He told me that he would support me fully and that spending the money was okay if I was willing to put in the effort.
For me, that support made the decision much easier. I knew the course alone wasn't going to change my career. I would still have to put in the work. But for the first time in a while, I felt like I had both a direction I wanted to explore and someone who believed I could make it work.
So I decided to take the next step and join Scaler's Data Science and Machine Learning program.
My Honest Scaler Data Science and Machine Learning Review as a Biotech Grad
Coming into Scaler, I knew I wasn't the typical person you might expect to see in a Data Science and Machine Learning program. My background was in Biotechnology. I had completed my BSc, was pursuing my MSc, and had been working night shifts. I didn't come from a traditional tech background, and I wasn't switching from a software engineering job into data science.
What I did have was some familiarity with working with data through my science background and, after that Tableau masterclass, a genuine interest in understanding what I could do with it.
That was one of the reasons I decided to learn DSML properly. I wasn't looking at it as a quick way to change my job. I was trying to build a completely new skill set and see whether I could actually make a career out of it.
For someone coming from biotechnology, the biggest question for me was whether I could actually make that transition. And that is what I wanted to find out when I joined Scaler.
Turn Learning into Career Growth
Data Science With a Non-Tech Background: Who Should Consider This Path?
I don't think you need to come from a computer science background to consider a career in data science. I came from Biotechnology, so my own journey is proof that a non-tech background doesn't automatically rule you out.
At the same time, I wouldn't say this is a path you should choose just because you want a better-paying job. Coming into a completely new field takes time, and you have to be ready to learn things that may be very different from what you studied before.
For me, it was possible because I was genuinely interested in the subject. The Tableau masterclass gave me a reason to explore it further, and I could see a connection between the data I had already encountered through my science background and what I wanted to learn next.
So if you're from a biology, biotechnology, or other non-tech background and you're genuinely curious about data, I don't think your degree should stop you from exploring the field. But you should also be prepared to put in the work and give yourself enough time to build the fundamentals.
I wouldn't recommend taking this path simply because you think it will automatically lead to a new job. The transition still depends on how seriously you learn, practise, and apply what you know.
For me, all I wanted to do was find a direction that I was willing to work for. Once I found that, my background didn’t stop me from taking a path I really wanted to move forward in.
FAQs
Can someone from a biotechnology background learn data science?
Yes. Mandar studied Biotechnology and came to data science from a science background. His interest in the field started when he attended a Tableau masterclass and realised he could use his familiarity with data differently.
Why did Mandar choose Data Science and Machine Learning?
He was already familiar with working with data through his biotechnology background and wanted to learn how to collect data and turn it into visualisations himself. A free Tableau masterclass helped him explore that interest before he decided to pursue DSML properly.
Why did Mandar choose Scaler?
Mandar came across Scaler through a Tableau masterclass and then discussed the program with his father. The course fee was a major consideration for him, but his father encouraged him to choose the course he felt was right and fully supported the decision.
What does Mandar do now?
Mandar currently works as a Business Analyst at Quantum Phinance. His background before moving towards data science was in Biotechnology.
Is Scaler DSML worth it for someone changing careers?
For Mandar, the decision came down to whether he was ready to seriously commit to a new direction. He had already tried different options before coming across the Tableau masterclass that introduced him to data visualisation. When he looked at the Scaler program, the fee was a major concern, and he openly discussed that with his father. His father encouraged him to go ahead, choose the course he felt was right, and put in the effort.
If you're looking to build your data science skills from the fundamentals, check out the Scaler Data Science & Machine Learning program.
